Multi-agent orchestration for AI coding agents.
Overstory turns a single coding session into a multi-agent team by spawning worker agents in git worktrees via tmux, coordinating them through a custom SQLite mail system, and merging their work back with tiered conflict resolution. A pluggable AgentRuntime interface lets you swap between runtimes — Claude Code, Pi, Gemini CLI, or your own adapter.
Warning: Agent swarms are not a universal solution. Do not deploy Overstory without understanding the risks of multi-agent orchestration — compounding error rates, cost amplification, debugging complexity, and merge conflicts are the normal case, not edge cases. Read STEELMAN.md for a full risk analysis and the Agentic Engineering Book (web version) before using this tool in production.
Requires Bun v1.0+, git, and tmux. At least one supported agent runtime must be installed:
- Claude Code (
claudeCLI) - Pi (
piCLI) - GitHub Copilot (
copilotCLI) - Codex (
codexCLI) - Gemini CLI (
geminiCLI) - Sapling (
spCLI) - OpenCode (
opencodeCLI)
bun install -g @os-eco/overstory-cliOr try without installing:
npx @os-eco/overstory-cli --helpgit clone https://github.com/jayminwest/overstory.git
cd overstory
bun install
bun link # Makes 'ov' available globally
bun test # Run all tests
bun run lint # Biome check
bun run typecheck # tsc --noEmit# Initialize overstory in your project
cd your-project
ov init
# Install hooks into .claude/settings.local.json
ov hooks install
# Start a coordinator (persistent orchestrator)
ov coordinator start
# Or spawn individual worker agents
ov sling <task-id> --capability builder --name my-builder
# Check agent status
ov status
# Live dashboard for monitoring the fleet
ov dashboard
# Nudge a stalled agent
ov nudge <agent-name>
# Check mail from agents
ov mail check --injectEvery command supports --json where noted. Global flags: -q/--quiet, --timing, --project <path>. ANSI colors respect NO_COLOR.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
ov init |
Initialize .overstory/ and bootstrap os-eco tools (--yes, --name, --tools, --skip-mulch, --skip-seeds, --skip-canopy, --skip-onboard, --json) |
ov sling <task-id> |
Spawn a worker agent (--capability, --name, --spec, --files, --parent, --depth, --skip-scout, --skip-review, --max-agents, --dispatch-max-agents, --skip-task-check, --no-scout-check, --runtime, --base-branch, --json) |
ov stop <agent-name> |
Terminate a running agent (--clean-worktree, --json) |
ov prime |
Load context for orchestrator/agent (--agent, --compact) |
ov spec write <task-id> |
Write a task specification (--body) |
ov update |
Refresh .overstory/ managed files from installed package (--agents, --manifest, --hooks, --dry-run, --json) |
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
ov coordinator start |
Start persistent coordinator agent (--attach/--no-attach, --watchdog, --monitor) |
ov coordinator stop |
Stop coordinator |
ov coordinator status |
Show coordinator state |
ov coordinator send |
Fire-and-forget message to coordinator (--subject) |
ov coordinator ask |
Synchronous request/response to coordinator (--subject, --timeout) |
ov coordinator output |
Show recent coordinator output (--lines) |
ov supervisor start |
[DEPRECATED] Start per-project supervisor agent |
ov supervisor stop |
[DEPRECATED] Stop supervisor |
ov supervisor status |
[DEPRECATED] Show supervisor state |
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
ov mail send |
Send a message (--to, --subject, --body, --type, --priority) |
ov mail check |
Check inbox — unread messages (--agent, --inject, --debounce, --json) |
ov mail list |
List messages with filters (--from, --to, --unread) |
ov mail read <id> |
Mark message as read |
ov mail reply <id> |
Reply in same thread (--body) |
ov nudge <agent> [message] |
Send a text nudge to an agent (--from, --force, --json) |
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
ov group create <name> |
Create a task group for batch tracking |
ov group status <name> |
Show group progress |
ov group add <name> <issue-id> |
Add issue to group |
ov group list |
List all groups |
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
ov merge |
Merge agent branches into canonical (--branch, --all, --into, --dry-run, --json) |
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
ov status |
Show all active agents, worktrees, tracker state (--json, --verbose, --all) |
ov dashboard |
Live TUI dashboard for agent monitoring (--interval, --all) |
ov inspect <agent> |
Deep per-agent inspection (--follow, --interval, --no-tmux, --limit, --json) |
ov trace |
View agent/task timeline (--agent, --run, --since, --until, --limit, --json) |
ov errors |
Aggregated error view across agents (--agent, --run, --since, --until, --limit, --json) |
ov replay |
Interleaved chronological replay (--run, --agent, --since, --until, --limit, --json) |
ov feed |
Unified real-time event stream (--follow, --interval, --agent, --run, --json) |
ov logs |
Query NDJSON logs across agents (--agent, --level, --since, --until, --follow, --json) |
ov costs |
Token/cost analysis and breakdown (--live, --self, --agent, --run, --bead, --by-capability, --last, --json) |
ov metrics |
Show session metrics (--last, --json) |
ov run list |
List orchestration runs (--last, --json) |
ov run show <id> |
Show run details |
ov run complete |
Mark current run as completed |
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
ov hooks install |
Install orchestrator hooks to .claude/settings.local.json (--force) |
ov hooks uninstall |
Remove orchestrator hooks |
ov hooks status |
Check if hooks are installed |
ov worktree list |
List worktrees with status |
ov worktree clean |
Remove completed worktrees (--completed, --all, --force) |
ov watch |
Start watchdog daemon — Tier 0 (--interval, --background) |
ov monitor start |
Start Tier 2 monitor agent |
ov monitor stop |
Stop monitor agent |
ov monitor status |
Show monitor state |
ov log <event> |
Log a hook event (--agent) |
ov clean |
Clean up worktrees, sessions, artifacts (--completed, --all, --run) |
ov doctor |
Run health checks on overstory setup — 11 categories (--category, --fix, --json) |
ov ecosystem |
Show os-eco tool versions and health (--json) |
ov upgrade |
Upgrade overstory to latest npm version (--check, --all, --json) |
ov agents discover |
Discover agents by capability/state/parent (--capability, --state, --parent, --json) |
ov completions <shell> |
Generate shell completions (bash, zsh, fish) |
Overstory uses instruction overlays and tool-call guards to turn agent sessions into orchestrated workers. Each agent runs in an isolated git worktree via tmux. Inter-agent messaging is handled by a custom SQLite mail system (WAL mode, ~1-5ms per query) with typed protocol messages and broadcast support. A FIFO merge queue with 4-tier conflict resolution merges agent branches back to canonical. A tiered watchdog system (Tier 0 mechanical daemon, Tier 1 AI-assisted triage, Tier 2 monitor agent) ensures fleet health. See CLAUDE.md for full technical details.
Overstory is runtime-agnostic. The AgentRuntime interface (src/runtimes/types.ts) defines the contract — each adapter handles spawning, config deployment, guard enforcement, readiness detection, and transcript parsing for its runtime. Set the default in config.yaml or override per-agent with ov sling --runtime <name>.
| Runtime | CLI | Guard Mechanism | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | claude |
settings.local.json hooks |
Stable |
| Pi | pi |
.pi/extensions/ guard extension |
Active development |
| Copilot | copilot |
(none — --allow-all-tools) |
Active development |
| Codex | codex |
OS-level sandbox (Seatbelt/Landlock) | Active development |
| Gemini | gemini |
--sandbox flag |
Active development |
| Sapling | sp |
.sapling/guards.json |
Active development |
Instruction overlays + tool-call guards + the ov CLI turn your coding session into a multi-agent orchestrator. A persistent coordinator agent manages task decomposition and dispatch, while a mechanical watchdog daemon monitors agent health in the background.
Orchestrator (multi-repo coordinator of coordinators)
--> Coordinator (persistent orchestrator at project root)
--> Supervisor / Lead (team lead, depth 1)
--> Workers: Scout, Builder, Reviewer, Merger (depth 2)
| Agent | Role | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Orchestrator | Multi-repo coordinator of coordinators — dispatches coordinators per sub-repo | Read-only |
| Coordinator | Persistent orchestrator — decomposes objectives, dispatches agents, tracks task groups | Read-only |
| Supervisor | Per-project team lead — manages worker lifecycle, handles nudge/escalation | Read-only |
| Scout | Read-only exploration and research | Read-only |
| Builder | Implementation and code changes | Read-write |
| Reviewer | Validation and code review | Read-only |
| Lead | Team coordination, can spawn sub-workers | Read-write |
| Merger | Branch merge specialist | Read-write |
| Monitor | Tier 2 continuous fleet patrol — ongoing health monitoring | Read-only |
- Agent Definitions: Two-layer system — base
.mdfiles define the HOW (workflow), per-task overlays define the WHAT (task scope). Base definition content is injected into spawned agent overlays automatically. - Messaging: Custom SQLite mail system with typed protocol — 8 message types (
worker_done,merge_ready,dispatch,escalation, etc.) for structured agent coordination, plus broadcast messaging with group addresses (@all,@builders, etc.) - Worktrees: Each agent gets an isolated git worktree — no file conflicts between agents
- Merge: FIFO merge queue (SQLite-backed) with 4-tier conflict resolution
- Watchdog: Tiered health monitoring — Tier 0 mechanical daemon (tmux/pid liveness), Tier 1 AI-assisted failure triage, Tier 2 monitor agent for continuous fleet patrol
- Tool Enforcement: Runtime-specific guards (hooks for Claude Code, extensions for Pi) mechanically block file modifications for non-implementation agents and dangerous git operations for all agents
- Task Groups: Batch coordination with auto-close when all member issues complete
- Session Lifecycle: Checkpoint save/restore for compaction survivability, handoff orchestration for crash recovery
- Token Instrumentation: Session metrics extracted from runtime transcript files (JSONL)
overstory/
src/
index.ts CLI entry point (Commander.js program)
types.ts Shared types and interfaces
config.ts Config loader + validation
errors.ts Custom error types
json.ts Standardized JSON envelope helpers
commands/ One file per CLI subcommand (34 commands)
agents.ts Agent discovery and querying
coordinator.ts Persistent orchestrator lifecycle
supervisor.ts Team lead management [DEPRECATED]
dashboard.ts Live TUI dashboard (ANSI via Chalk)
hooks.ts Orchestrator hooks management
sling.ts Agent spawning
group.ts Task group batch tracking
nudge.ts Agent nudging
mail.ts Inter-agent messaging
monitor.ts Tier 2 monitor management
merge.ts Branch merging
status.ts Fleet status overview
prime.ts Context priming
init.ts Project initialization
worktree.ts Worktree management
watch.ts Watchdog daemon
log.ts Hook event logging
logs.ts NDJSON log query
feed.ts Unified real-time event stream
run.ts Orchestration run lifecycle
trace.ts Agent/task timeline viewing
clean.ts Worktree/session cleanup
doctor.ts Health check runner (11 check modules)
inspect.ts Deep per-agent inspection
spec.ts Task spec management
errors.ts Aggregated error view
replay.ts Interleaved event replay
stop.ts Agent termination
costs.ts Token/cost analysis
metrics.ts Session metrics
ecosystem.ts os-eco tool dashboard
update.ts Refresh managed files
upgrade.ts npm version upgrades
completions.ts Shell completion generation (bash/zsh/fish)
agents/ Agent lifecycle management
manifest.ts Agent registry (load + query)
overlay.ts Dynamic CLAUDE.md overlay generator
identity.ts Persistent agent identity (CVs)
checkpoint.ts Session checkpoint save/restore
lifecycle.ts Handoff orchestration
hooks-deployer.ts Deploy hooks + tool enforcement
guard-rules.ts Shared guard constants (tool lists, bash patterns)
worktree/ Git worktree + tmux management
mail/ SQLite mail system (typed protocol, broadcast)
merge/ FIFO queue + conflict resolution
watchdog/ Tiered health monitoring (daemon, triage, health)
logging/ Multi-format logger + sanitizer + reporter + color control + shared theme/format
metrics/ SQLite metrics + pricing + transcript parsing
doctor/ Health check modules (11 checks)
insights/ Session insight analyzer for auto-expertise
runtimes/ AgentRuntime abstraction (registry + adapters: Claude, Pi, Copilot, Codex, Gemini, Sapling, OpenCode)
tracker/ Pluggable task tracker (beads + seeds backends)
mulch/ mulch client (programmatic API + CLI wrapper)
e2e/ End-to-end lifecycle tests
agents/ Base agent definitions (.md, 9 roles) + skill definitions
templates/ Templates for overlays and hooks
Route agent API calls through custom gateway endpoints (z.ai, OpenRouter, self-hosted proxies). Configure providers in .overstory/config.yaml:
providers:
anthropic:
type: native
zai:
type: gateway
baseUrl: https://api.z.ai/v1
authTokenEnv: ZAI_API_KEY
openrouter:
type: gateway
baseUrl: https://openrouter.ai/api/v1
authTokenEnv: OPENROUTER_API_KEY
models:
builder: zai/claude-sonnet-4-6
scout: openrouter/openai/gpt-4oHow it works: Model refs use provider/model-id format. Overstory sets ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL to the gateway baseUrl, ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN from the env var named in authTokenEnv, and ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="" to prevent direct Anthropic calls. The agent receives "sonnet" as a model alias and Claude Code routes via env vars.
Environment variable notes:
ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKENandANTHROPIC_API_KEYare mutually exclusive per-agent- Gateway agents get
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=""andANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKENfrom provider config - Direct Anthropic API calls (merge resolver, watchdog triage) still need
ANTHROPIC_API_KEYin the orchestrator env
Validation: ov doctor --category providers checks reachability, auth tokens, model-provider refs, and tool-use compatibility.
ProviderConfig fields:
| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
type |
native or gateway |
Yes | Provider type |
baseUrl |
string | Gateway only | API endpoint URL |
authTokenEnv |
string | Gateway only | Env var name holding auth token |
This error means the coordinator tmux session exited before the TUI became ready. The most common cause is slow shell initialization.
Step 1: Measure shell startup time
time zsh -i -c exit # For zsh
time bash -i -c exit # For bashIf startup takes more than 1 second, slow shell init is likely the cause.
Step 2: Common slow-startup causes
| Cause | Typical delay | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| oh-my-zsh with many plugins | 1-5s | Reduce plugins, switch to lighter framework (zinit with lazy loading) |
| nvm (Node Version Manager) | 1-3s | Use --no-use + lazy-load nvm, or switch to fnm/volta |
| pyenv init | 0.5-2s | Lazy-load pyenv |
| rbenv init | 0.5-1s | Lazy-load rbenv |
| starship prompt | 0.5-1s | Check starship timings |
| conda auto-activate | 1-3s | auto_activate_base: false in .condarc |
| Homebrew shellenv | 0.5-1s | Cache output instead of evaluating every shell start |
Step 3: Configure shellInitDelayMs in .overstory/config.yaml:
runtime:
shellInitDelayMs: 3000- Default:
0(no delay) - Typical values:
1000–5000depending on shell startup time - Values above
30000(30s) trigger a warning - Inserts a delay between tmux session creation and TUI readiness polling
Step 4: Optimization examples
Lazy-load nvm (add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc):
# Lazy-load nvm — only activates when you first call nvm/node/npm
export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
nvm() { unset -f nvm node npm npx; [ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"; nvm "$@"; }
node() { unset -f nvm node npm npx; [ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"; node "$@"; }
npm() { unset -f nvm node npm npx; [ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"; npm "$@"; }
npx() { unset -f nvm node npm npx; [ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && . "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"; npx "$@"; }Reduce oh-my-zsh plugins (edit ~/.zshrc):
# Before: plugins=(git zsh-autosuggestions zsh-syntax-highlighting node npm python ruby rbenv pyenv ...)
# After: keep only what you use regularly
plugins=(git)Overstory is part of the os-eco AI agent tooling ecosystem.
Contributions are welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
MIT
![@dependabot[bot]](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/in/29110?s=64&v=4){kind=small}
