zeroshot CLI

🎉 New Release: Now supports Codex and Gemini CLI in addition to Claude! Use any provider or mix them in multi-agent workflows. See Providers for details.

npm install -g @covibes/zeroshot

Demo (100x speed, 90-minute run, 5 iterations to approval)

Zeroshot is an open-source AI coding agent orchestration CLI that runs multi-agent workflows to autonomously implement, review, test, and verify code changes.

It runs a planner, an implementer, and independent validators in isolated environments, looping until changes are verified or rejected with actionable, reproducible failures.

Built for tasks where correctness matters more than speed.

How It Works

• Plan: translate a task into concrete acceptance criteria
• Implement: make changes in an isolated workspace (local, worktree, or Docker)
• Validate: run automated checks with independent validators
• Iterate: repeat until verified, or return actionable failures
• Resume: crash-safe state persisted for recovery

Quick Start

zeroshot run 123                    # GitHub issue number

Or describe the task inline:

zeroshot run "Add optimistic locking with automatic retry: when updating a user,
retry with exponential backoff up to 3 times, merge non-conflicting field changes,
and surface conflicts with details. Handle the ABA problem where version goes A->B->A."

Why Not Just Use a Single AI Agent?

Approach	Writes Code	Runs Tests	Blind Validation	Iterates Until Verified
Chat-based assistant	✅	⚠️	❌	❌
Single coding agent	✅	⚠️	❌	⚠️
Zeroshot (multi-agent)	✅	✅	✅	✅

Use Cases

• Autonomous AI code refactoring
• AI-powered pull request automation
• Automated bug fixing with validation
• Multi-agent code generation for software engineering
• Agentic coding workflows with blind validation

Who Is This For?

• Senior engineers who care about correctness and reproducibility
• Teams automating PR workflows and code review gates
• Infra/platform teams standardizing agentic workflows
• Open-source maintainers working through issue backlogs
• AI power users who want verification, not vibes

Install and Requirements

Platforms: Linux, macOS (Windows WSL not yet supported)

npm install -g @covibes/zeroshot

Requires: Node 18+, at least one provider CLI (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini). GitHub CLI is required when running by issue number.

# Install one or more providers
npm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
npm i -g @openai/codex
npm i -g @google/gemini-cli

# Authenticate with the provider CLI
claude login        # Claude
codex login         # Codex
gemini auth login   # Gemini

# GitHub auth (for issue numbers)
gh auth login

Providers

Zeroshot shells out to provider CLIs. Pick a default and override per run:

zeroshot providers
zeroshot providers set-default codex
zeroshot run 123 --provider gemini

See docs/providers.md for setup, model levels, and Docker mounts.

Why Multiple Agents?

Single-agent sessions degrade. Context gets buried under thousands of tokens. The model optimizes for "done" over "correct."

Zeroshot fixes this with isolated agents that check each other's work. Validators can't lie about code they didn't write. Fail the check? Fix and retry until it actually works.

What Makes It Different

• Blind validation - Validators never see the worker's context or code history
• Repeatable workflows - Task complexity determines agent count and model selection
• Accept/reject loop - Rejections include actionable findings, not vague complaints
• Crash recovery - All state persisted to SQLite; resume anytime
• Isolation modes - None, git worktree, or Docker container
• Cost control - Model ceilings prevent runaway API spend

When to Use Zeroshot

Zeroshot performs best when tasks have clear acceptance criteria.

Scenario	Use	Why
Add rate limiting (sliding window, per-IP, 429)	Yes	Clear requirements
Refactor auth to JWT	Yes	Defined end state
Fix login bug	Yes	Success is measurable
Fix 2410 lint violations	Yes	Clear completion criteria
Make the app faster	No	Needs exploration first
Improve the codebase	No	No acceptance criteria
Figure out flaky tests	No	Exploratory

Rule of thumb: if you cannot describe what "done" means, validators cannot verify it.

Command Overview

# Run
zeroshot run 123
zeroshot run "Add dark mode"

# Isolation
zeroshot run 123 --worktree       # git worktree
zeroshot run 123 --docker         # container

# Automation (--ship implies --pr implies --worktree)
zeroshot run 123 --pr             # worktree + create PR
zeroshot run 123 --ship           # PR + auto-merge on approval

# Background mode
zeroshot run 123 -d
zeroshot run 123 --ship -d

# Control
zeroshot list
zeroshot status <id>
zeroshot logs <id> -f
zeroshot resume <id>
zeroshot stop <id>
zeroshot kill <id>
zeroshot watch

# Providers
zeroshot providers
zeroshot providers set-default codex

# Agent library
zeroshot agents list
zeroshot agents show <name>

# Maintenance
zeroshot clean
zeroshot purge

Architecture

Zeroshot is a message-driven coordination layer with smart defaults.

• The conductor classifies tasks by complexity and type.
• A workflow template selects agents and validators.
• Agents publish results to a SQLite ledger.
• Validators approve or reject with specific findings.
• Rejections route back to the worker for fixes.

Complexity Model

Task	Complexity	Agents	Validators
Fix typo in README	TRIVIAL	1	None
Add dark mode toggle	SIMPLE	2	Generic validator
Refactor auth system	STANDARD	4	Requirements, code
Implement payment flow	CRITICAL	7	Requirements, code, security, tester, adversarial

Model Selection by Complexity

Complexity	Planner	Worker	Validators
TRIVIAL	-	level1	-
SIMPLE	-	level2	1 (level2)
STANDARD	level2	level2	2 (level2)
CRITICAL	level3	level2	5 (level2)

Levels map to provider-specific models. Configure with zeroshot providers setup <provider> or settings.providerSettings. (Legacy maxModel applies to Claude only.)

Custom Workflows (Framework Mode)

Zeroshot is message-driven, so you can define any agent topology.

• Expert panels: parallel specialists -> aggregator -> decision
• Staged gates: sequential validators, each with veto power
• Hierarchical: supervisor dynamically spawns workers
• Dynamic: conductor adds agents mid-execution

Coordination primitives:

• Message bus (pub/sub topics)
• Triggers (wake agents on conditions)
• Ledger (SQLite, crash recovery)
• Dynamic spawning (CLUSTER_OPERATIONS)

Creating Custom Clusters with a Provider CLI

Start your provider CLI and describe your cluster:

Create a zeroshot cluster config for security-critical features:

1. Implementation agent (level2) implements the feature
2. FOUR parallel validators:
   - Security validator: OWASP checks, SQL injection, XSS, CSRF
   - Performance validator: No N+1 queries, proper indexing
   - Privacy validator: GDPR compliance, data minimization
   - Code reviewer: General code quality

3. ALL validators must approve before merge
4. If ANY validator rejects, implementation agent fixes and resubmits
5. Use level3 for security validator (highest stakes)

Look at cluster-templates/base-templates/full-workflow.json
and create a similar cluster. Save to cluster-templates/security-review.json

Built-in validation checks for missing triggers, deadlocks, and invalid type wiring before running.

See CLAUDE.md for the cluster schema and examples.

Crash Recovery

All state is persisted in the SQLite ledger. You can resume at any time:

zeroshot resume cluster-bold-panther

Isolation Modes

Git Worktree (Default for --pr/--ship)

zeroshot run 123 --worktree

Lightweight isolation using git worktree. Creates a separate working directory with its own branch. Auto-enabled with --pr and --ship.

Docker Container

zeroshot run 123 --docker

Full isolation in a fresh container. Your workspace stays untouched. Useful for risky experiments or parallel runs.

When to Use Which

Scenario	Recommended
Quick task, review changes yourself	No isolation (default)
PR workflow, code review	--worktree or --pr
Risky experiment, might break things	--docker
Running multiple tasks in parallel	--docker
Full automation, no review needed	--ship

Default behavior: Agents modify files only; they do not commit or push unless using an isolation mode that explicitly allows it.

Docker Credential Mounts

When using --docker, zeroshot mounts credential directories so agents can access provider CLIs and tools like AWS, Azure, and kubectl.

Default mounts: gh, git, ssh (GitHub CLI, git config, SSH keys)

Available presets: gh, git, ssh, aws, azure, kube, terraform, gcloud, claude, codex, gemini

# Configure via settings (persistent)
zeroshot settings set dockerMounts '["gh", "git", "ssh", "aws", "azure"]'

# View current config
zeroshot settings get dockerMounts

# Per-run override
zeroshot run 123 --docker --mount ~/.aws:/root/.aws:ro

# Provider credentials
zeroshot run 123 --docker --mount ~/.config/codex:/home/node/.config/codex:ro
zeroshot run 123 --docker --mount ~/.config/gemini:/home/node/.config/gemini:ro

# Disable all mounts
zeroshot run 123 --docker --no-mounts

# CI: env var override
ZEROSHOT_DOCKER_MOUNTS='["aws","azure"]' zeroshot run 123 --docker

See docs/providers.md for provider CLI setup and mount details.

Custom mounts (mix presets with explicit paths):

zeroshot settings set dockerMounts '[
  "gh",
  "git",
  {"host": "~/.myconfig", "container": "$HOME/.myconfig", "readonly": true}
]'

Container home: Presets use $HOME placeholder. Default: /root. Override with:

zeroshot settings set dockerContainerHome '/home/node'
# Or per-run:
zeroshot run 123 --docker --container-home /home/node

Env var passthrough: Presets auto-pass related env vars (for example, aws -> AWS_REGION, AWS_PROFILE). Add custom:

zeroshot settings set dockerEnvPassthrough '["MY_API_KEY", "TF_VAR_*"]'

Resources

• CLAUDE.md - Architecture, cluster config schema, agent primitives
• docs/providers.md - Provider setup, model levels, and Docker mounts
• Discord - Support and community
• zeroshot export <id> - Export conversation to markdown
• sqlite3 ~/.zeroshot/*.db - Direct ledger access for debugging

Troubleshooting

Issue	Fix
claude: command not found	npm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code && claude auth login
codex: command not found	npm i -g @openai/codex && codex login
gemini: command not found	npm i -g @google/gemini-cli && gemini auth login
gh: command not found	Install GitHub CLI
--docker fails	Docker must be running: docker ps to verify
Cluster stuck	zeroshot resume <id> to continue
Agent keeps failing	Check zeroshot logs <id> for actual error
zeroshot: command not found	npm install -g @covibes/zeroshot

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup and guidelines.

Please read CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md before participating.

For security issues, see SECURITY.md.

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MIT - Covibes

Built on Claude Code by Anthropic.