Huskies

A story-driven development server that manages work items, spawns coding agents, and runs them through a pipeline from backlog to done. Ships as a single Rust binary with an embedded React frontend. Can also be run in WhatsApp, Matrix, and Slack chats.

Getting started with Claude Code

1. Download the huskies binary (or build from source — see below).

2. From your project directory, scaffold and start the server:

huskies init --port 3000

This creates a .huskies/ directory with the pipeline structure, project.toml, and .mcp.json. The .mcp.json file lets Claude Code discover huskies' MCP tools automatically.

Huskies also ships an embedded React frontend. Once the server is running, open http://localhost:3000 to see the pipeline board, agent status, and chat interface.

3. Open a Claude Code session in the same project directory, or visit http://localhost:3000/.

4. Tell Claude: "help me set up this project with huskies." Claude will walk you through the setup wizard — generating project context, tech stack docs, and test/release scripts. Review each step and confirm or ask to retry.

Once setup is complete, Claude can create stories, start agents, check status, and manage the full pipeline via MCP tools — no commands to memorize.

Chat transports

Huskies can be controlled via bot commands in Matrix, WhatsApp, and Slack. Configure a transport in .huskies/bot.toml — see the example files:

• .huskies/bot.toml.matrix.example
• .huskies/bot.toml.whatsapp-meta.example
• .huskies/bot.toml.whatsapp-twilio.example
• .huskies/bot.toml.slack.example

Prerequisites for building

• Rust (2024 edition)
• Node.js and npm
• Docker (for Linux cross-compilation and container deployment)
• cross (cargo install cross) optional, for Linux static builds. Only needed if you are building for a different architecture, e.g. if you want to build a Linux binary from a Mac.

You only need these installed if you want to build Huskies yourself. Alternately, you can just download and run the huskies binary for your system from https://code.crashlabs.io/crashlabs/huskies/releases

Building for production

cargo build --release

The release binary embeds the frontend via rust-embed. Output: target/release/huskies.

For a static Linux binary (musl, zero dynamic deps):

cross build --release --target x86_64-unknown-linux-musl

Docker:

script/docker_rebuild

# or 

script/docker_restart

Running in development

# Run tests
script/test

# Run the server
cargo run -- --port 3000

# In another terminal, run the frontend dev server
cd frontend && npm install && npm run dev

Configuration lives in .huskies/project.toml. See .huskies/bot.toml.*.example for transport setup.

Releasing

Requires a Gitea API token in .env (GITEA_TOKEN=your_token).

script/release 0.7.1

This bumps version in Cargo.toml and package.json, builds macOS arm64 and Linux amd64 binaries, tags the repo, and publishes a Gitea release with changelog and binaries attached.

Multi-node CRDT sync (rendezvous)

Huskies nodes can replicate pipeline state in real-time over WebSocket. Add a rendezvous field to .huskies/project.toml to configure a peer:

rendezvous = "ws://other-host:3001/crdt-sync"

On startup, this node opens an outbound WebSocket connection to the configured URL and exchanges CRDT ops bidirectionally. The connection is fully symmetric: both sides send a bulk state dump on connect, then stream individual ops as they are applied locally.

Reconnect behaviour

If the peer is unreachable on startup (or the connection drops mid-session), the client retries with exponential backoff starting at 1 s and capping at 30 s. Failures are logged at WARN; after 10 consecutive failures the level escalates to ERROR to surface persistent connectivity problems.

Deployment topologies

Peer-to-peer (two nodes pointing at each other):

Node A  ←→  Node B

Configure each node with the other's /crdt-sync URL. Both nodes exchange ops directly. Supported by this story — ops propagate in both directions and both nodes converge to the same state. Works well for two machines collaborating on the same project.

Hub-and-spoke (many clients → one central rendezvous):

Client 1 ──┐
Client 2 ──┤── Hub node
Client 3 ──┘

Point multiple client nodes at a single "hub" node. The hub receives ops from all clients and re-broadcasts them. Clients do not connect to each other — convergence is mediated through the hub. The hub itself runs a normal huskies instance with rendezvous unset (it only accepts inbound connections).

Caveat: Hub-to-client relay depends on the hub's /crdt-sync inbound WebSocket handler re-broadcasting every received op to all other connected peers. That broadcast happens automatically via the shared SYNC_TX channel (each locally-applied remote op is re-emitted), so hub-and-spoke works today but has not been load-tested. Follow-up work may be needed for large fan-out (many spoke clients) to avoid broadcast-channel lag.

Startup reconcile pass

On startup, after CRDT replay and database initialisation, huskies runs a reconcile pass that compares pipeline state across three sources:

1. In-memory CRDT — the primary source of truth, reconstructed from crdt_ops on startup.
2. pipeline_items table — a shadow/materialised view written alongside CRDT updates, used for fast DB queries.
3. Filesystem shadows (.huskies/work/N_stage/*.md) — legacy rendering still written by some paths and read by agent worktrees.

Any disagreement between these sources is drift. The reconcile pass logs a structured line for each drifted item:

[reconcile] DRIFT story=X crdt_stage=Y db_stage=Z fs_stage=W

(MISSING is used where a source has no record for that story.)

Drift types

Type	Meaning
CRDT-only	Story present in CRDT but absent from pipeline_items
DB-only	Story present in pipeline_items but absent from CRDT
FS-only	Story on the filesystem but absent from both CRDT and DB
stage-mismatch	Story present in both CRDT and DB but with different stage values

Note: a filesystem shadow that lags behind the CRDT/DB stage (both of which agree) is not treated as drift — the FS is a best-effort rendering and is allowed to lag.

If any drift is detected, the Matrix/Slack/WhatsApp bot startup announcement includes a count and a suggestion to check the server logs.

Opt-out

Set reconcile_on_startup = false in .huskies/project.toml to disable the pass during the migration window if it produces noise.

Debugging

Inspecting the in-memory CRDT state

When diagnosing state issues, use the dump_crdt MCP tool or the /debug/crdt HTTP endpoint to inspect the raw in-memory CRDT state directly. These surfaces show the ground truth that the running server holds — not a summarised pipeline view and not the persisted SQLite ops.

MCP tool (from Claude Code or any MCP client):

mcp__huskies__dump_crdt
# dump everything
{}

# restrict to a single item
{"story_id": "42_story_my_feature"}

HTTP endpoint (browser or curl):

# dump everything
curl http://localhost:3001/debug/crdt

# restrict to a single item
curl "http://localhost:3001/debug/crdt?story_id=42_story_my_feature"

Both return a JSON document with:

• metadata — in_memory_state_loaded, total_items, total_ops_in_list, max_seq_in_list, persisted_ops_count, pending_persist_ops_count
• items — one entry per CRDT list item (including tombstoned/deleted entries), each with story_id, stage, name, agent, retry_count, blocked, depends_on, content_index (hex OpId for cross-referencing with crdt_ops), and is_deleted

This is a debug tool. For normal pipeline introspection use get_pipeline_status or GET /api/pipeline instead.

Source Map

Core

File	Description
server/src/main.rs	Entry point, CLI argument parsing, and server startup
server/src/config.rs	Parses project.toml for agents, components, and server settings
server/src/state.rs	Global mutable session state (project root, cancellation)
server/src/store.rs	JSON-backed persistent key-value store for settings

Agents

File	Description
server/src/agents/mod.rs	Types, configuration, and orchestration for coding agents
server/src/agents/gates.rs	Runs test suites and validation scripts in agent worktrees
server/src/agents/lifecycle.rs	File creation, archival, and stage transitions for pipeline items
server/src/agents/merge.rs	Rebases agent work onto master and runs post-merge validation
server/src/agents/pty.rs	Spawns agent processes in pseudo-terminals and streams output
server/src/agents/token_usage.rs	Persists per-agent token consumption records to disk
server/src/agent_log.rs	Reads and writes JSONL agent event logs to disk
server/src/agent_mode.rs	Headless build-agent mode for distributed story processing

Agent Pool

File	Description
server/src/agents/pool/mod.rs	Manages the set of active agents across all pipeline stages
server/src/agents/pool/types.rs	AgentPool, StoryAgent, and related data structures
server/src/agents/pool/start.rs	Spawns a new agent process in a worktree for a story
server/src/agents/pool/stop.rs	Terminates a running agent while preserving its worktree
server/src/agents/pool/wait.rs	Blocks until an agent reaches a terminal state
server/src/agents/pool/query.rs	Lists available/active agents and info lookups
server/src/agents/pool/process.rs	Kills orphaned PTY child processes on shutdown
server/src/agents/pool/worktree.rs	Creates and configures git worktrees for agents
server/src/agents/pool/test_helpers.rs	In-memory pool construction and test assertions

Agent Pool — Auto-assign

File	Description
server/src/agents/pool/auto_assign/mod.rs	Wires sub-files and re-exports public items
server/src/agents/pool/auto_assign/auto_assign.rs	Scans pipeline stages and dispatches agents to unassigned stories
server/src/agents/pool/auto_assign/reconcile.rs	Startup reconciliation: detects committed work and advances pipeline
server/src/agents/pool/auto_assign/scan.rs	Scans pipeline stages for work items and queries pool state
server/src/agents/pool/auto_assign/story_checks.rs	Front-matter checks: review holds, blocked state, merge failures
server/src/agents/pool/auto_assign/watchdog.rs	Detects orphaned agents and triggers auto-assign

Agent Pool — Pipeline

File	Description
server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/mod.rs	Stage advancement, completion handling, and merge orchestration
server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/advance.rs	Moves stories forward through pipeline stages
server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/completion.rs	Processes exit results and triggers pipeline advancement
server/src/agents/pool/pipeline/merge.rs	Orchestrates the merge-to-master flow for completed stories

Agent Runtimes

File	Description
server/src/agents/runtime/mod.rs	Pluggable backends (Claude Code, Gemini, OpenAI) for running agents
server/src/agents/runtime/claude_code.rs	Launches Claude Code CLI sessions as agent backends
server/src/agents/runtime/gemini.rs	Drives Google Gemini API sessions as agent backends
server/src/agents/runtime/openai.rs	Drives OpenAI API sessions as agent backends

CRDT

File	Description
server/src/crdt_state.rs	Pipeline state as a conflict-free replicated document backed by SQLite
server/src/crdt_sync.rs	WebSocket-based replication of pipeline state between nodes
server/src/crdt_wire.rs	Serialization format for SignedOp sync messages
server/src/pipeline_state.rs	Typed pipeline state machine

Database

File	Description
server/src/db/mod.rs	Content store, shadow writes, and CRDT op persistence

HTTP Server

File	Description
server/src/http/mod.rs	Module declarations for all REST, MCP, WebSocket, and SSE endpoints
server/src/http/context.rs	Shared AppContext threaded through all HTTP handlers
server/src/http/agents.rs	REST API for listing, starting, stopping, and inspecting agents
server/src/http/agents_sse.rs	Server-Sent Events endpoint for real-time agent output
server/src/http/anthropic.rs	Proxy for model listing and key-validation to Anthropic
server/src/http/assets.rs	Serves the embedded React frontend via rust-embed
server/src/http/bot_command.rs	Bot command HTTP endpoint
server/src/http/chat.rs	REST API for the LLM-powered chat interface
server/src/http/health.rs	Returns a static "ok" response
server/src/http/io.rs	REST API for file and directory operations
server/src/http/model.rs	REST API for model selection and LLM provider management
server/src/http/oauth.rs	Anthropic OAuth callback and token exchange flow
server/src/http/project.rs	REST API for project initialization and context management
server/src/http/settings.rs	REST API for user preferences and editor configuration
server/src/http/wizard.rs	REST API for the project setup wizard
server/src/http/ws.rs	Real-time pipeline updates, chat, and permission prompts
server/src/http/test_helpers.rs	Shared test utilities for HTTP handler tests

HTTP — MCP Tools

File	Description
server/src/http/mcp/mod.rs	Model Context Protocol endpoint dispatching tool calls
server/src/http/mcp/agent_tools.rs	Start, stop, wait, list, and inspect agents via MCP
server/src/http/mcp/diagnostics.rs	Server logs, CRDT dump, and story movement helpers
server/src/http/mcp/git_tools.rs	Status, diff, add, commit, and log on agent worktrees
server/src/http/mcp/merge_tools.rs	Merge agent work to master and report failures
server/src/http/mcp/qa_tools.rs	Request, approve, and reject QA reviews
server/src/http/mcp/shell_tools.rs	Run commands, execute tests, and stream output
server/src/http/mcp/status_tools.rs	Pipeline status, story triage, and AC inspection
server/src/http/mcp/story_tools.rs	Create, update, move, and manage stories/bugs/refactors
server/src/http/mcp/wizard_tools.rs	Interactive setup wizard tool implementations

HTTP — Workflow

File	Description
server/src/http/workflow/mod.rs	Shared story/bug file operations for HTTP and MCP handlers
server/src/http/workflow/bug_ops.rs	Creates bug, refactor, and spike files in the pipeline
server/src/http/workflow/story_ops.rs	Creates, updates, and manages acceptance criteria in stories
server/src/http/workflow/test_results.rs	Writes structured test results into story markdown

I/O

File	Description
server/src/io/mod.rs	Filesystem, shell, search, onboarding, and story metadata operations
server/src/io/fs/mod.rs	Module declarations and re-exports for file operations
server/src/io/fs/files.rs	Read, write, list, and create files and directories
server/src/io/fs/paths.rs	Resolves CLI and session-relative paths to absolute paths
server/src/io/fs/preferences.rs	Reads and writes model selection and user settings
server/src/io/fs/project.rs	Tracks known projects and resolves the active project root
server/src/io/fs/scaffold.rs	Creates the .huskies/ directory structure and default files
server/src/io/onboarding.rs	Checks whether scaffold templates have been customized
server/src/io/search.rs	Full-text search across project files
server/src/io/shell.rs	Runs commands in the project directory and captures output
server/src/io/story_metadata.rs	Parses and modifies YAML front matter in story markdown
server/src/io/watcher.rs	Filesystem watcher for .huskies/work/ and project.toml
server/src/io/wizard.rs	Multi-step project onboarding flow with per-step status
server/src/io/test_helpers.rs	Shared test utilities for I/O module tests

Chat

File	Description
server/src/chat/mod.rs	Transport abstraction for chat platforms
server/src/chat/lookup.rs	Shared story-lookup helper for chat commands
server/src/chat/timer.rs	Deferred agent start via one-shot timers
server/src/chat/util.rs	Shared text utilities used by all transports
server/src/chat/test_helpers.rs	Shared test utilities for chat handler tests

Chat — Commands

File	Description
server/src/chat/commands/mod.rs	Bot-level command registry shared by all transports
server/src/chat/commands/ambient.rs	ambient command handler
server/src/chat/commands/assign.rs	assign command handler
server/src/chat/commands/backlog.rs	backlog command — shows only backlog-stage items
server/src/chat/commands/cost.rs	cost command handler
server/src/chat/commands/coverage.rs	coverage command — show or refresh test coverage
server/src/chat/commands/depends.rs	depends command handler
server/src/chat/commands/git.rs	git command handler
server/src/chat/commands/help.rs	help command handler
server/src/chat/commands/loc.rs	loc command — top source files by line count
server/src/chat/commands/move_story.rs	move command handler
server/src/chat/commands/overview.rs	overview command handler
server/src/chat/commands/run_tests.rs	test command — run the project's test suite
server/src/chat/commands/setup.rs	setup command handler
server/src/chat/commands/show.rs	show command handler
server/src/chat/commands/status.rs	status command and pipeline status helpers
server/src/chat/commands/timer.rs	timer command handler
server/src/chat/commands/triage.rs	Story triage dump subcommand of status
server/src/chat/commands/unblock.rs	unblock command handler
server/src/chat/commands/unreleased.rs	unreleased command handler

Chat — Matrix Transport

File	Description
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/mod.rs	Matrix bot integration
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/config.rs	Deserialization of bot.toml Matrix settings
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/commands.rs	Re-exports from crate::chat::commands
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/transport_impl.rs	Matrix ChatTransport implementation
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/assign.rs	Assign/re-assign a coder model to a story
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/delete.rs	Delete a story/bug/spike from the pipeline
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/htop.rs	Live-updating system and agent process dashboard
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/notifications.rs	Stage transition notifications for Matrix rooms
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/rebuild.rs	Trigger a server rebuild and restart
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/reset.rs	Clear the current Claude Code session for a room
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/rmtree.rs	Delete the worktree for a story
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/start.rs	Start a coder agent on a story

Chat — Matrix Bot

File	Description
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/bot/mod.rs	Sub-modules for the Matrix chat bot
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/bot/context.rs	Shared state (rooms, history, permissions)
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/bot/format.rs	Markdown-to-HTML conversion and startup announcements
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/bot/history.rs	Per-room message history for LLM context
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/bot/mentions.rs	Checks whether a message mentions the bot
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/bot/messages.rs	Processes incoming messages and dispatches commands
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/bot/run.rs	Connects to homeserver and processes sync events
server/src/chat/transport/matrix/bot/verification.rs	Interactive emoji verification flow for E2EE

Chat — Slack Transport

File	Description
server/src/chat/transport/slack/mod.rs	Slack Bot API integration
server/src/chat/transport/slack/commands.rs	Incoming message dispatch and slash command handling
server/src/chat/transport/slack/format.rs	Markdown to Slack mrkdwn conversion
server/src/chat/transport/slack/history.rs	Conversation history persistence
server/src/chat/transport/slack/meta.rs	ChatTransport implementation for Slack
server/src/chat/transport/slack/verify.rs	Request signature verification

Chat — Discord Transport

File	Description
server/src/chat/transport/discord/mod.rs	Discord Bot integration
server/src/chat/transport/discord/commands.rs	Incoming message dispatch and command handling
server/src/chat/transport/discord/format.rs	Markdown to Discord format conversion
server/src/chat/transport/discord/gateway.rs	Minimal Discord Gateway WebSocket client
server/src/chat/transport/discord/history.rs	Conversation history persistence
server/src/chat/transport/discord/meta.rs	ChatTransport implementation for Discord

Chat — WhatsApp Transport

File	Description
server/src/chat/transport/whatsapp/mod.rs	WhatsApp Business API integration
server/src/chat/transport/whatsapp/commands.rs	Processes incoming messages as bot commands
server/src/chat/transport/whatsapp/format.rs	Markdown-to-WhatsApp conversion and message chunking
server/src/chat/transport/whatsapp/history.rs	Per-number history and messaging window tracking
server/src/chat/transport/whatsapp/meta.rs	Meta Cloud API transport via Graph API
server/src/chat/transport/whatsapp/twilio.rs	Twilio transport for sending/receiving messages

Chat — Transport Abstraction

File	Description
server/src/chat/transport/mod.rs	Pluggable backends (Matrix, Slack, WhatsApp, Discord)

LLM

File	Description
server/src/llm/mod.rs	Chat orchestration, prompts, OAuth, and provider integrations
server/src/llm/chat.rs	Multi-turn conversations with tool-calling LLM providers
server/src/llm/oauth.rs	Token refresh and credential management for Claude API
server/src/llm/prompts.rs	Static prompt templates for chat and onboarding
server/src/llm/types.rs	Message, Role, ToolCall, ModelProvider types

LLM — Providers

File	Description
server/src/llm/providers/mod.rs	Module declarations for Anthropic, Claude Code, and Ollama
server/src/llm/providers/anthropic.rs	Streaming completion client for Claude Messages API
server/src/llm/providers/claude_code.rs	Runs Claude Code CLI in a PTY and parses output
server/src/llm/providers/ollama.rs	Streaming completion client for Ollama models

Utilities

File	Description
server/src/log_buffer.rs	Bounded in-memory ring buffer for server log output
server/src/rebuild.rs	Server rebuild and restart logic
server/src/workflow.rs	Test result tracking and acceptance evaluation
server/src/worktree.rs	Creates, lists, and removes git worktrees for agent isolation

License

GPL-3.0. See LICENSE.