autobeat

Autobeat: Autonomous Coding Agent Orchestration Framework

One goal in. Finished work out. No human in the loop.

beat orchestrate "Migrate the payment module to a standalone microservice with its own database, API, and test suite"

Autobeat gives you four composable primitives -delegation, eval loops, persistence, and resource management -and lets you wire them together however you want. Loops inside loops. Pipelines inside orchestrators. Agents spawning agents. The framework doesn't prescribe your workflow. It gives you the building blocks and gets out of the way.

The orchestrator mode is where it all comes together: a meta-agent that uses Autobeat's own tools recursively to break down goals, spawn workers, handle failures, and iterate until everything passes. Fully autonomous. Nothing else works like this.

How It Works

The orchestrator is a meta-agent -a coding agent whose tools are Autobeat's own primitives. Each iteration, it:

• Reads its persistent state file (plan, worker status, what passed, what failed)
• Breaks the goal into subtasks and delegates to worker agents
• Enforces execution ordering with task dependencies
• Creates eval loops for tasks that need verification
• Retries failed workers with enriched context from their logs
• Updates its state and continues until the goal is met or it determines it can't be

The orchestrator runs as a loop. Workers it spawns can themselves be loops. Loops all the way down.

Why This Architecture

Every other orchestration framework builds infrastructure the agent could do itself -worktree management, CI parsing, PR automation, inter-agent messaging. Every line of that code becomes technical debt as models improve.

Autobeat provides four primitives that agents can't do for themselves:

• Persistence -crash-proof SQLite state that survives restarts
• Delegation -spawn background agents with dependency ordering
• Eval loops -run, score, iterate until optimal
• Resource management -autoscaling workers, CPU/memory monitoring

Everything else -worktrees, CI, PRs, code review, testing, deployment -is the agent's job. As models get smarter, the framework automatically gets more powerful without changing a line of code.

Quick Start

Install

Add to your project's .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "autobeat": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "autobeat", "mcp", "start"]
    }
  }
}

Restart your MCP client to connect. Autobeat works with Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, Ollama, and any MCP-compatible agent.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20.0.0+
• At least one coding agent CLI installed (claude, codex, or gemini)

First Run

# Initialize — detects installed agents, sets defaults, installs agent skills
beat init

# Orchestrate -fire and forget
beat orchestrate "Add real-time collaborative editing to the document editor"

# Or run a single task in the foreground
beat run "Fix the failing test in parser.test.ts" -f

Orchestrate Mode

The flagship. One command, autonomous execution.

# Detached (default) -runs in the background
beat orchestrate "Set up a GraphQL API with subscriptions, pagination, and integration tests"

# Foreground -blocks and shows progress, Ctrl+C cancels
beat orchestrate "Migrate the database schema" --foreground

# Interactive -foreground TTY session with live output
beat orchestrate -i "Build the auth system"

# With options
beat orchestrate "Redesign the dashboard" \
  --agent claude \
  --max-workers 5 \
  --max-iterations 50 \
  --max-depth 3 \
  --system-prompt "Use functional patterns, no classes"

Custom Orchestrators

Scaffold a custom orchestrator with state file, exit condition, and system prompt:

beat orchestrate init "Migrate payments to microservice"

Monitor and Control

beat orchestrate status <id>     # Plan, steps, iteration count
beat orchestrate list             # All orchestrations
beat orchestrate cancel <id>     # Stop gracefully

Eval Loops

The Karpathy loop for coding agents. Run a task, evaluate the result, iterate until optimal.

Retry strategy -run until a condition passes:

beat loop "Fix the failing tests" --until "npm test"

Optimize strategy -score output, seek the best:

beat loop "Optimize the bundle size" \
  --eval "node measure-bundle.js" \
  --direction minimize \
  --max-iterations 10

Agent eval -let an AI judge the result instead of a shell command:

beat loop "Fix the failing tests" --eval-mode agent --strategy retry
beat loop "Optimize the algorithm" --eval-mode agent --strategy optimize --maximize \
  --eval-prompt "Score the solution on correctness and efficiency (0-100)"

Pipeline loops -repeat a multi-step workflow:

beat loop "Implement and verify the feature" \
  --pipeline \
  --step "Implement the changes" \
  --step "Run the test suite" \
  --step "Fix any failures" \
  --until "npm test"

Each iteration starts with fresh context by default. The loop tracks the best result, reverts failures, and stops when the exit condition is met or safety limits are hit.

Task Delegation

Spawn background coding agents with dependency ordering:

# Fire and forget
beat run "npm run build" --priority P1
# → task-abc123

# Chain with dependencies
beat run "npm test" --deps task-abc123
beat run "npm run deploy" --deps task-def456
# Execution: build → test → deploy

Session continuation passes output context through the chain:

const build = await DelegateTask({ prompt: "npm run build" });
const test = await DelegateTask({
  prompt: "npm test",
  dependsOn: [build.taskId],
  continueFrom: build.taskId  // receives build's checkpoint context
});

Multi-Agent Pipelines

Chain steps across different agents. Schedule them on cron.

# Sequential pipeline
beat pipeline "Design the API schema" \
  --step "Implement the endpoints" \
  --step "Write integration tests" \
  --step "Review for security issues"

# Scheduled pipeline -runs every day at 2am
beat schedule create "Run nightly checks" \
  --cron "0 2 * * *" \
  --pipeline \
  --step "Run the full test suite" \
  --step "Check for security vulnerabilities" \
  --step "Generate coverage report"

Each step can use a different agent, working directory, and priority.

Scheduling

# Cron schedule
beat schedule create "Backup the database" --cron "0 2 * * *" --timezone "America/New_York"

# One-time schedule
beat schedule create "Deploy to production" --at "2026-04-01T08:00:00Z"

# Manage
beat schedule list
beat schedule pause <id>
beat schedule resume <id>
beat schedule cancel <id>

Agent Configuration

Four agent runtimes are supported: Claude, Codex, Gemini, and Ollama (local LLMs). Each agent can be configured with an API key, base URL, default model, proxy, and runtime.

beat agents list                    # Show available agents
beat agents check                   # Auth status for all agents

API Keys

By default, agents use CLI login-based auth (e.g., claude login). To use your own API key instead:

beat agents config set claude apiKey "sk-ant-your-key"
beat agents config set codex apiKey "sk-your-openai-key"
beat agents config set gemini apiKey "your-gemini-key"

Auth resolution order: environment variable > stored config > CLI login.

Agent	Env var (highest priority)
claude	ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
codex	OPENAI_API_KEY
gemini	GEMINI_API_KEY

Model Selection

Set a default model per agent, or override per task:

# Default model for all Claude tasks
beat agents config set claude model "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250514"

# Override per task
beat run "Fix the tests" --agent claude --model "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250514"
beat orchestrate "Refactor auth" --agent claude --model "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250514"

Resolution order: per-task --model > agent config model > CLI default.

Custom Base URL

Route requests through a proxy, gateway, or local endpoint:

beat agents config set claude baseUrl "https://my-proxy.example.com/v1"
beat agents config set codex baseUrl "http://localhost:8080/v1"

Or via environment variables (takes precedence over config):

Agent	Env var
claude	ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL
codex	OPENAI_BASE_URL
gemini	GEMINI_BASE_URL

Note: Claude's login-based auth does not work with a custom baseUrl — you must also set an apiKey. Autobeat warns if baseUrl is set without one.

API Translation Proxy

Run Claude-targeting agents on any OpenAI-compatible backend (OpenRouter, Together, vLLM, etc.). The proxy translates Anthropic Messages API to OpenAI Chat Completions format transparently.

beat agents config set claude proxy openai
beat agents config set claude baseUrl "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
beat agents config set claude apiKey "sk-or-your-key"

Ollama Runtime

Wrap agent spawns with ollama launch for local LLM execution. The runtime manages the Ollama process lifecycle alongside the agent.

beat agents config set gemini runtime ollama
beat agents config set gemini model "llama3:8b"

Proxy and runtime are mutually exclusive — setting one clears the other.

Using Local LLMs

Most local inference servers (Ollama, llama.cpp, vLLM, LM Studio) expose an OpenAI-compatible API. Point the codex agent at your local server:

beat agents config set codex baseUrl "http://localhost:11434/v1"
beat agents config set codex apiKey "any-string"
beat agents config set codex model "llama3"

beat run --agent codex "Refactor the utils module"

Manage Config

beat agents config show              # Show all agent configs
beat agents config show claude       # Show config for one agent
beat agents config reset claude      # Clear all stored config for an agent

Config is stored in ~/.autobeat/config.json.

All MCP Tools

Tool	What It Does
CreateOrchestrator	Autonomous goal execution with worker management
OrchestratorStatus	Orchestration plan, steps, and iteration state
ListOrchestrators	List orchestrations with status filter
CancelOrchestrator	Cancel an orchestration and its workers
InitCustomOrchestrator	Scaffold a custom orchestrator (state file, exit condition, system prompt)
DelegateTask	Spawn a background coding agent
TaskStatus	Real-time task status
TaskLogs	Execution logs
CancelTask	Cancel with cleanup
RetryTask	Retry a task
ResumeTask	Resume from checkpoint
CreateLoop	Iterative eval loop (retry or optimize)
LoopStatus	Loop details and iteration history
ListLoops	List loops with status filter
CancelLoop	Cancel a loop
PauseLoop / ResumeLoop	Pause and resume loops
ScheduleLoop	Schedule a recurring loop
CreatePipeline	Sequential multi-step pipeline
PipelineStatus	Pipeline details and step progress
ListPipelines	List pipelines with status filter
CancelPipeline	Cancel a pipeline and its in-flight tasks
ScheduleTask	Cron or one-time task schedule
SchedulePipeline	Scheduled pipeline
ListSchedules / ScheduleStatus	Schedule management
PauseSchedule / ResumeSchedule	Schedule lifecycle
CancelSchedule	Cancel schedule and optionally in-flight tasks
ListAgents	List agents with auth status and config
ConfigureAgent	Check, set, or reset agent config (apiKey, baseUrl, model, proxy, runtime)

All CLI Commands

beat orchestrate <goal> [options]     Autonomous orchestration (detached)
beat orchestrate <goal> -f            Foreground orchestration
beat orchestrate -i <goal>            Interactive TTY session
beat orchestrate init <goal>          Scaffold custom orchestrator
beat orchestrate status <id>          Orchestration details
beat orchestrate list                 List orchestrations
beat orchestrate cancel <id>          Cancel orchestration

beat run <prompt> [options]           Single task (detached or -f foreground)
beat list                             List tasks
beat status [id]                      Task status
beat logs <id>                        Task logs
beat cancel <id>                      Cancel task
beat retry <id>                       Retry task
beat resume <id>                      Resume from checkpoint

beat loop <prompt> --until <cmd>      Retry loop
beat loop <prompt> --eval <cmd>       Optimize loop
beat loop list                        List loops
beat loop status <id>                 Loop details
beat loop pause <id>                  Pause loop
beat loop resume <id>                 Resume loop
beat loop cancel <id>                 Cancel loop

beat schedule create <prompt>         Create schedule
beat schedule list                    List schedules
beat schedule status <id>             Schedule details
beat schedule pause/resume/cancel     Schedule lifecycle

beat pipeline <prompt> --step ...     Create pipeline

beat agents list                      List available agents
beat agents check                     Auth status for all agents
beat agents config show [agent]       Show agent config
beat agents config set <agent> <key> <value>  Set agent config
beat agents config reset <agent>      Clear agent config

beat dashboard                        Interactive terminal dashboard
beat init                             Interactive setup
beat config show|set|reset|path       Configuration
beat help                             Help

Configuration

Configuration priority: environment variables > config file > defaults.

beat config show                    # Show resolved config
beat config set timeout 300000      # Set a value
beat config reset timeout           # Revert to default

Variable	Default	Description
TASK_TIMEOUT	1800000 (30min)	Task timeout in ms
MAX_OUTPUT_BUFFER	10485760 (10MB)	Output buffer size
CPU_CORES_RESERVED	2	CPU cores reserved for system
MEMORY_RESERVE	2684354560 (2.5GB)	Memory reserve in bytes
LOG_LEVEL	info	Logging verbosity

Architecture

Event-driven system with autoscaling workers and SQLite persistence. Components communicate through a central EventBus with specialized handlers.

Task Lifecycle: Queued → Running → Completed / Failed / Cancelled

Four agent runtimes: Claude, Codex, Gemini, and Ollama (local LLMs). API translation proxy enables cross-platform agent execution. Per-task agent selection. Crash recovery restores all in-flight work on restart.

See Architecture Documentation for details.

Development

npm run dev          # Development mode with auto-reload
npm run build        # Build TypeScript
npm run test:core    # Core tests (~3s)
npm run test:all     # Full suite (3,600+ tests)

See FEATURES.md for the complete feature list and ROADMAP.md for what's next.

License

MIT

Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Built with the Model Context Protocol SDK