delimit-cli

</> Delimit

Stop re-explaining your codebase every session. Memory, tasks, and governance that persist across Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and Gemini CLI.

Think and Build

The universal command for the Delimit Swarm. When you say "Think and Build", your AI agents (Claude, Codex, Gemini, Cursor) automatically deploy a background autonomous build loop that monitors your ledger, deliberates on strategy, and implements code while you focus on the architecture.

• "Think": Trigger multi-model deliberation and strategic dispatch.
• "Build": Activate the background daemon to execute tasks and verify gates.
• "Vault": Manage local secrets and API keys (AES-256 encrypted).

Works across any configuration — from a single model on a budget to an enterprise swarm of 4+ models.

Watch the demo · Multi-model deliberation · Website

Try it in 2 minutes

npx delimit-cli doctor            # 14 prescriptive checks — tells you exactly what to fix
npx delimit-cli status            # Visual dashboard of your entire governance setup
npx delimit-cli simulate          # Dry-run: see what would be blocked before you commit
npx delimit-cli scan              # Instant health grade for your API spec
npx delimit-cli try owner/repo    # Try governance on any GitHub repo

No API keys. No account. No config files.

Pick your first win

Protect my API — catch breaking changes before merge:

npx delimit-cli try
# Creates a sample API, introduces breaking changes, shows what gets blocked.
# Saves a governance report to delimit-report.md

Watch for drift — detect spec changes without review:

npx delimit-cli init        # Sets up governance + drift baseline
# Weekly drift checks run automatically via GitHub Action

Run PR copilot — governance gates on every pull request:

# .github/workflows/api-governance.yml
- uses: delimit-ai/delimit-action@v1
  with:
    spec: api/openapi.yaml
# Posts gate status, violations, and remediation in PR comments

What's New in v4.20

The highest state of AI governance.

• delimit doctor -- 14 prescriptive diagnostics. Every failure prints the exact command to fix it. --ci for pipelines, --fix for auto-repair.
• delimit simulate -- policy dry-run. See what would be blocked before you commit. The terraform plan for API governance.
• delimit status -- visual terminal dashboard. Policy, specs, hooks, CI, MCP, models, memory, ledger, evidence, git branch. --watch for live refresh.
• delimit report -- governance report. --since 7d --format md|html|json. Audit-friendly output for PRs and compliance.
• Memory hardening -- SHA-256 integrity hash + source model tag on every remember. Cross-model trust, verified on every recall.
• Tag-based publishing -- automated gateway sync, no more version drift between source and npm bundle.

Multi-Model Deliberation

Run your question through 4 AI models simultaneously. They debate each other until unanimous agreement.

delimit deliberate "Should we build rate limiting in-house or use a managed service?"

  Round 1 (independent):
    Claude:  Build in-house. Redis sliding window is 50 lines.
    Gemini:  Build. You already have Redis.
    Codex:   Agree — but add circuit breaker for Redis failures.
    Grok:    Build. Managed service costs $200/mo for 50 lines of code.

  Round 2 (deliberation):
    All models: AGREE

  UNANIMOUS CONSENSUS (2 rounds, confidence 94/100)
  Build rate limiting in-house with Redis + circuit breaker.

3 free deliberations, then BYOK for unlimited. Works with Grok, Gemini, Claude, GPT-4o.

v4.1

• TUI -- terminal-native Ventures panel, real delimit think and delimit build commands
• Security hardening -- notify.py stubbed in npm, axios pinned against supply chain attacks
• Free tier restructure -- deliberations use Gemini Flash + GPT-4o-mini (cost: <$20/mo)
• Zero-config onboarding -- auto-detect framework, scan, and first evidence in one command
• Auto-approve tools -- delimit setup configures permissions for Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini CLI

v4.0

• Toolcard Delta Cache -- SHA256 schema hashing, delta-only transmission, saves tokens
• Session Phoenix -- cross-model session resurrection with soul capture
• Handoff Receipts -- structured acknowledgment protocol between agents
• Cross-Model Audit -- 3 lenses (security, correctness, governance) with deterministic synthesis
• 4-model deliberation -- Claude + Grok + Gemini + Codex debate until consensus
• Universal Swarm Triggers -- "Think and Build", "Keep building", "Ask Delimit"
• 187 MCP tools -- governance, context, shipping, observability, orchestration, and swarm

GitHub Action

Zero-config -- auto-detects your OpenAPI spec:

- uses: delimit-ai/delimit-action@v1

Or with full configuration:

name: API Contract Check
on: pull_request

jobs:
  delimit:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      pull-requests: write
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - uses: delimit-ai/delimit-action@v1
        with:
          spec: api/openapi.yaml

That's it. Delimit auto-fetches the base branch spec, diffs it, and posts a PR comment with breaking changes, semver classification, migration guides, and governance gate results.

View on GitHub Marketplace | See a live demo (23 breaking changes)

Example PR comment

Breaking Changes Detected

Change	Path	Severity
endpoint_removed	DELETE /pets/{petId}	error
type_changed	/pets:GET:200[].id (string -> integer)	warning
enum_value_removed	/pets:GET:200[].status	warning

Semver: MAJOR (1.0.0 -> 2.0.0)

Migration Guide: 3 steps to update your integration

Governance Gates

Gate	Status	Chain
API Lint	Pass/Fail	lint -> semver -> gov_evaluate
Policy Compliance	Pass/Fail	policy -> evidence_collect
Security Audit	Pass	security_audit -> evidence_collect
Deploy Readiness	Ready/Blocked	deploy_plan -> security_audit

CLI commands

npx delimit-cli scan                             # Instant spec health grade + recommendations
npx delimit-cli pr owner/repo#123                # Review any GitHub PR for breaking changes
npx delimit-cli quickstart                       # Clone demo project + guided walkthrough
npx delimit-cli try                              # Zero-risk demo — saves governance report
npx delimit-cli demo                             # Self-contained governance demo
npx delimit-cli init                             # Guided wizard with compliance templates
npx delimit-cli init --preset strict             # Initialize with strict policy
npx delimit-cli setup                            # Install into all AI assistants
npx delimit-cli setup --dry-run                  # Preview changes first
npx delimit-cli lint api/openapi.yaml            # Check for breaking changes
npx delimit-cli diff old.yaml new.yaml           # Compare two specs
npx delimit-cli explain old.yaml new.yaml        # Generate migration guide
npx delimit-cli check                            # Pre-commit governance check
npx delimit-cli check --staged --fix             # Check staged files + show guidance
npx delimit-cli hooks install                    # Install git pre-commit hook
npx delimit-cli hooks install --pre-push         # Also add pre-push hook
npx delimit-cli ci                               # Generate GitHub Action workflow
npx delimit-cli ci --strict --dry-run            # Preview strict workflow
npx delimit-cli remember "Redis uses JWT 15min"   # Save a persistent memory
npx delimit-cli recall redis                     # Search memories
npx delimit-cli recall                           # Show recent memories
npx delimit-cli recall --tag deploy --all        # Filter by tag, show all
npx delimit-cli recall --export                  # Export as markdown
npx delimit-cli forget abc123                    # Delete a memory by ID
npx delimit-cli models                            # Configure deliberation API keys (BYOK wizard)
npx delimit-cli models --status                   # Show current model config
npx delimit-cli status                           # Compact dashboard of your Delimit setup
npx delimit-cli doctor                           # Check setup health
npx delimit-cli uninstall --dry-run              # Preview removal

What the MCP toolkit adds

When installed into your AI coding assistant, Delimit provides tools across two tiers:

Free (no account needed)

• API governance -- lint, diff, policy enforcement, semver classification
• Persistent ledger -- track tasks across sessions, shared between all AI assistants
• Zero-spec extraction -- generate OpenAPI specs from FastAPI, Express, or NestJS source
• Project scan -- auto-detect specs, frameworks, security issues, and tests
• Quickstart -- guided first-run that proves value in 60 seconds

Pro

• Multi-model deliberation -- AI models debate until they agree (free: Gemini Flash + GPT-4o-mini; BYOK: any models)
• Security audit -- dependency scanning, secret detection, SAST analysis
• Test verification -- confirms tests ran, measures coverage, generates new tests
• Memory & vault -- persistent context and encrypted secrets across sessions
• Evidence collection -- governance audit trail for compliance
• Deploy pipeline -- governed build, publish, and rollback
• OS layer -- agent identity, execution plans, approval gates

What It Detects

27 change types (17 breaking, 10 non-breaking) -- deterministic rules, not AI inference. Same input always produces the same result.

Breaking Changes

#	Change Type	Example
1	endpoint_removed	DELETE /users/{id} removed entirely
2	method_removed	PATCH /orders no longer exists
3	required_param_added	New required header on GET /items
4	param_removed	sort query parameter removed
5	response_removed	200 OK response dropped
6	required_field_added	Request body now requires tenant_id
7	field_removed	email dropped from response object
8	type_changed	id went from string to integer
9	format_changed	date-time changed to date
10	enum_value_removed	status: "pending" no longer valid
11	param_type_changed	Query param limit changed from integer to string
12	param_required_changed	filter param became required
13	response_type_changed	Response data changed from array to object
14	security_removed	OAuth2 security scheme removed
15	security_scope_removed	write:pets scope removed from OAuth2
16	max_length_decreased	name maxLength reduced from 255 to 100
17	min_length_increased	code minLength increased from 1 to 5

Non-Breaking Changes

#	Change Type	Example
18	endpoint_added	New POST /webhooks endpoint
19	method_added	PATCH /users/{id} method added
20	optional_param_added	Optional format query param added
21	response_added	201 Created response added
22	optional_field_added	Optional nickname field added to response
23	enum_value_added	status: "archived" value added
24	description_changed	Updated description for /health endpoint
25	security_added	API key security scheme added
26	deprecated_added	GET /v1/users marked as deprecated
27	default_changed	Default value for page_size changed from 10 to 20

Policy presets

npx delimit-cli init --preset strict    # All violations are errors
npx delimit-cli init --preset default   # Balanced (default)
npx delimit-cli init --preset relaxed   # All violations are warnings

Or write custom rules in .delimit/policies.yml:

rules:
  - id: freeze_v1
    name: Freeze V1 API
    change_types: [endpoint_removed, method_removed, field_removed]
    severity: error
    action: forbid
    conditions:
      path_pattern: "^/v1/.*"
    message: "V1 API is frozen. Changes must be made in V2."

Supported formats

• OpenAPI 3.0 and 3.1
• Swagger 2.0
• YAML and JSON

FAQ

How does this compare to Obsidian Mind?

Obsidian Mind is a great Obsidian vault template for Claude Code users who want persistent memory via markdown files. Delimit takes a different approach: it's an MCP server that works across Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, and Cursor. Your memory, ledger, and governance travel with you when you switch models. Delimit also adds API governance (27-type breaking change detection), CI gates, git hooks, and policy enforcement that Obsidian Mind doesn't cover. Use Obsidian Mind if you're all-in on Claude + Obsidian. Use Delimit if you switch between models or need governance.

Does this work without Claude Code?

Yes. Delimit works with Claude Code, Codex (OpenAI), Gemini CLI (Google), and Cursor. The remember/recall commands work standalone with zero config. The MCP server integrates with any client that supports the Model Context Protocol.

Is this free?

The free tier includes API governance, persistent memory, zero-spec extraction, project scanning, and 3 multi-model deliberations. Pro ($10/mo) adds unlimited deliberation, security audit, test verification, deploy pipeline, and agent orchestration.

Links

• delimit.ai -- homepage
• Dashboard -- governance console
• Docs -- full documentation
• GitHub Action -- Marketplace listing
• Quickstart -- try it in 2 minutes
• npm -- CLI package
• Pricing -- free tier + Pro

MIT License