agent-deck

What this skill does

# Agent Deck

Terminal session manager for AI coding agents. Built with Go + Bubble Tea.

**Repo:** [github.com/asheshgoplani/agent-deck](https://github.com/asheshgoplani/agent-deck) | **Discord:** [discord.gg/e4xSs6NBN8](https://discord.gg/e4xSs6NBN8)

> Run `agent-deck --version` for your installed version. This skill targets v1.9+ but most patterns work back to v1.7.

## Script Path Resolution (IMPORTANT)

This skill includes helper scripts in its `scripts/` subdirectory. When Claude Code loads this skill, it shows a line like:

```
Base directory for this skill: /path/to/.../skills/agent-deck
```

**You MUST use that base directory path to resolve all script references.** Store it as `SKILL_DIR`:

```bash
# Set SKILL_DIR to the base directory shown when this skill was loaded
SKILL_DIR="/path/shown/in/base-directory-line"

# Then run scripts as:
$SKILL_DIR/scripts/launch-subagent.sh "Title" "Prompt" --wait
```

**Common mistake:** Do NOT use `<project-root>/scripts/launch-subagent.sh`. The scripts live inside the skill's own directory (plugin cache or project skills folder), NOT in the user's project root.

**For plugin users**, the path looks like: `~/.claude/plugins/cache/agent-deck/agent-deck/<hash>/skills/agent-deck/scripts/`
**For local development**, the path looks like: `<repo>/skills/agent-deck/scripts/`

## Quick Start

```bash
# Launch TUI
agent-deck

# Create and start a session
agent-deck add -t "Project" -c claude /path/to/project
agent-deck session start "Project"

# Send message and get output
agent-deck session send "Project" "Analyze this codebase"
agent-deck session output "Project"
```

## Capabilities

What agent-deck does, at the noun level (independent of which surface — CLI / TUI / Web UI — you reach it through). Each row maps to one or more commands, keystrokes, or screens. For full surface coverage and per-row known issues, see your conductor's `CAPABILITIES.md` (generated by the Self-Improvement workflow below).

| Capability | What it does | Surfaces |
|---|---|---|
| **Manage sessions** | Create, start, stop, restart, fork, send, output, remove a session | CLI ✅ · TUI ✅ · Web UI 🟡 |
| **Sub-agent / worker spawning** | `agent-deck launch` a child Claude session with parent linkage and inherited `--add-dir` | CLI ✅ · TUI ⚪ |
| **Manage conductors** | Set up long-lived orchestrators with their own profile + channel + heartbeat | CLI ✅ · TUI 🟡 |
| **Manage groups** | Move / delete groups; organize sessions hierarchically | CLI ✅ · TUI ✅ |
| **Manage watchers** | Install / configure event-driven adapters (Gmail, GitHub, ntfy) — doorbell-not-messenger | CLI ✅ · TUI ✅ |
| **Heartbeat orchestration** | Cron / ScheduleWakeup feeding the conductor periodic system-state nudges | CLI ✅ |
| **Worktree workflows** | `--worktree` to create isolated git-worktree-backed sessions for parallel branch work | CLI ✅ |
| **Channel routing** | Telegram / Slack inbound delivery to the right conductor, with `--channels` per-session binding | CLI ✅ |
| **Attach MCPs** | Per-session or global MCP plugin attach / detach / status, with optional pooling | CLI ✅ · TUI ✅ · Web UI ⚪ |
| **Attach skills** | Pool-based on-demand skill loading per Claude session | CLI ✅ · TUI ✅ |
| **Session-metadata mutation** | `session set` for `claude-session-id`, `path`, `wrapper`, `channels`, `parent`; `session unset-parent` | CLI ✅ |
| **State persistence** | `state.json` + `task-log.md` + `LEARNINGS.md` + `HANDOFF.md` survive Claude Code compaction/restart | CLI ✅ |
| **GitHub pipeline oversight** | Conductor-driven release flow: PR merge → tag → goreleaser → release | CLI ✅ |
| **Remote sessions** | SSH-based remote register / list / attach across hosts | CLI ✅ |
| **Session sharing** | Export / import a Claude conversation for handoff between developers | CLI ✅ |
| **Consult another agent** | Launch a Codex / Gemini sub-agent for a second opinion | CLI ✅ |
| **Profile-scoped operation** | `-p <profile>` separation between personal and work auth | CLI ✅ · TUI ✅ |
| **Self-improvement** | Analyze your conductor's own transcripts → surface bugs / patterns / capabilities, file GH issues with privacy guards | CLI ✅ |

Status legend: ✅ verified, 🟡 partial, 🔴 known broken, ⚪ unknown. To update for your own machine, see [Self-Improvement](#self-improvement) below.

## Essential Commands

| Command | Purpose |
|---------|---------|
| `agent-deck` | Launch interactive TUI |
| `agent-deck add -t "Name" -c claude /path` | Create session |
| `agent-deck session start/stop/restart <name>` | Control session |
| `agent-deck session send <name> "message"` | Send message |
| `agent-deck session output <name>` | Get last response |
| `agent-deck session current [-q\|--json]` | Auto-detect current session |
| `agent-deck session fork <name>` | Fork Claude/Pi conversation |
| `agent-deck mcp list` | List available MCPs |
| `agent-deck mcp attach <name> <mcp>` | Attach MCP (then restart) |
| `agent-deck status` | Quick status summary |
| `agent-deck add --worktree <branch>` | Create session in git worktree |
| `agent-deck worktree list` | List worktrees with sessions |
| `agent-deck worktree cleanup` | Find orphaned worktrees/sessions |
| `agent-deck feedback` | Submit feedback (opens rating prompt + optional comment) |

**Status:** `●` running | `◐` waiting | `○` idle | `✕` error

## Sub-Agent Launch

**Use when:** User says "launch sub-agent", "create sub-agent", "spawn agent"

```bash
$SKILL_DIR/scripts/launch-subagent.sh "Title" "Prompt" [--mcp name] [--wait]
```

The script auto-detects current session/profile and creates a child session.

### Retrieval Modes

| Mode | Command | Use When |
|------|---------|----------|
| **Fire & forget** | (no --wait) | Default. Tell user: "Ask me to check when ready" |
| **On-demand** | `agent-deck session output "Title"` | User asks to check |
| **Blocking** | `--wait` flag | Need immediate result |

### Recommended MCPs

| Task Type | MCPs |
|-----------|------|
| Web research | `exa`, `firecrawl` |
| Code documentation | `context7` |
| Complex reasoning | `sequential-thinking` |

### Worker Prompt Conventions

When the prompt asks the worker to `Edit` or `Write` any **existing** file, include an explicit **prelude-read** as the first step. Claude Code's tool guard rejects `Edit`/`Write` before `Read` of the same path, and conductor-spawned workers hit this mid-task (#968) when their prompt jumps straight into the change. The interruption forces the worker to backfill reads inside its main loop, breaking flow and burning cycles.

**Template skeleton — bake this into every worker prompt that mutates code:**

```
## Step 0 — Prelude reads
Read every file you intend to Edit/Write below. Read calls are cheap
and do NOT count against scope discipline; they prevent tool-guard
interruptions mid-task. Skip only for paths that will be created fresh.

Files to read first:
  - <path/to/file/you/will/edit>
  - <path/to/other/file/you/will/edit>

## Step 1 — Investigation
…

## Step 2 — Implementation
…
```

**Rules:**
- Any file the worker will modify: prelude `Read` it first, even if the worker "knows" the contents.
- Brand-new files (`Write` to a path that does not yet exist): no prelude needed — the guard only applies to modifications.
- For conductor nudges that re-fire the same prompt across cycles, keep Step 0 in the prompt. The second-cycle process may not have prior reads in context.

### Completion sentinel (trustworthy "worker finished" signal, #1186)

A worker's `Stop` hook fires at the end of *every* turn, so "waiting" never means "done" — the conductor would otherwise have to poll RESULTS files / `gh pr` / `session output` to know a task actually finished. Instead, instruct every worker to **assert completion** by ending its final turn with a single machine-greppable line:

```
===AGENTDECK_DONE=== status=<ok|fail> summary=<one line to end of line>
```

agent-deck detects this on the `Stop` edge (scanning the transcript tail) and emit