Ouroboros

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Q00/ouroboros/main/scripts/install.sh | OUROBOROS_INSTALL_REF=readme-hero bash

Turn a vague idea into a verified, working codebase -- across Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, Hermes, Gemini, Kiro, Copilot, Pi, Zcode, Goose, GJC, Antigravity, and Grok.

Ouroboros is an Agent OS for AI coding: a local-first runtime layer that turns non-deterministic agent work into a replayable, observable, policy-bound execution contract. It replaces ad-hoc prompting with a structured specification-first workflow: interview, crystallize, execute, evaluate, evolve.

The Ouroboros Agent OS Stack

Like any OS, Ouroboros is split into a stable OS layer of primitives, an application layer of domain workflows, and a shell that humans actually sit in front of. Three repos, one stack:

How they connect:

  ourocode  ──►  ooo / ouroboros-plugins  ──►  ouroboros core (Seed · Ledger · MCP · Runtime)
   shell             user-level apps                        kernel

• The kernel (ouroboros) owns the contract: every action becomes a Seed-bound, ledger-recorded, replayable event — regardless of which LLM executes it.

• Plugins (ouroboros-plugins) declare scoped capabilities against that contract, so domain workflows (review a PR, triage a Linear ticket, run a release) stay auditable and policy-bound instead of being one-off prompts.

• Ourocode is the terminal shell: it surfaces MCP state, interview questions, and wonderTool decisions as first-class TUI elements, so you can drive the OS without leaving the keyboard or switching between CLIs.

Use ouroboros alone with any supported CLI, layer plugins on for domain workflows, or install ourocode when you want a unified terminal cockpit.

Disclaimer. The Ouroboros project and community are not affiliated with any cryptocurrency, token, memecoin, or trading community — including, but not limited to, any "ouroboros" tickers on pump.fun or other launchpads. This is an open-source developer tool. We do not issue, endorse, or hold any coins. Any token claiming association with this project is unauthorized.

Naming note. A separate, unaffiliated open-source project also uses the name "Ouroboros" — Anton Razzhigaev's self-modifying, autonomous-memory agent at github.com/razzant/ouroboros. No shared code, no relationship. This project locks a specification before executing rather than rewriting its own architecture; if you're looking for the latter, that's the other one.

Related MCP server: MIDAS

Why Ouroboros?

Most AI coding fails at the input, not the output. The bottleneck is not AI capability -- it is human clarity.

Quick Start

Install — one command, everything auto-detected:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Q00/ouroboros/main/scripts/install.sh | OUROBOROS_INSTALL_REF=readme bash

First command — open your AI coding agent and run these in order:

> ooo setup
> ooo interview "I want to build a task management CLI"

ooo setup is a one-time configuration step. ooo interview is the first workflow command and starts the Socratic interview. After setup, Codex follows its currently selected model and Claude Code starts with its recommended model settings. Choose Directly configure models only when you want to pin a stage to a specific model; it opens the local settings screen in your browser. You can return to those settings any time with ooo config.

Or from a plain terminal, without an agent host:

$ ouroboros init start --orchestrator "I want to build a task management CLI tool"

Works with Claude Code, Codex CLI, GitHub Copilot CLI, OpenCode, Hermes, Gemini, Kiro CLI, Pi CLI, Zcode, Goose, GJC, Antigravity CLI, and Grok Build CLI. The installer detects available runtimes and registers the MCP server where the host supports it. For explicit selection, run ouroboros setup --runtime <opencode|kiro|copilot|gemini|pi|zcode|goose|gjc|antigravity|grok> after installation. Copilot live-discovers its subscription catalog via the GitHub Copilot models API; Kiro's settings picker queries the authenticated CLI with kiro-cli chat --listmodels -f json, so account and enterprise allow-list changes appear without a hardcoded model table.

DeepSeek support. Ouroboros speaks DeepSeek two ways. Point the interview/Seed/QA pipeline at DeepSeek's own models with --llm-backend dsh (ouroboros mcp serve --runtime claude-cli --llm-backend dsh, or OUROBOROS_LLM_BACKEND=dsh) — this drives DeepSeek Harness's ACP server under the hood. Or go the other way: install the dsh-ouroboros plugin (dsh plugin --profile <your-profile> add "github:Q00/ouroboros#main&path:integrations/dsh-plugin") and type ooo interview / ooo auto directly in the DeepSeek Harness chat — the same ouroboros_interview / ouroboros_auto tools run natively inside it, Socratic questions and all. Both directions, including what the dsh backend needs beyond the one variable, are in the DeepSeek Harness guide.

Needs codex on your PATH and uvx on the host (the plugin's MCP descriptor launches the server with it). Install uv with pipx install uv, pip install --user uv, or brew install uv.

codex plugin marketplace add Q00/ouroboros
codex plugin add ouroboros@ouroboros

Start a new Codex session, then run these commands in order:

ooo setup
ooo interview "Build a task management CLI"

ooo setup is the one-time runtime preparation. Once ready, Ouroboros follows Codex's current default model; choose Directly configure models only when you want to pin a specific model for a pipeline stage.

pipx install 'ouroboros-ai[mcp]'       # or: uv tool install 'ouroboros-ai[mcp]'
ouroboros setup --runtime kiro         # detects Kiro CLI, registers MCP server, and
                                        # writes OUROBOROS_RUNTIME=kiro into
                                        # ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json (the trusted,
                                        # setup-managed location -- a project .env
                                        # is untrusted input and this key is ignored there)

Then use ooo commands inside a Kiro CLI session.

gh auth login                                # one-time GitHub auth (used for live model discovery)
pipx install 'ouroboros-ai[mcp]'             # or: uv tool install 'ouroboros-ai[mcp]'
ouroboros setup --runtime copilot            # discovers models live, picks a default,
                                             # registers MCP server in ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json

Restart your Copilot CLI session, then use ooo commands inside it. Model-ID mapping is catalog-gated: the current direct and OpenRouter Opus defaults resolve to Copilot's published claude-opus-5, while legacy Anthropic versions convert only their trailing numeric separator and only when the discovered catalog contains the exact candidate. Unknown IDs remain unchanged so Copilot reports an explicit unavailable-model error instead of silently selecting a different model. Leave role models unset so setup writes a discovered ID, or set a Copilot-valid ID explicitly. See the Copilot runtime guide.

See the GitHub Copilot CLI runtime guide for full details.

Claude Code plugin only (no Python package or global Python to install; the host needs uv, which provides both uvx for the MCP server and the skills' Python >= 3.12 fallback):

claude plugin marketplace add Q00/ouroboros && claude plugin install ouroboros@ouroboros

Then run ooo setup inside a Claude Code session.

pip / uv / pipx:

pip install 'ouroboros-ai[mcp,tui]' && ouroboros setup --runtime claude-cli  # recommended MCP v2 default
pip install 'ouroboros-ai[claude]'      # Claude Agent SDK profile (MCP 1.x, isolated)
pip install 'ouroboros-ai[claude-cli]'  # dependency-free Claude CLI worker
pip install 'ouroboros-ai[claude-sdk]'  # explicit alias for the Claude SDK profile
pip install 'ouroboros-ai[litellm]'     # + LiteLLM multi-provider; Python 3.12-3.13
pip install 'ouroboros-ai[mcp]'         # MCP v2 server/client without the GUI
pip install 'ouroboros-ai[tui]'         # settings GUI only
pip install 'ouroboros-ai[all]'         # MCP 1.x app bundle; excludes MCP 2 by design
ouroboros setup                         # configure runtime

Core and non-LiteLLM installs support Python 3.12-3.14. LiteLLM-bearing installs ([litellm], [all], and source --extra all) support Python 3.12-3.13; use Python 3.13 for current examples. See Platform Support.

The recommended standalone installation is ouroboros-ai[mcp,tui] followed by an explicit MCP v2-compatible runtime selection. The example uses --runtime claude-cli; substitute another compatible runtime such as codex, opencode, hermes, gemini, goose, kiro, copilot, pi, or gjc. Use [claude] and [claude-sdk] only in isolated MCP 1.x environments.

pip install 'ouroboros-ai[mcp]' is valid for embedding the MCP client/server library in an already isolated Python environment, but host registration requires uvx --isolated --python '>=3.12' or pipx. Use pipx install 'ouroboros-ai[mcp]' or uv tool install 'ouroboros-ai[mcp]' before ouroboros setup --runtime <claude-cli|codex|opencode|hermes|gemini|goose|kiro|copilot|pi|gjc>; setup exits without changing runtime configuration when neither isolated launcher is available.

Legacy compatibility: ouroboros-ai[dashboard] is still accepted as a compatibility alias/no-op; it does not install dashboard runtime payload. ouroboros-ai[all] includes that no-op alias only for compatibility.

Homebrew (macOS/Linux):

brew tap q00/tap
brew install ouroboros-ai
ouroboros setup                         # configure runtime

Self-hosted tap, not yet in homebrew-core. Installs the same package published to PyPI.

See runtime guides: Claude Code · Codex CLI · Hermes · OpenCode · Kiro CLI · Gemini CLI · GitHub Copilot CLI · Zcode · Pi JSON mode · Goose · GJC · Antigravity CLI · Grok Build CLI

ouroboros uninstall

Removes all configuration, MCP registration, and data. See UNINSTALL.md for details.

Python >= 3.12 required. LiteLLM-bearing profiles support Python 3.12-3.13. See Platform Support and pyproject.toml.

Installing as an MCP server: use 0.51.1 or later. Earlier versions can fail at startup with Failed to reconnect to plugin:ouroboros:ouroboros: -32000 when an existing environment shadows the [mcp] profile (#2012). This matters if you install through a downstream package rather than PyPI, since those can lag.

What You Get

After one loop of the Ouroboros cycle, a vague idea becomes a verified codebase:

interview  ->  Socratic questioning exposed 12 hidden assumptions
seed       ->  Crystallized answers into an immutable spec (Ambiguity: 0.15)
run        ->  Executed via Double Diamond decomposition
evaluate   ->  3-stage verification: Mechanical -> Semantic -> Consensus

Use ooo <cmd> inside your AI coding agent session, or ouroboros init start, ouroboros run seed.yaml, etc. from the terminal.

The serpent completed one loop. Each loop, it knows more than the last.

How It Compares

AI coding tools are powerful -- but they solve the wrong problem when the input is unclear.

The Loop

The ouroboros -- a serpent devouring its own tail -- is not decoration. It IS the architecture:

    Interview -> Seed -> Execute -> Evaluate
        ^                           |
        +---- Evolutionary Loop ----+

Each cycle does not repeat -- it evolves. The output of evaluation feeds back as input for the next generation, until the system truly knows what it is building.

"This is where the Ouroboros eats its tail: the output of evaluation becomes the input for the next generation's seed specification." -- reflect.py

Convergence is reached when ontology similarity >= 0.95 -- when the system has questioned itself into clarity.

Ralph: The Loop That Never Stops

ooo ralph runs the evolutionary loop persistently -- across session boundaries -- until convergence is reached. Each step is stateless: the EventStore reconstructs the full lineage, so even if your machine restarts, the serpent picks up where it left off.

Ralph Cycle 1: evolve_step(lineage, seed) -> Gen 1 -> action=CONTINUE
Ralph Cycle 2: evolve_step(lineage)       -> Gen 2 -> action=CONTINUE
Ralph Cycle 3: evolve_step(lineage)       -> Gen 3 -> action=CONVERGED
                                                +-- Ralph stops.
                                                    The ontology has stabilized.

Commands

Inside AI coding agent sessions, use ooo <cmd> skills. From the terminal, use the ouroboros CLI.

Not all skills have direct CLI equivalents. Some (evaluate, evolve, unstuck, ralph, publish) are available through agent skills, runtime rules, or MCP tools rather than a direct ouroboros <subcommand> shell command. /resume is reserved for Claude Code's built-in session picker; use ooo resume-session for Ouroboros in-flight sessions. Claude Code also reserves /run, /status, /help, and /config. The safe direct skill forms are /ouroboros:ouroboros-run, /ouroboros:ouroboros-status, /ouroboros:ouroboros-help, and /ouroboros:ouroboros-config; the familiar ooo run, ooo status, ooo help, and ooo config phrases remain supported.

See the CLI reference for full details.

The Nine Minds

Nine highlighted agents below, with 12 more specialized agents available (21 total). All loaded on-demand, never preloaded:

Under the Hood

src/ouroboros/
+-- bigbang/        Interview, ambiguity scoring, brownfield explorer
+-- routing/        PAL Router -- 3-tier cost optimization (1x / 10x / 30x)
+-- execution/      (deprecated — logic moved to orchestrator/ and mcp/tools/)
+-- evaluation/     Mechanical -> Semantic -> Multi-Model Consensus
+-- evolution/      Wonder / Reflect cycle, convergence detection
+-- resilience/     4-pattern stagnation detection, 5 lateral personas
+-- observability/  3-component drift measurement, auto-retrospective
+-- persistence/    Event sourcing (SQLAlchemy + aiosqlite), checkpoints
+-- orchestrator/   Runtime abstraction layer (Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, Hermes, Gemini, Kiro, Copilot, Pi, GJC, Goose, Antigravity, Grok, Zcode)
+-- core/           Types, errors, seed, ontology, security
+-- providers/      LiteLLM adapter (100+ models)
+-- mcp/            MCP client/server integration
+-- plugin/         Plugin system (skill/agent auto-discovery)
+-- tui/            Terminal UI dashboard
+-- cli/            Typer-based CLI

Key internals:

• PAL Router -- Frugal (1x) -> Standard (10x) -> Frontier (30x) with auto-escalation on failure, auto-downgrade on success

• Drift -- Goal (50%) + Constraint (30%) + Ontology (20%) weighted measurement, threshold <= 0.3

• Brownfield -- Auto-detects config files across multiple language ecosystems

• Evolution -- Up to 30 generations, convergence at ontology similarity >= 0.95

• Stagnation -- Detects spinning, oscillation, no-drift, and diminishing returns patterns

• Agent OS runtime -- Replayable execution contract across capability discovery, policy, directives, event journal, and agent processes

• Runtime backends -- Pluggable abstraction layer (orchestrator.runtime_backend config) with first-class support for Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode, Hermes, Gemini, Goose, Kiro, Copilot, and Pi; same workflow spec, different execution engines

See Architecture for the full design document.

From Wonder to Ontology

Wonder -> "How should I live?" -> "What IS 'live'?" -> Ontology -- Socrates

Every great question leads to a deeper question -- and that deeper question is always ontological: not "how do I do this?" but "what IS this, really?"

   Wonder                          Ontology
"What do I want?"    ->    "What IS the thing I want?"
"Build a task CLI"   ->    "What IS a task? What IS priority?"
"Fix the auth bug"   ->    "Is this the root cause, or a symptom?"

This is not abstraction for its own sake. When you answer "What IS a task?" -- deletable or archivable? solo or team? -- you eliminate an entire class of rework. The ontological question is the most practical question.

Ouroboros embeds this into its architecture through the Double Diamond:

    * Wonder          * Design
   /  (diverge)      /  (diverge)
  /    explore      /    create
 /                 /
* ------------ * ------------ *
 \                 \
  \    define       \    deliver
   \  (converge)     \  (converge)
    * Ontology        * Evaluation

The first diamond is Socratic: diverge into questions, converge into ontological clarity. The second diamond is pragmatic: diverge into design options, converge into verified delivery. Each diamond requires the one before it -- you cannot design what you have not understood.

The Interview does not end when you feel ready -- it ends when the math says you are ready. Ouroboros quantifies ambiguity as the inverse of weighted clarity:

Ambiguity = 1 - Sum(clarity_i * weight_i)

Each dimension is scored 0.0-1.0 by the LLM (temperature 0.1 for reproducibility), then weighted:

Threshold: Ambiguity <= 0.2. A score above that blocks Seed generation. Passing force explicitly is what gets past it, and the CLI puts that choice on screen next to continue and cancel. The gate is a default worth arguing with, not a lock.

Example (Greenfield):

  Goal: 0.9 * 0.4  = 0.36
  Constraint: 0.8 * 0.3  = 0.24
  Success: 0.7 * 0.3  = 0.21
                        ------
  Clarity             = 0.81
  Ambiguity = 1 - 0.81 = 0.19  <= 0.2 -> Ready for Seed

Why 0.2? Because at 80% weighted clarity, the remaining unknowns are small enough that code-level decisions can resolve them. Above that threshold, you are still guessing at architecture.

The evolutionary loop does not run forever. It stops when consecutive generations produce ontologically identical schemas. Similarity is measured as a weighted comparison of schema fields:

Similarity = 0.5 * name_overlap + 0.3 * type_match + 0.2 * exact_match

Threshold: Similarity >= 0.95 -- the loop converges and stops evolving.

But raw similarity is not the only signal. The system also detects pathological patterns:

Gen 1: {Task, Priority, Status}
Gen 2: {Task, Priority, Status, DueDate}     -> similarity 0.78 -> CONTINUE
Gen 3: {Task, Priority, Status, DueDate}     -> similarity 1.00 -> CONVERGED

Two mathematical gates, one philosophy: do not build until you are clear (Ambiguity <= 0.2), do not stop evolving until you are stable (Similarity >= 0.95).

Contributing

git clone https://github.com/Q00/ouroboros
cd ouroboros
uv sync --python 3.13 --all-groups
uv run --python 3.13 --no-sync pytest

Issues · Discussions · Contributing Guide

Sponsors

Ouroboros is MIT-licensed and built in the open. If it saves you rework — or you want the loop to keep evolving — consider sponsoring. Sponsorship directly funds maintenance, new runtime integrations, and sponsor-only deep-dive content.

Every sponsor keeps the serpent evolving. Thank you.

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