Autonomous coding agent with web UI - build complete apps with AI
npm install autoforge-aibash
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
`
Windows (PowerShell):
`powershell
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex
`
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You need one of the following:
- Claude Pro/Max Subscription - Use claude login to authenticate (recommended)
- Anthropic API Key - Pay-per-use from https://console.anthropic.com/
---
Quick Start
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`bash
npm install -g autoforge-ai
autoforge
`
On first run, AutoForge automatically:
1. Checks for Python 3.11+
2. Creates a virtual environment at ~/.autoforge/venv/
3. Installs Python dependencies
4. Copies a default config file to ~/.autoforge/.env
5. Starts the server and opens your browser
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`
autoforge Start the server (default)
autoforge config Open ~/.autoforge/.env in $EDITOR
autoforge config --path Print config file path
autoforge config --show Show active configuration values
autoforge --port PORT Custom port (default: auto from 8888)
autoforge --host HOST Custom host (default: 127.0.0.1)
autoforge --no-browser Don't auto-open browser
autoforge --repair Delete and recreate virtual environment
autoforge --version Print version
autoforge --help Show help
`
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Clone the repository and use the start scripts directly. This is the recommended path if you want to contribute or modify AutoForge itself.
`bash
git clone https://github.com/leonvanzyl/autoforge.git
cd autoforge
`
Web UI:
| Platform | Command |
|---|---|
| Windows | start_ui.bat |
| macOS / Linux | ./start_ui.sh |
This launches the React-based web UI at http://localhost:5173 with:
- Project selection and creation
- Kanban board view of features
- Real-time agent output streaming
- Start/pause/stop controls
CLI Mode:
| Platform | Command |
|---|---|
| Windows | start.bat |
| macOS / Linux | ./start.sh |
The start script will:
1. Check if Claude CLI is installed
2. Check if you're authenticated (prompt to run claude login if not)
3. Create a Python virtual environment
4. Install dependencies
5. Launch the main menu
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You'll see options to:
- Create new project - Start a fresh project with AI-assisted spec generation
- Continue existing project - Resume work on a previous project
For new projects, you can use the built-in /create-spec command to interactively create your app specification with Claude's help.
---
How It Works
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1. Initializer Agent (First Session): Reads your app specification, creates features in a SQLite database (features.db), sets up the project structure, and initializes git.
2. Coding Agent (Subsequent Sessions): Picks up where the previous session left off, implements features one by one, and marks them as passing in the database.
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Features are stored in SQLite via SQLAlchemy and managed through an MCP server that exposes tools to the agent:
- feature_get_stats - Progress statistics
- feature_get_next - Get highest-priority pending feature
- feature_get_for_regression - Random passing features for regression testing
- feature_mark_passing - Mark feature complete
- feature_skip - Move feature to end of queue
- feature_create_bulk - Initialize all features (used by initializer)
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- Each session runs with a fresh context window
- Progress is persisted via SQLite database and git commits
- The agent auto-continues between sessions (3 second delay)
- Press Ctrl+C to pause; run the start script again to resume
---
Important Timing Expectations
> Note: Building complete applications takes time!
- First session (initialization): The agent generates feature test cases. This takes several minutes and may appear to hang - this is normal.
- Subsequent sessions: Each coding iteration can take 5-15 minutes depending on complexity.
- Full app: Building all features typically requires many hours of total runtime across multiple sessions.
Tip: The feature count in the prompts determines scope. For faster demos, you can modify your app spec to target fewer features (e.g., 20-50 features for a quick demo).
---
Project Structure
`
autoforge/
├── bin/ # npm CLI entry point
├── lib/ # CLI bootstrap and setup logic
├── start.py # CLI menu and project management
├── start_ui.py # Web UI backend (FastAPI server launcher)
├── autonomous_agent_demo.py # Agent entry point
├── agent.py # Agent session logic
├── client.py # Claude SDK client configuration
├── security.py # Bash command allowlist and validation
├── progress.py # Progress tracking utilities
├── prompts.py # Prompt loading utilities
├── api/
│ └── database.py # SQLAlchemy models (Feature table)
├── mcp_server/
│ └── feature_mcp.py # MCP server for feature management tools
├── server/
│ ├── main.py # FastAPI REST API server
│ ├── websocket.py # WebSocket handler for real-time updates
│ ├── schemas.py # Pydantic schemas
│ ├── routers/ # API route handlers
│ └── services/ # Business logic services
├── ui/ # React frontend
│ ├── src/
│ │ ├── App.tsx # Main app component
│ │ ├── hooks/ # React Query and WebSocket hooks
│ │ └── lib/ # API client and types
│ ├── package.json
│ └── vite.config.ts
├── .claude/
│ ├── commands/
│ │ └── create-spec.md # /create-spec slash command
│ ├── skills/ # Claude Code skills
│ └── templates/ # Prompt templates
├── requirements.txt # Python dependencies (development)
├── requirements-prod.txt # Python dependencies (npm install)
├── package.json # npm package definition
└── .env # Optional configuration
`
---
Generated Project Structure
After the agent runs, your project directory will contain:
`
generations/my_project/
├── features.db # SQLite database (feature test cases)
├── prompts/
│ ├── app_spec.txt # Your app specification
│ ├── initializer_prompt.md # First session prompt
│ └── coding_prompt.md # Continuation session prompt
├── init.sh # Environment setup script
├── claude-progress.txt # Session progress notes
└── [application files] # Generated application code
`
---
Running the Generated Application
After the agent completes (or pauses), you can run the generated application:
`bash
cd generations/my_project
Run the setup script created by the agent
./init.sh
Or manually (typical for Node.js apps):
npm install
npm run dev
`
The application will typically be available at http://localhost:3000 or similar.
---
Security Model
This project uses a defense-in-depth security approach (see security.py and client.py):
1. OS-level Sandbox: Bash commands run in an isolated environment
2. Filesystem Restrictions: File operations restricted to the project directory only
3. Bash Allowlist: Only specific commands are permitted:
- File inspection: ls, cat, head, tail, wc, grep
- Node.js: npm, node
- Version control: git
- Process management: ps, lsof, sleep, pkill (dev processes only)
Commands not in the allowlist are blocked by the security hook.
---
Web UI Development
The React UI is located in the ui/ directory.
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`bash
cd ui
npm install
npm run dev # Development server with hot reload
`
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`bash
cd ui
npm run build # Builds to ui/dist/
`
Note: The start_ui.bat/start_ui.sh scripts serve the pre-built UI from ui/dist/. After making UI changes, run npm run build to see them when using the start scripts.
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- React 18 with TypeScript
- TanStack Query for data fetching
- Tailwind CSS v4 with neobrutalism design
- Radix UI components
- WebSocket for real-time updates
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The UI receives live updates via WebSocket (/ws/projects/{project_name}):
- progress - Test pass counts
- agent_status - Running/paused/stopped/crashed
- log - Agent output lines (streamed from subprocess stdout)
- feature_update - Feature status changes
---
Configuration
AutoForge reads configuration from a .env file. The file location depends on how you installed AutoForge:
| Install method | Config file location | Edit command |
|---|---|---|
| npm (global) | ~/.autoforge/.env | autoforge config |
| From source | .env in the project root | Edit directly |
A default config file is created automatically on first run. Use autoforge config to open it in your editor, or autoforge config --show to print the active values.
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Add to your .env to send progress notifications to an N8N webhook:
`bash
Optional: N8N webhook for progress notifications
PROGRESS_N8N_WEBHOOK_URL=https://your-n8n-instance.com/webhook/your-webhook-id
`
When test progress increases, the agent sends:
`json
{
"event": "test_progress",
"passing": 45,
"total": 200,
"percentage": 22.5,
"project": "my_project",
"timestamp": "2025-01-15T14:30:00.000Z"
}
`
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Alternative providers are configured via the Settings UI (gear icon > API Provider). Select your provider, set the base URL, auth token, and model directly in the UI — no .env changes needed.
Available providers: Claude (default), GLM (Zhipu AI), Ollama (local models), Kimi (Moonshot), Custom
For Ollama, install Ollama v0.14.0+, run ollama serve, and pull a coding model (e.g., ollama pull qwen3-coder). Then select "Ollama" in the Settings UI.
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Add these variables to your .env file to run agents via Google Cloud Vertex AI:
`bash
CLAUDE_CODE_USE_VERTEX=1
CLOUD_ML_REGION=us-east5
ANTHROPIC_VERTEX_PROJECT_ID=your-gcp-project-id
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL=claude-opus-4-6
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL=claude-sonnet-4-5@20250929
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL=claude-3-5-haiku@20241022
`
Requires gcloud auth application-default login first. Note the @ separator (not -) in Vertex AI model names.
---
Customization
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Use the /create-spec command when creating a new project, or manually edit the files in your project's prompts/ directory:
- app_spec.txt - Your application specification
- initializer_prompt.md - Controls feature generation
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Edit security.py to add or remove commands from ALLOWED_COMMANDS.
---
Troubleshooting
"Claude CLI not found"
Install the Claude Code CLI using the instructions in the Prerequisites section.
"Not authenticated with Claude"
Run claude login to authenticate. The start script will prompt you to do this automatically.
"Appears to hang on first run"
This is normal. The initializer agent is generating detailed test cases, which takes significant time. Watch for [Tool: ...] output to confirm the agent is working.
"Command blocked by security hook"
The agent tried to run a command not in the allowlist. This is the security system working as intended. If needed, add the command to ALLOWED_COMMANDS in security.py.
"Python 3.11+ required but not found"
Install Python 3.11 or later from python.org. Make sure python3 (or python on Windows) is on your PATH.
"Python venv module not available"
On Debian/Ubuntu, the venv module is packaged separately. Install it with sudo apt install python3.XX-venv (replace XX with your Python minor version, e.g., python3.12-venv).
"AutoForge is already running"
A server instance is already active. Use the browser URL shown in the terminal, or stop the existing instance with Ctrl+C first.
Virtual environment issues after a Python upgrade
Run autoforge --repair` to delete and recreate the virtual environment from scratch.