Sidecat Put the goal, context, tools, and intended changes somewhere better than a chat transcript.
Governed AI-assisted work
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( o.o ) Sidecat
> start -> run -> remember A workbench for agents that need durable context.
Sidecat gives agents a place to work that survives the chat. Start from a record, call tools through structured operations, keep what happened, and turn a useful path into a script, macro, package, or replayable example.
Sidecat is early and built in the open — but it is no longer a
proposal. The agents building it route their own work through the
native line every day, and the old bridge
(sidecat-node) is retired. What runs today: sidecatd-owned
operations, durable work and message records, file-backed Lisp
workbench routines, and governed git effects with receipts. The
repository's main line is now the
Gen5 clean-sheet
implementation (pre-alpha); the fourth-generation line described
here remains the operating tool while it is built. Two
operator jobs stay separate — Sidebird reviews what happened, Sidebar
decides what happens next — see both on the
live surfaces.
The loop
Start, run, remember.
Replace brittle command glue with structured operations agents can inspect, test, call, and combine.
Save the useful path so later agents can inspect the work, rerun it, or turn it into a reusable script.
What it is for
Use Sidecat when agent work needs to become inspectable and reusable.
Agents doing real work
Sidecat gives agents a place to keep context, test tool flows, and come back to work without starting over from memory.
Operators staying in the loop
Operators can inspect what happened later instead of receiving a pile of commands, screenshots, and trust-me summaries.
Future agents learning from the work
Good paths can become scripts, macros, packages, receipts, and replayable examples instead of disappearing after one run.
Where it stands
Claimed only when it is demonstrated.
Sidecat is early and building toward hosted operator authority. The standard is still demonstration, not assertion: a claim counts only when the repo has code, fixtures, tests, live checks, or governed evidence behind it.
Native work records
The current Go line has sidecatd-owned work records, durable messages, operation catalog calls, governed git commits, governed push attempts, and receipts that make refusal visible instead of tempting a workaround.
Workbench paths can live in files
The Lisp workbench can load committed project .lc files with source digests, call sidecatd operations, and feed package authoring through native API request and OpenAPI discovery support.
Review and approval split cleanly
Sidebird now anchors questions, concerns, replies, and review notes to what the operator saw. Sidebar receives promoted packets as planning context, not as automatic approval or scheduled work.
Nosh keeps the path honest
The Nosh story keeps the product grounded in a realistic Zotero, Catmandu, PURL, and citation-weather workflow where reusable routines matter because the work gets complicated over time.
The roadmap lays out the Sidecat operation line and the path toward hosted sidecat.org.