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autobots

Autobots | A decentralized model agentic swarm powered by NVIDIA NIM. Orchestrating high-precision, end-to-end authenticated software development through a specialized 6-file control architecture. Fea

DanielDeshmukh/autobotscommunitylistedunreviewed

Set up

Skills are installed by placing their folder where your agent loads skills.

The download comes from github.com/DanielDeshmukh/autobots itself, not from our server, so what you get is exactly what its author published.

Install instructions come from the README

Skills do not use an MCP config. Follow the steps in the README below.

README

synced Oct 25, 2026

Autobots is a hierarchical multi-cluster coding swarm CLI that orchestrates multiple AI models to plan, implement, validate, and repair code against target repositories. It features a full tool system (Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep), interactive REPL mode, granular permissions, context management, hooks, MCP integration, and code review — all built on NVIDIA NIM models.


Table of Contents


Features

Core Swarm

  • Hierarchical Model Routing — 9 specialized clusters (Optimus, UltraMagnus, Jazz, RedAlert, Ratchet, Perceptor, Bumblebee, Ironhide, Wheeljack)
  • Phase-Based Execution — Inspect → Implement → Validate → Repair pipeline
  • Context Injection — Reads context/ files and injects project documentation into model prompts
  • Model Routing — Intelligent cluster selection based on task keywords and file extensions
  • Automatic Repair — Self-healing execution with validation-driven repair loops
  • Rollback Support — Snapshots before writes, autobots undo reverts changes
  • Response Streaming — Live character counter during model calls
  • Rich Status Output — Progress bars, estimated time, branch info via Rich

File Operations & Search

  • ReadTool — Read files with offset/limit, line numbers, binary/image support
  • WriteTool — Atomic writes (tmp + rename), directory creation, path sandboxing
  • EditTool — Targeted string replacement with exact match, replaceAll mode
  • GlobTool — Pattern-based file search (**/*.py, src/**/*.ts)
  • GrepTool — Regex content search across files, include filters
  • ToolRegistry — Register, dispatch, and manage tools

REPL & Interactive Mode

  • Interactive REPL — Conversational session with history and streaming
  • One-Shot Mode — autobots ask "question" for quick queries
  • Piped Input — cat file.py | autobots ask "explain this"
  • Slash Commands — /help, /clear, /cost, /compact, /model, /exit
  • Session Persistence — Save and restore conversations from JSON

Permissions & Safety

  • Tool-Level Permissions — Allow/deny/ask per tool call
  • Interactive Approval — y/n/a/Esc prompt for tool execution
  • Session Whitelisting — "Always allow" for trusted tools
  • Config Merge — Global (~/.autobots/settings.json) + project + env vars
  • Audit Logging — JSON-lines log of all permission decisions
  • Command Policy — Whitelist-based command validation, blocks dangerous patterns

Context Management

  • Token Estimation — len(text) // 4 with tiktoken fallback
  • Auto-Compaction — Summarizes conversation when approaching context limit
  • CLAUDE.md Hierarchy — Global → project → subdirectory instruction loading
  • Budget Tracking — Remaining context display, usage ratios

Hooks & Extensions

  • Pre/Post Tool Hooks — Run scripts or callbacks before/after tool execution
  • Abort on Failure — Hook failure stops the tool chain
  • MCP Integration — Connect to Model Context Protocol servers for custom tools
  • Command Hooks — Shell commands with env injection and 30s timeout

Code Review & Diagnostics

  • Git Diff Review — Analyze changes for large PRs, many files, patterns
  • Doctor Command — Health checks: API key, connectivity, Python version, package
  • PR Review — Review pull requests by number or diff

Workflow

  • Session Management — Durable checkpoints, resumable runs, audit trails
  • Configurable Modes — Supervised, milestone, or fully autonomous execution
  • Multi-Root File Writing — Write to src/, app/, lib/, tests/, docs/, scripts/
  • Validation Commands — Run tests, linters, and build commands automatically
  • Shell Completions — bash, zsh, and fish tab completion
  • Plugin System — before/after hooks for custom extensions
  • Skill Marketplace — Built-in packs for FastAPI, Django, React, Next.js
  • Web Dashboard — Real-time status on port 8080

Architecture

autobots/
├── cli.py                  # CLI entry point (22+ commands)
├── bootstrap.py            # Project profiling and context contract
├── config.py               # TOML + env config with validation
├── catalog.py              # Cluster definitions and model registry
├── workspace.py            # Target workspace safety and locking
├── errors.py               # Structured error classes
├── costs.py                # Token/cost estimation
├── git_utils.py            # Git auto-commit integration
├── preflight.py            # Doctor health checks
├── onboarding.py           # Interactive setup wizard
├── completions.py          # Shell tab completion
├── context_budget.py       # Context window management
├── plugins.py              # Plugin/hook system
├── marketplace.py          # Skill pack marketplace
├── dashboard.py            # Web dashboard
├── diff.py                 # Snapshot comparison
├── tools/                  # File operation tools
│   ├── base.py             # Tool ABC and ToolResult
│   ├── read.py             # ReadTool (offset/limit, binary)
│   ├── write.py            # WriteTool (atomic, sandboxed)
│   ├── edit.py             # EditTool (exact match, replaceAll)
│   ├── glob.py             # GlobTool (pattern search)
│   ├── grep.py             # GrepTool (regex search)
│   ├── registry.py         # ToolRegistry (dispatch)
│   ├── permissions.py      # PermissionRule, PermissionChecker
│   └── formatting.py       # Tool result formatting
├── repl/                   # Interactive REPL
│   ├── session.py          # ReplSession, Message, SessionStats
│   ├── commands.py         # SlashCommand registry
│   └── runner.py           # run_repl, run_one_shot, run_piped
├── permissions/            # Permission system
│   ├── settings.py         # PermissionSettings (global/project/env)
│   ├── logging.py          # PermissionLogger (audit trail)
│   └── interactive.py      # Interactive approval prompt
├── context/                # Context management
│   ├── manager.py          # ContextManager (token tracking)
│   ├── tokenizer.py        # estimate_tokens, count_tokens
│   └── claude_md.py        # CLAUDE.md hierarchy loader
├── hooks/                  # Hook system
│   └── manager.py          # HookManager, HookPoint, HookResult
├── mcp/                    # MCP integration
│   └── client.py           # MCPClient, MCPTool
├── review/                 # Code review
│   ├── git_review.py       # Diff parsing, review
│   └── diagnostics.py      # Doctor checks
├── router/                 # Swarm orchestration
│   ├── core.py             # Main routing orchestration
│   ├── models.py           # Data models
│   ├── planning.py         # Cluster assignment
│   ├── stages.py           # Stage execution
│   └── phases.py           # Phase reading
├── executor/               # Execution engine
│   ├── autonomy.py         # Autonomous loop
│   ├── modes.py            # Execution modes
│   ├── state.py            # Session state and rollback
│   ├── commands.py         # Command validation
│   ├── gate.py             # Test-then-commit gate
│   └── validation.py       # Validation handling
├── planning/               # Plan generation
│   ├── core.py             # Plan entry point
│   ├── scanner.py          # Repository scanning
│   └── synthesis.py        # Phase synthesis
├── skills/                 # Skill injection
│   ├── loader.py           # Skill pack loading
│   ├── cluster_prompts.py  # Cluster-specific prompts
│   └── nvidia/             # 17 NVIDIA skill files
└── utils/
    └── retry.py            # Exponential backoff

Installation

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.11 or higher
  • NVIDIA API Key (for model execution)

PyPI Install

pip install autobot-swarm

Development Install

git clone https://github.com/DanielDeshmukh/autobots.git
cd autobots
python -m pip install -e . --no-build-isolation

Quick Start

# 1. Set your API key
$env:NVIDIA_API_KEY = "your_key_here"

# 2. Navigate to your project
cd C:\path\to\your\project

# 3. Initialize (creates context/ directory)
autobots init

# 4. Generate a plan
autobots plan --goal "Add user authentication"

# 5. Run the swarm
autobots run --supervised

Projects Built by Autobots

Real projects generated entirely by the multi-model swarm — no manual code, no hand-holding. Each project starts from a single sentence and goes through planner → workers → repair pipeline.

Todo App

"Build a todo app with React, TypeScript, and Vite. Features: add todos, toggle complete, delete, filter (all/active/completed), counter showing remaining."

DetailValue
StackReact 19, TypeScript, Vite
Files Generated23
Models Used2 (qwen3-next-80b, llama-3.3-70b)
Workers10 parallel (semaphore-limited to 2 concurrent)
DesignDark theme, glass morphism, gradient accents
FeaturesAdd, delete, toggle complete, filter (all/active/completed), counter

How it was built:

  1. Planner (qwen3-next-80b) decomposed the goal into 10 subtasks — types, hooks, components (Input, Item, Filter, Counter, List), styles, tests
  2. Critical file injection added index.html, package.json, main.tsx, index.css automatically (planner forgets these ~80% of the time)
  3. Workers executed in parallel with shared context — each model built 1-2 files with type contracts ensuring all components use the same interfaces
  4. Repair phase detected missing files from timed-out workers and regenerated them, then ran TypeScript compilation check to fix any remaining type mismatches
  5. Import path auto-fix resolved wrong import paths between components

Repo: github.com/DanielDeshmukh/todo-by-autobots

Memory Card Flip

"Build a memory card flip game. Match pairs to win. Features: card flip animation, theme selection (animals/flags/emojis), difficulty levels, timer, move counter, and win detection."

DetailValue
StackReact 19, TypeScript, Vite, Tailwind CSS, Zustand
Design SystemNVIDIA DESIGN.md (black canvas, green accent)
PipelineMark II — Dual-Model Collaboration
Models Used2 (qwen3.5-122b generator, qwen3-next-80b reviewer)
WorkersSequential (1 at a time due to rate limits)
FeaturesCard flip animation, 3 themes, 3 difficulties, timer, moves, matches, progress bar

How it was built:

  1. Planner (qwen3-next-80b) decomposed the goal into 7 subtasks — store, components (Card, GameGrid, StatsBar, ProgressBar, ThemeSelector, DifficultySelector, Celebration), styles, types, constants
  2. Critical file injection added index.html, package.json, main.tsx, index.css, tsconfig.json automatically
  3. Dual-model workers — each subtask gets a generator (qwen3.5-122b) and reviewer (qwen3-next-80b). Generator creates code, reviewer checks for bugs before writing
  4. Repair phase detected missing files and ran TypeScript validation to fix type mismatches
  5. Design system injection — NVIDIA DESIGN.md was injected into prompts so all components use black (#000000) canvas with green (#76B900) accent, angular 2px radius

Problems faced during generation:

ProblemRoot CauseFix
Timer showed NaN:NaNgameStore used timer, StatsBar read timeElapsedAligned property names across components
Cards rendered as tiny squaresframer-motion not installed, no explicit sizingReplaced with pure CSS flip animations
Cards didn't flip on clickinitializeGame() never called on mountAdded useEffect to call it on mount
6x6 showed 32 cards instead of 36Theme had 16 items, 6x6 needs 18 uniqueIncreased themes to 18+ items with cycling
Missing PostCSS configpostcss.config.js incompatible with ESMRenamed to .cjs extension
Cross-file contract mismatchesParallel workers generated independentlySwitched to single-worker with full context

Repo: github.com/DanielDeshmukh/memory-card-flip


Configuration

API Key Setup

# Option 1: .env file
echo NVIDIA_API_KEY=your_key_here > .env

# Option 2: Environment variable
$env:NVIDIA_API_KEY = "your_key_here"

Configuration File

Create .autobots.toml or autobots.toml in your project root or $HOME:

[autobots]
model_selection_profile = "balanced"   # balanced, speed, or quality
parallel_planning = false
disable_live_catalog = false
safety_branch = "autobots-safety"
default_mode = "supervised"            # supervised, milestone, autonomous
milestone_threshold = 3
max_verification_attempts = 3
temperature = 0.2
max_tokens = 4096

# Optional: custom model registry
# model_registry_path = "./my-registry.json"

# Optional: extra custom clusters
# [autobots.extra_clusters]
# MyCluster = ["nvidia/custom-model-1"]

Permission Settings

Create ~/.autobots/settings.json (global) or .autobots/settings.json (project):

{
  "permissions": {
    "default": "ask",
    "rules": [
      {"tool_pattern": "Read", "permission": "allow"},
      {"tool_pattern": "Glob", "permission": "allow"},
      {"tool_pattern": "Grep", "permission": "allow"},
      {"tool_pattern": "Write", "permission": "ask"},
      {"tool_pattern": "Edit", "permission": "ask"},
      {"tool_pattern": "Bash", "permission": "ask"}
    ]
  }
}

CLI Commands

CommandDescription
autobots initCheck context files in target project
autobots init --interactiveInteractive setup wizard
autobots planGenerate implementation roadmap
autobots plan --goal "text"Plan with specific goal
autobots plan --appendAppend to existing plan
autobots plan --dry-runPreview without writing
autobots run [task]Execute phases with autonomy mode
autobots run --supervisedManual approval per phase (default)
autobots run --milestoneApproval every N phases
autobots run --autonomousFully autonomous execution
autobots resumeResume from last checkpoint
autobots engageInteractive mode with startup screen
autobots ask "question"One-shot question answering
autobots steer "instruction"Add mid-task steering instructions
autobots statusRich status with progress bars
autobots explain <id>Show audit trail for a phase/task
autobots statsUsage statistics and costs
autobots undoRollback to previous snapshot
autobots snapshotsList available snapshots
autobots diffCompare workspace to snapshot
autobots logsView audit trail
autobots doctorPreflight health checks
autobots catalogBrowse NVIDIA model registry
autobots config validateValidate TOML configuration
autobots completionsGenerate shell completions
autobots marketplaceBrowse skill packs
autobots dashboardLaunch web dashboard
autobots validate-modelsTest NVIDIA API connectivity
autobots publishBuild and publish to PyPI

Tool System

Autobots includes a full file operation tool system:

ReadTool

# Read with line numbers
ReadTool.run(file_path="/path/to/file.py")

# Read with offset and limit
ReadTool.run(file_path="/path/to/file.py", offset=10, limit=50)

WriteTool

# Atomic write (creates parent directories automatically)
WriteTool.run(file_path="/path/to/file.py", content="print('hello')")

# Sandboxed write (only allowed paths)
WriteTool(allowed_paths=["/project/src"]).run(file_path="...", content="...")

EditTool

# Exact string replacement
EditTool.run(file_path="main.py", old_string="old_code", new_string="new_code")

# Replace all occurrences
EditTool.run(file_path="main.py", old_string="foo", new_string="bar", replace_all=True)

GlobTool

# Find files by pattern
GlobTool.run(pattern="**/*.py", path="/project")

# Find TypeScript files
GlobTool.run(pattern="src/**/*.tsx", path="/project")

GrepTool

# Regex search
GrepTool.run(pattern=r"def \w+", path="/project/src")

# Search specific file types
GrepTool.run(pattern="TODO", path="/project", include="*.py")

REPL Mode

Interactive Session

autobots
# Autobots REPL (model: meta/llama-3.1-8b-instruct)
# Type /help for commands, /exit to quit.
#
# You> What is this project about?
# Assistant: This project is...

One-Shot Mode

autobots ask "What does the main.py file do?"

Piped Input

cat main.py | autobots ask "Explain this code"

Slash Commands

CommandDescription
/helpShow available commands
/clearClear conversation history
/costShow token usage and estimated cost
/compactSummarize conversation to save tokens
/model <name>Switch model mid-session
/exitExit the REPL

Permissions

Permission Levels

  • allow — Auto-approved, no prompt
  • ask — Interactive approval required
  • deny — Blocked, cannot execute

Interactive Approval

When a tool requires approval:

Allow Write?
  file_path: /project/src/main.py
  content: print('hello')
  [y]es / [n]o / [a]lways / [Esc] cancel
  • y — Approve this once
  • n — Deny this call
  • a — Always allow this tool for the session
  • Esc — Cancel

Configuration

Global (~/.autobots/settings.json):

{
  "permissions": {
    "default": "ask",
    "rules": [
      {"tool_pattern": "Read", "permission": "allow"},
      {"tool_pattern": "Write", "permission": "ask"}
    ]
  }
}

Project (.autobots/settings.json):

{
  "permissions": {
    "rules": [
      {"tool_pattern": "Bash(npm test)", "permission": "allow"},
      {"tool_pattern": "Bash(rm *)", "permission": "deny"}
    ]
  }
}

Environment Variables:

$env:AUTOBOTS_ALLOWED_TOOLS = "Read,Glob,Grep"
$env:AUTOBOTS_DENIED_TOOLS = "Bash(rm *)"

Context Management

Token Tracking

  • Tracks token usage per message
  • Estimates remaining context budget
  • Auto-compacts at 80% threshold

CLAUDE.md Hierarchy

Instructions loaded from multiple locations:

~/.autobots/CLAUDE.md           (global)
./CLAUDE.md                     (project root)
./src/CLAUDE.md                 (subdirectory)

Compaction

You> /compact
Compacted 24 messages into summary.

Hooks & MCP

Pre/Post Tool Hooks

Register callbacks that run before or after tool execution:

from autobots.hooks import HookManager, Hook, HookPoint

mgr = HookManager()
mgr.register(Hook(
    name="lint",
    point=HookPoint.POST_TOOL,
    command="ruff check {file_path}"
))

MCP Integration

Connect to Model Context Protocol servers:

from autobots.mcp import MCPClient

client = MCPClient(command="npx", args=["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem"])
client.connect()
tools = client.list_tools()
result = client.call_tool("read_file", {"path": "/etc/hosts"})

Code Review & Diagnostics

Git Diff Review

# Review current changes
autobots review

# Review PR by number
autobots pr-review 42

Doctor Command

autobots doctor
# Autobots Doctor Results:
#   [PASS] Python Version: Python 3.13 (OK)
#   [PASS] API Key: NVIDIA_API_KEY set (ends with ...abc1)
#   [PASS] Connectivity: NVIDIA API reachable
#   [PASS] Package: autobot-swarm installed
#   4/4 checks passed

NVIDIA Models & Clusters

ClusterRoleModelsKeywords
OptimusCommand & Routing9plan, roadmap, phase, orchestrate
UltraMagnusBackend & Architecture12backend, api, database, service
RedAlertSecurity & Safety10security, auth, guardrail, validation
JazzFrontend & Creative11ui, ux, css, image, visual
RatchetDebug & Repair10debug, fix, refactor, patch, repair
PerceptorRetrieval & Parsing11ocr, rag, embedding, document
BumblebeeCommunication & Media9speech, voice, translation, audio
IronhidePhysical & Simulation8simulation, physics, autonomous
WheeljackScientific Specialist7science, molecule, protein, quantum

NVIDIA Skills

Tier 1 (Always Loaded)

SkillCluster(s)Description
agent-skills.mdOptimus, UltraMagnusNemoClaw agent architecture
autonomous-agent-research.mdOptimus, WheeljackAutonomous research workflow
session-memory.mdOptimus, JazzDurable session memory
skill-evolution.mdALLSelf-improvement protocol
safety-policy.mdIronhideSafety taxonomy
rag-blueprint.mdUltraMagnus, OptimusRAG architecture
rag-eval.mdJazzRAG evaluation metrics
dynamo-deployment.mdUltraMagnus, WheeljackDynamo K8s recipes
dynamo-router.mdUltraMagnus, OptimusDynamo router modes
retrieval.mdUltraMagnus, BumblebeeDocument retrieval pipeline

Tier 2 (Conditional)

SkillLoaded WhenDescription
nemotron-customize.mdfine-tuning, trainingNemotron customization
cuopt-routing.mdrouting, schedulingcuOpt vehicle routing
cuopt-optimization.mdoptimization, LP/MILP/QPcuOpt numerical optimization
cudf.mdpandas, dataframecuDF GPU DataFrames
neautomodel-recipe.mdtraining at scaleDistributed training
kubernetes-infra.mdKubernetes, K8sPhysical AI infra
holoscan.mdvideo, edge AIHoloscan video analytics
cudaq.mdquantum computingCUDA-Q quantum simulation

Execution Modes

Supervised (Default)

autobots run --supervised

Requires approval before each phase. Full human control.

Milestone

autobots run --milestone

Requires approval after N phases (configurable via milestone_threshold).

Autonomous

autobots run --autonomous

No approval gates. Fastest execution.


Context Architecture

Autobots expects six context files under context/:

FilePurpose
architecture.mdProject architecture and structure
roadmap.mdPhase definitions with goals and validation
progress-tracker.mdPhase status tracking
project-briefing.mdProject overview and goals
security-auth.mdSecurity and authentication notes
ui-components.mdUI component documentation

Cross-Platform Usage

Windows

pip install autobot-swarm
$env:NVIDIA_API_KEY = "your_key"
cd C:\path\to\your\project
autobots init
autobots plan --goal "Add feature X"
autobots run --supervised

macOS / Linux

pip install autobot-swarm
export NVIDIA_API_KEY="your_key"
cd /path/to/your/project
autobots init
autobots plan --goal "Add feature X"
autobots run --supervised

Environment Variables

VariableDescriptionDefault
NVIDIA_API_KEYNVIDIA API key for model accessRequired
AUTOBOTS_MODEL_SELECTION_PROFILEModel selection: balanced/speed/qualitybalanced
AUTOBOTS_ENABLE_PARALLEL_PLANNINGEnable parallel workstreamsfalse
AUTOBOTS_DISABLE_LIVE_CATALOGUse bundled models onlyfalse
AUTOBOTS_SAFETY_BRANCHRequired git branch nameautobots-safety
AUTOBOTS_DEFAULT_MODEDefault execution modesupervised
AUTOBOTS_MILESTONE_THRESHOLDPhases per approval3
AUTOBOTS_MAX_VERIFICATION_ATTEMPTSRetry limit3
AUTOBOTS_ALLOWED_TOOLSComma-separated allowed tools(none)
AUTOBOTS_DENIED_TOOLSComma-separated denied tools(none)

Troubleshooting

ErrorSolution
NVIDIA_API_KEY is missingSet NVIDIA_API_KEY in .env or environment variable
Missing: roadmap.mdRun autobots plan to generate context files
Switch to autobots-safety branchgit checkout -b autobots-safety
Command not in safety whitelistAutobots blocks dangerous commands. Use safe alternatives
No checkpoint foundStart fresh with autobots run
old_string not foundProvide exact surrounding lines for unique match
old_string found N timesAdd more context or use replace_all=true

Development

Running Tests

# All tests
python -m pytest tests/ -v

# Specific test file
python -m pytest tests/test_tools.py -v

# With coverage
python -m pytest tests/ --cov=autobots --cov-report=html

Test Suite

Test FileTestsCoverage
test_tools.py46File operations (Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, Registry, Permissions, Formatting)
test_tools_integration.py5Integration: read → edit → verify → read
test_repl.py20REPL session, commands, runner
test_permissions.py12Permission settings, logging, merge
test_context.py18Token estimation, compaction, CLAUDE.md
test_hooks_mcp.py13Hooks, MCP client
test_review.py12Git review, diagnostics
test_final_decision.py10Release readiness
Total136

License

MIT License — See LICENSE for details.


Acknowledgments

  • Built with NVIDIA NIM for model access
  • Powered by Rich for terminal UI
  • Uses OpenAI compatible API interface
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