José Almeida
39c574bd57
A pass of issues uncovered by running the SSH e2e suite locally
(KANDEV_E2E_CONTAINERS=1 against the real sshd container). After this
commit all 15 non-launch SSH e2e tests pass (UI form validation,
test-connection contract, auth-methods, error-surfacing, sessions-card
empty state) and the launch path runs through prepare -> upload ->
agentctl -> instance -> forward, with WebSocket streams sometimes
disconnecting partway through (tracked below for follow-up).
Image changes (apps/web/e2e/fixtures/ssh-image.ts):
- Install curl so the SSH executor can POST to the in-container
agentctl control server for instance creation.
- Install gcompat + libstdc++ so the dynamically-linked glibc
agentctl binary can exec on musl-libc Alpine. Without it the
kernel returns ENOENT for /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2.
- Install shadow + 'usermod -p *' kandev so sshd doesn't refuse
pubkey auth for the otherwise-locked user.
- Drop in 'AllowTcpForwarding yes' and 'MaxSessions 100' via
/etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/. Alpine's defaults are 'no' and 10, both
of which crater the SSH executor's port-forward path.
- chown /home/kandev/.kandev to kandev on entrypoint so a host
bind-mount of that path (used in this commit for log persistence)
doesn't make agentctl unable to write its log file.
Image helper (apps/web/e2e/helpers/ssh.ts):
- Bind-mount the host mock-agent-linux-amd64 into the container at
the same absolute path. kandev's orchestrator builds the agent
command from KANDEV_MOCK_AGENT_LINUX_BINARY (a host path), so the
remote needs the binary at that exact path; bake-into-image isn't
enough because the absolute host path is what kandev sends.
- Bind-mount /home/kandev/.kandev so per-session agentctl logs
survive --rm teardown and the test runner can inspect them on
failure.
- Replace the broken CPU-spin sleep helper with a real sleep
subprocess and a /dev/tcp TCP-open probe so timing-dependent
helpers stop racing the container start.
- Retry the host fingerprint scan with stderr capture; the first
scan can race the sshd accept loop on Alpine.
Backend SSH executor (apps/backend/internal/agent/lifecycle):
- executor_ssh_operations.go startRemoteAgentctl: agentctl does not
accept --port-file or --pid-file flags (it reads AGENTCTL_PORT
and writes its own pid). Rewrite the launch wrapper to inject
AGENTCTL_PORT via env, capture $! as the pid, and tail the
on-remote agentctl.log for 'HTTP server bound successfully'
instead of waiting on imaginary side-files.
- executor_ssh_operations.go createRemoteAgentInstance: new helper
that POSTs /api/v1/instances on the in-container control server
via SSH-exec'd curl, returning the per-instance port the executor
should forward to. Mirrors what executor_sprites_operations.go
does inside its sprite. Without this step the agent stream
returns 'configure request failed with status 404' because the
SSH executor was talking to the control server, not the
per-session sub-server.
- executor_ssh.go startAndForwardAgentctl: chains the new
create-instance step in between agentctl launch and port-forward,
and forwards the *instance* port (not the control port).
- executor_ssh.go: drop the per-host SSH connection pool (it was
introducing a subtle aliasing issue between
CreateInstance/StopInstance/GetRemoteStatus that made the SSH
client unreliable across same-host sessions). Each session now
holds its own ssh.Client directly on sshSessionState and
ResumeRemoteInstance dials a fresh client too.
- executor_ssh_operations.go SSHPortForwarder: serialize the
client.Dial calls with a per-forwarder mutex. golang.org/x/crypto/
ssh.Client.Dial is documented as concurrency-safe but in practice
parallel opens from the kandev stream-manager occasionally
produce io.EOF as if the channel-open response was never
received.
Test fix (apps/web/e2e/tests/ssh/error-surfacing.spec.ts):
- Q1 ('TCP refused') was using identity_source='agent' with no
SSH_AUTH_SOCK in the backend env, so it failed at
buildAuthMethods before reaching the TCP-refused path. Switch to
identity_source='file' with the seed key so the test exercises
the failure it claims to.
Known remaining issue (to investigate next): the launch path now
reaches 'agent process started' + 'ACP initialize response
received' when run in isolation, but the WebSocket updates stream
sometimes disconnects with 1006 abnormal closure shortly after. A
standalone Go reproduction of concurrent direct-tcpip channels
against the same image works without issue, so the trigger is
something specific to the kandev backend's stream-manager + my
forwarder interaction. Tracked for the next iteration.
Kandev
Manage and run tasks in parallel. Orchestrate agents. Review changes. Ship value.
Workflows | Run as a Service | Roadmap | Contributing | Architecture | Discord
What
Organize work across kanban and pipeline views with opinionated workflows and execute multiple tasks in parallel. Assign agents from any provider, and review their output in an integrated workspace - file editor, file tree, terminal, browser preview, and git changes in one place. Terminal agent TUIs are great for running agents, but reviewing and iterating on changes there doesn't scale.
Run it locally or self-host it on your own infrastructure and access it from anywhere via Tailscale or any VPN.
Open source, multi-provider, no telemetry, not tied to any cloud.
Vision
Humans stay in control. Define tasks, build agentic workflows with gates, review every change, decide what ships.
- Review-first - Humans support production systems. We need to understand (yet) and trust the code that gets deployed.
- Your workflow - Every team is different, and not every developer uses AI the same way. Define workflows once, share them across the team, and give everyone a consistent process for working with agents - regardless of experience level.
- Remote agents - Running multiple agents on a large codebase can quickly saturate a local machine. The goal is a single control plane: offload execution to servers, orchestrate from anywhere, including your phone.
Features
- Multi-agent support - Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Amp, Auggie, OpenCode, Cursor, Qwen, Factory Droid, iFlow, Kilocode, Pi, Kimi, AWS Kiro, Qoder, Trae
- Parallel task execution – start and manage multiple tasks from different sources simultaneously, boosting productivity with AI agents
- Integrated workspace - Built-in terminal, code editor with LSP, git changes panel, embedded vscode and chat in one IDE-like view
- Kanban task management - Drag-and-drop boards, columns, and workflow automation
- Agentic workflows - Multi-step pipelines that mix-and-match agents per step - for example, Claude Code Opus to design a plan, GitHub Copilot Sonnet to implement it, and Codex GPT 5.4 to review the changes. See docs/workflows.md
- Sub-tasks - Agents can spawn sub-tasks that resume from the parent task's session. Useful for splitting a task that has grown too big, or producing several PRs from the same starting point.
- CLI passthrough - Drop into raw agent CLI mode for direct terminal interaction with any supported agent, leverage the full power of their TUIs
- Workspace isolation - Git worktrees prevent concurrent agents from conflicting
- Multi-repository tasks - Span a single task across multiple repositories, with one worktree per repo, per-repo branches, per-repo PRs, and per-repo grouping in the Changes panel and review dialog
- Flexible runtimes - Run agents as local processes, in isolated Docker containers or in remote executors like sprites.dev
- Session management - Resume and review agent conversations
- Stats - Track your productivity with stats on the completed tasks, agent turns, etc
Integrations
Connect Kandev to the tools your team already uses — pull issues into the kanban, link tasks to PRs, and surface review activity inline.
Supported ACP Agents
| Agent | Launch |
|---|---|
| Claude Code | npx -y @agentclientprotocol/claude-agent-acp |
| Codex | npx -y @zed-industries/codex-acp |
| GitHub Copilot | npx -y @github/copilot --acp |
| Gemini CLI | npx -y @google/gemini-cli --acp |
| Amp | npx -y amp-acp |
| Auggie | npx -y @augmentcode/auggie --acp |
| OpenCode | opencode acp |
| Cursor | cursor-agent acp (requires Cursor Pro) |
| Qwen | npx -y @qwen-code/qwen-code --acp |
| Factory Droid | npx -y droid exec --output-format acp |
| iFlow (beta) | npx -y @iflow-ai/iflow-cli --experimental-acp |
| Kilocode | npx -y @kilocode/cli acp |
| Pi | npx -y pi-acp |
| Kimi | kimi acp (install Kimi CLI from Moonshot AI) |
| Kiro | kiro-cli-chat acp (install Kiro CLI from AWS) |
| Qoder | qodercli --acp (install Qoder CLI) |
| Trae | traecli acp serve (install Trae IDE CLI) |
All agents communicate via ACP (Agent Client Protocol). Some agents support ACP natively, while others use ACP adapter packages that bridge their native protocols. CLI Passthrough mode is also available for direct terminal interaction with any agent CLI. If your agent isn't supported yet, open an issue or submit a PR with the integration. See Adding a New Agent CLI for a step-by-step guide.
Bring your own TUI agents
There is support for running any agent as TUI inside a terminal. Just add the cli command in the agent profile settings and the task will start the agent inside a PTY terminal instead of using ACP.
Supported Executors
| Executor | Description |
|---|---|
| Local Process | Runs the agent as a local process on the host machine |
| Docker | Runs the agent in an isolated Docker container |
| Sprites | Runs the agent in a remote cloud environment via sprites.dev |
Each executor uses git worktrees for workspace isolation, preventing concurrent agents from conflicting.
Quick Start
Homebrew (macOS, Linux)
brew install kdlbs/kandev/kandev
kandev
NPX
npx kandev@latest
Requires npm 7+. Installs the CLI plus a platform-matched runtime bundle in one step.
NPM (global)
npm install -g kandev@latest
kandev
Updates
brew upgrade kandevnpx kandev@latest(always uses the latest published version)npm install -g kandev@latest
The worktrees and sqlite db live in ~/.kandev by default. Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows (WSL or native).
From Source
# Clone the repository
git clone git@github.com:kdlbs/kandev.git
cd kandev
# Start in production mode
make start
Prerequisites: Go 1.26+, Node.js 18+, pnpm, Docker (optional - needed for container runtimes)
High level architecture
graph LR
UI[Web UI] --> Backend
Backend["Backend (Orchestrator)"]
Backend --> W1 & W2
subgraph W1[Local Process]
Agent1[Agent CLI] --- WT1[Worktree]
end
subgraph W2[Docker Container]
Agent2[Agent CLI] --- WT2[Worktree]
end
We also want to add support for these remote runtimes:
- Remote SSH - run agents on remote servers over SSH, using docker or local processes with workspace isolation
- K8s operator - run agents in a Kubernetes cluster, with auto-scaling and resource management.
Development
Project Structure
apps/
├── backend/ # Go backend (orchestrator, lifecycle, agentctl, WS gateway)
├── web/ # Next.js frontend (SSR, Zustand, real-time subscriptions)
├── cli/ # CLI tool (npx kandev launcher)
└── packages/ # Shared UI components & types
Prerequisites
- Go 1.21+
- Node.js 18+
- pnpm
- Docker (optional)
Running Dev Servers
# Start everything (backend + frontend with auto ports)
make dev
# Or run separately
make dev-backend # Backend on :38429
make dev-web # Frontend on :37429
Testing & Linting
make test # Run all tests (backend + web)
make lint # Run all linters
make typecheck # TypeScript type checking
make fmt # Format all code
Pre-commit Hooks
# Install pre-commit (https://pre-commit.com/#install)
pipx install pre-commit
# Install git hooks
pre-commit install
Comparison to Other Tools
There are a few similar tools in this space, and new ones appearing everyday. Here's what sets this one apart:
- Server-first architecture - Not a desktop app. Runs as a server you can access from any device, including your phone. Start a task away from your computer and check in on it later.
- Remote runtimes - Run agents on remote servers and Docker hosts, not just your local machine.
- Multi-provider - Use Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, Gemini, Amp, Auggie, OpenCode, Cursor, Qwen, Droid, iFlow, Kilocode, Pi, Kimi, Kiro, Qoder, and Trae side by side. Not locked to one vendor.
- CLI passthrough and chat - Interact with agents through structured chat messages or drop into raw CLI mode for full agent TUI capabilities.
- Open source and self-hostable - No vendor lock-in, no telemetry, runs on your infrastructure.
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Please read CONTRIBUTING.md before opening a PR.
See the issue tracker for open tasks, or join our Discord to chat with maintainers and other contributors.
Acknowledgments
Built with these excellent open-source projects:
Monaco Editor · Tiptap · xterm.js · dockview · CodeMirror · dnd-kit · Mermaid · Recharts · TanStack Table · Zustand · Shadcn/UI · Radix UI · Tailwind CSS