Repo Agents

a5c-ai/babysitter

Babysitter enforces code-defined agent workflows with mandatory stops, quality gates, human breakpoints and an immutable journal, across 12 AI coding harnesses.

  • 1.8k GitHub stars
  • JavaScript
  • ⚖️ MIT
  • 🎯 Advanced
View on GitHub (opens in a new tab) Setup guide
npm install -g @a5c-ai/babysitter
a5c-ai/babysitter preview image

What it is

Babysitter is a monorepo of CLIs, SDKs and per-harness plugins that governs AI coding agents with processes written as JavaScript code. The orchestrator can only do what the process code permits, and every step ends with a forced stop. Quality gates block progression, breakpoints require human approval, and every decision is recorded in an event-sourced journal that supports replay and resume. As of v6 it is harness-agnostic through its Adapters runtime and supports 12 AI coding harnesses.

Who it's for

  • Developers who want AI coding agents to follow deterministic, code-defined workflows
  • Teams that need human approval breakpoints and an audit trail of agent decisions
  • CI/CD and scripting users who want headless orchestration without an external AI coding agent

Requirements

Requirements

  • Node.js 20.0.0+ (22.x LTS recommended)
  • The host-side adapters CLI requires Node 22.13.0+
  • A supported AI coding harness from the 12 in the install matrix (e.g. Claude Code)
  • Git (optional, for cloning)

Setup

  1. Install the main CLI

    Recommended end-user install of the core babysitter CLI.

    bash
    npm install -g @a5c-ai/babysitter

  2. Install the host-side adapters CLI (optional)

    Run any supported harness directly from your shell.

    bash
    npm install -g @a5c-ai/adapters-cli
adapters doctor
adapters run claude "explain this codebase"

  3. Install the Claude Code plugin

    Native marketplace install; then restart Claude Code and type /skills to verify "babysit" appears.

    bash
    claude plugin marketplace add a5c-ai/babysitter-claude
claude plugin install --scope user babysitter@a5c.ai

  4. First-run configuration

    Create your profile once, set up the project, then verify with diagnostics.

    bash
    /babysitter:user-install
/babysitter:project-install
/babysitter:doctor

Examples

Quick start with Claude

bash
bash
claude "/babysitter:call implement user authentication with TDD"

What it does: Starts an interactive orchestration run that executes tasks step-by-step, handles quality checks and approvals, and continues until completion.

Run a process with the internal harness

bash
bash
npm install -g @a5c-ai/genty-platform

genty call --harness internal --process .a5c/processes/my-process.js#process --workspace .

What it does: Runs a process definition headlessly with the built-in engine, with no external AI coding agent required.

CI pipeline invocation

bash
bash
genty call \
  --harness internal \
  --process .a5c/processes/lint-and-test.js#process \
  --workspace . \
  --no-interactive \
  --json

What it does: Non-interactive JSON-output run suitable for CI/CD pipelines and scripts.

Autonomous and resume runs

bash
bash
genty yolo --harness claude-code --prompt "add pagination to the API" --workspace .
genty resume --run-id <runId> --harness claude-code --workspace .

What it does: Runs fully autonomously with no breakpoints, then shows how to resume an interrupted run by its run ID.

Pros & cons

Pros

  • Pro:Processes are real JavaScript code, so the orchestrator can only do what the code permits, with mandatory stops and gates that block progression
  • Pro:Event-sourced immutable journal supports deterministic replay, resume and auditing
  • Pro:Harness-agnostic across 12 supported AI coding harnesses, with an internal harness for headless CI/CD use
  • Pro:Human-in-the-loop breakpoints plus multiple modes (interactive, autonomous, planning, continuous)

Cons

  • Con:Install is split across several packages (babysitter, adapters-cli, genty-platform, per-harness plugins), which the README warns not to conflate
  • Con:Most non-Claude harness plugins are marked Experimental or Beta
  • Con:Node version floors differ: the adapters CLI needs 22.13.0+ while the core needs 20+

Images

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a5c-ai/babysitter preview image · a5c-ai/babysitter on GitHub · MIT
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