coven
An oven for claude. A minimal streaming display and workflow runner for Claude Code's -p mode.
Install
# Homebrew
# Shell (macOS/Linux)
|
# Cargo
Platform support: macOS and Linux only.
Why?
The native Claude Code TUI is resource-heavy, blocks on permission prompts, and doesn't support custom workflows. Coven wraps claude -p --output-format stream-json for a clean, lightweight display with follow-up messages, mid-stream steering, and looping workflows.
Quick Start
&&
Commands
coven [PROMPT]
Interactive session. Streams tool calls and text, supports follow-ups (Alt+Enter), mid-stream steering (type while running), message inspection (:N to view message N), wait-for-input marking (Ctrl+W, for ralph/worker), native TUI access (Ctrl+O), and end session (Ctrl+D).
coven ralph <PROMPT>
Loop Claude with fresh sessions — filesystem state persists between iterations. The model outputs <break>reason</break> to stop.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--iterations N |
Max iterations (0 = infinite, default) |
--break-tag TAG |
Custom break tag (default: break) |
--no-break |
Disable break detection (requires --iterations) |
--no-wait |
Disable <wait-for-user> tag detection |
coven worker
Orchestration worker: generic agent loop. Creates a git worktree, runs agents that chain via <next> transitions, and sleeps when idle.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--branch NAME |
Worktree branch name (random if omitted) |
--worktree-base DIR |
Base directory for worktrees (default: ~/.coven/worktrees) |
--no-wait |
Disable <wait-for-user> tag detection |
coven init
Set up orchestration for a project — creates .coven/ directory (config, agent prompts, system doc, land script) and brief.md.
coven status / coven gc
Show active workers / clean up orphaned worktrees.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--force |
Force removal of dirty worktrees (gc only) |
Shared Flags
All session commands (coven, ralph, worker) accept:
--show-thinking— stream thinking text inline instead of collapsing--fork— let the model spawn parallel sub-sessions via<fork>tags--reload— let the model reload claude via<reload>tags (preserves session)-- [ARGS]— pass extra arguments to the claude CLI (e.g.-- --permission-mode plan)
Orchestration
coven init + coven worker enable multi-agent orchestration. Workers run a generic agent loop: dispatch reads brief.md and picks tasks, then chains through main and review agents via <next> transitions. See .coven/system.md after init for details.
License
MIT