Today's coding agents can outcode humans on speed and execution.

But great software isn't just code. It's decisions: defaults, edge cases, permissions, failure behavior, data boundaries, trade-offs. Agents guess those decisions silently — and when they guess wrong, you end up in correction loops.

The Pantion Dialog turns those decisions into a Canon — a converged dialog with no ambiguity left — before your agent writes a single line. And not just for software. The same dialog works for images, video, and any domain where AI generates from your intent.

The five-second version

You: "I want a booking app."

Pantion: "What happens on double booking?"

You: "First wins. Second gets alternatives."

Pantion: "Locked. That decision won't be guessed later."

Quick start

Pantion works best with Claude Code. It also installs on Cursor, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, and Codex — experience varies by model.

1. Install

npx @pantion/dialogs install --client claude

Or install for all supported clients at once:

npx @pantion/dialogs install --all

Supported clients: claude, cursor, windsurf, gemini, codex

2. Start a dialog

Describe what you want to build in natural language. Your agent calls Pantion automatically.

I want to start a Pantion dialog for a CLI tool that converts markdown files to a static website.

Pantion asks targeted questions until your intent has converged, then saves the canon. That's it.

See it in action: automatic mode

Don't want to answer questions? In automatic mode, Pantion generates the entire dialog for you — you just describe your idea and review the result.

I want to start an automatic Pantion dialog for a web alarm clock with multiple timers

Pantion generates a full convergence dialog in seconds:

ASSISTANT: What is the core intent?
PANTION: A browser-based alarm clock with multiple independent timers ⚡

ASSISTANT: What are the inputs?
PANTION: Timer name, duration (HH:MM:SS or MM:SS), optional label ⚡

ASSISTANT: What happens when a timer finishes?
PANTION: Audio alert + visual flash. Audio stops on click/tap. ⚡

ASSISTANT: How many timers can run simultaneously?
PANTION: No hard limit. UI scrolls. ⚡ Performance is the natural cap.

ASSISTANT: What does this NOT do?
PANTION: No accounts, no server, no persistence across browser sessions ⚡

The ⚡ marks are conservative assumptions — decisions Pantion made for you. Review, adjust what you disagree with, and the canon is ready.

Two modes:

| Mode | How to start | Best for | |------|-------------|----------| | Normal | "I want to start a Pantion dialog for..." | Complex systems, precise control | | Automatic | "I want to start an automatic Pantion dialog for..." | Quick exploration, simple projects |

How it works

Pantion is an MCP server. Your coding agent connects to it, and it guides the conversation — asking one question at a time until there's nothing meaningful left to ask. That's convergence.

Idea → Dialog → Canon → Spec files → Build

1. Dialog — Pantion asks targeted questions to remove ambiguity. When new questions stop yielding new behavior, your intent has converged.
2. Canon — The verbatim conversation becomes the source of truth. Decisions, rejected alternatives, rationale — all preserved.
3. Build — Your coding agent reads the spec files or the canon directly via MCP resources. Point your agent at canon/<project>/spec/ — or let it read the canon via pantion://canons/<project>/dialog.

What you get

canon/<project>/
├── dialog.md                  # the converged dialog — source of truth
└── spec/
    ├── requirements.md        # intent, functional & non-functional requirements
    ├── constraints.md         # HARD vs FLEX decisions, forbidden actions
    └── success-criteria.md    # definition of done, acceptance criteria

Optional (generated when applicable): api-spec.md, data-model.md, architecture.md.

For image and video dialogs, the canon translates to generator-agnostic prompts and creative briefs instead of spec files.

Canon files are written to ./canon/ in your project root by default.

These files outlive tools, models, and rebuilds. Your intent survives. Everything else is replaceable.

Why it feels different

• It stops silent defaults. Decisions get made explicitly, not implicitly by the model.
• It separates HARD from FLEX. Non-negotiables and adjustable defaults — clearly labeled, so agents know what they can touch and what they can't.
• It preserves rationale. "Why this, not that?" stays attached to the spec.
• It reduces variance across runs. Same Canon, more predictable builds and rebuilds.
• Better LLM → stronger Pantion. Pantion doesn't run its own model — your agent's LLM conducts the dialog. A more capable model asks sharper questions, catches more edge cases, and produces tighter canons. As models improve, so does every Pantion dialog — automatically, without updates.

PRDs describe. Canons decide.

Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | pantion_start | Open the router — guides you to the right action | | pantion_dialog | Start a convergence dialog (normal or automatic mode) | | pantion_check-convergence | Validate whether a dialog has structurally converged | | pantion_save-canon | Save the converged dialog as a canon | | pantion_resume | Continue a DRAFT dialog across sessions | | pantion_approve | Authorize a converged canon (HUMAN STAMP) | | pantion_reject | Reject a canon — needs changes before it can proceed | | pantion_list-canons | List all canons in a project | | pantion_translate | Generate spec files from a canon | | pantion_version | Show Pantion server version |

Works with any agent that speaks MCP. Best experience with Claude Code.

MCP resources

| Resource | Content | |----------|---------| | pantion://canons/{name}/dialog | The canon (verbatim dialog) | | pantion://canons/{name}/summary | Derived summary | | pantion://canons/index | Canon index | | pantion://dialogs | Available dialogs | | pantion://dialogs/{name}/rules | Dialog-specific convergence rules | | pantion://souls | Available interaction styles | | pantion://protocol/intent | Core principles |

Canon lifecycle

DRAFT → CONVERGED → APPROVED (HUMAN STAMP)

Dialogs

| Dialog | Domain | |-------|--------| | software | Software development | | image | Image generation | | video | Video generation | | router | Routing dialog — guides to the right action |

Souls

Souls control conversation style (tone, jargon level, pacing) without changing what gets covered. Three bundled: default, beginner, young.

License

Pantion Evaluation License v1.0 — Copyright (c) 2026 Tom Neijman

Links

pantion.org · X/Twitter · [email protected]