Cola Code Source Snapshot for Security Research

This repository mirrors a publicly exposed Cola Code source snapshot that became accessible on March 31, 2026 through a source map exposure in the npm distribution. It is maintained for educational, defensive security research, and software supply-chain analysis.

Research Context

This repository is maintained by a university student studying:

• software supply-chain exposure and build artifact leaks
• secure software engineering practices
• agentic developer tooling architecture
• defensive analysis of real-world CLI systems

This archive is intended to support:

• educational study
• security research practice
• architecture review
• discussion of packaging and release-process failures

It does not claim ownership of the original code, and it should not be interpreted as an official Anthropic repository.

How the Public Snapshot Became Accessible

Chaofan Shou (@Fried_rice) publicly noted that Cola Code source material was reachable through a .map file exposed in the npm package:

"Cola code source code has been leaked via a map file in their npm registry!"

— @Fried_rice, March 31, 2026

The published source map referenced unobfuscated TypeScript sources hosted in Anthropic's R2 storage bucket, which made the src/ snapshot publicly downloadable.

Repository Scope

Cola Code is Anthropic's CLI for interacting with Claude from the terminal to perform software engineering tasks such as editing files, running commands, searching codebases, and coordinating workflows.

This repository contains a mirrored src/ snapshot for research and analysis.

• Public exposure identified on: 2026-03-31
• Language: TypeScript
• Runtime: Bun
• Terminal UI: React + Ink
• Scale: ~1,900 files, 512,000+ lines of code

Build The Public Fork

This fork now includes a minimal public build harness so the CLI can be bundled and smoke-tested without Anthropic-only private packages.

Maintainers still need Bun to build and release the package. End users do not need to install Bun separately after installing the published npm package, because the package includes the runtime it needs at install time.

npm install
bun run build
node scripts/smoke-cli-version.mjs
node scripts/smoke-cli-help.mjs

bun run validate runs the supported public-build validation flow:

bun run build
node scripts/smoke-cli-version.mjs
node scripts/smoke-cli-help.mjs

For a release-style check that verifies the packed tarball can be installed and the installed cola command starts correctly:

bun run validate:pack

The source snapshot still contains product areas that depended on internal-only modules in Anthropic's private environment. The public fork replaces those with small compatibility stubs so the CLI bundle can be emitted successfully.

Directory Structure

src/
├── main.tsx                 # Entrypoint orchestration (Commander.js-based CLI path)
├── commands.ts              # Command registry
├── tools.ts                 # Tool registry
├── Tool.ts                  # Tool type definitions
├── QueryEngine.ts           # LLM query engine
├── context.ts               # System/user context collection
├── cost-tracker.ts          # Token cost tracking
│
├── commands/                # Slash command implementations (~50)
├── tools/                   # Agent tool implementations (~40)
├── components/              # Ink UI components (~140)
├── hooks/                   # React hooks
├── services/                # External service integrations
├── screens/                 # Full-screen UIs (Doctor, REPL, Resume)
├── types/                   # TypeScript type definitions
├── utils/                   # Utility functions
│
├── bridge/                  # IDE and remote-control bridge
├── coordinator/             # Multi-agent coordinator
├── plugins/                 # Plugin system
├── skills/                  # Skill system
├── keybindings/             # Keybinding configuration
├── vim/                     # Vim mode
├── voice/                   # Voice input
├── remote/                  # Remote sessions
├── server/                  # Server mode
├── memdir/                  # Persistent memory directory
├── tasks/                   # Task management
├── state/                   # State management
├── migrations/              # Config migrations
├── schemas/                 # Config schemas (Zod)
├── entrypoints/             # Initialization logic
├── ink/                     # Ink renderer wrapper
├── buddy/                   # Companion sprite
├── native-ts/               # Native TypeScript utilities
├── outputStyles/            # Output styling
├── query/                   # Query pipeline
└── upstreamproxy/           # Proxy configuration

Architecture Summary

1. Tool System (src/tools/)

Every tool Cola Code can invoke is implemented as a self-contained module. Each tool defines its input schema, permission model, and execution logic.

| Tool | Description | |---|---| | BashTool | Shell command execution | | FileReadTool | File reading (images, PDFs, notebooks) | | FileWriteTool | File creation / overwrite | | FileEditTool | Partial file modification (string replacement) | | GlobTool | File pattern matching search | | GrepTool | ripgrep-based content search | | WebFetchTool | Fetch URL content | | WebSearchTool | Web search | | AgentTool | Sub-agent spawning | | SkillTool | Skill execution | | MCPTool | MCP server tool invocation | | LSPTool | Language Server Protocol integration | | NotebookEditTool | Jupyter notebook editing | | TaskCreateTool / TaskUpdateTool | Task creation and management | | SendMessageTool | Inter-agent messaging | | TeamCreateTool / TeamDeleteTool | Team agent management | | EnterPlanModeTool / ExitPlanModeTool | Plan mode toggle | | EnterWorktreeTool / ExitWorktreeTool | Git worktree isolation | | ToolSearchTool | Deferred tool discovery | | CronCreateTool | Scheduled trigger creation | | RemoteTriggerTool | Remote trigger | | SleepTool | Proactive mode wait | | SyntheticOutputTool | Structured output generation |

2. Command System (src/commands/)

User-facing slash commands invoked with / prefix.

| Command | Description | |---|---| | /commit | Create a git commit | | /review | Code review | | /compact | Context compression | | /mcp | MCP server management | | /config | Settings management | | /doctor | Environment diagnostics | | /login / /logout | Authentication | | /memory | Persistent memory management | | /skills | Skill management | | /tasks | Task management | | /vim | Vim mode toggle | | /diff | View changes | | /cost | Check usage cost | | /theme | Change theme | | /context | Context visualization | | /pr_comments | View PR comments | | /resume | Restore previous session | | /share | Share session | | /desktop | Desktop app handoff | | /mobile | Mobile app handoff |

3. Service Layer (src/services/)

| Service | Description | |---|---| | api/ | Anthropic API client, file API, bootstrap | | mcp/ | Model Context Protocol server connection and management | | oauth/ | OAuth 2.0 authentication flow | | lsp/ | Language Server Protocol manager | | analytics/ | GrowthBook-based feature flags and analytics | | plugins/ | Plugin loader | | compact/ | Conversation context compression | | policyLimits/ | Organization policy limits | | remoteManagedSettings/ | Remote managed settings | | extractMemories/ | Automatic memory extraction | | tokenEstimation.ts | Token count estimation | | teamMemorySync/ | Team memory synchronization |

4. Bridge System (src/bridge/)

A bidirectional communication layer connecting IDE extensions (VS Code, JetBrains) with the Cola Code CLI.

• bridgeMain.ts — Bridge main loop
• bridgeMessaging.ts — Message protocol
• bridgePermissionCallbacks.ts — Permission callbacks
• replBridge.ts — REPL session bridge
• jwtUtils.ts — JWT-based authentication
• sessionRunner.ts — Session execution management

5. Permission System (src/hooks/toolPermission/)

Checks permissions on every tool invocation. Either prompts the user for approval/denial or automatically resolves based on the configured permission mode (default, plan, bypassPermissions, auto, etc.).

6. Feature Flags

Dead code elimination via Bun's bun:bundle feature flags:

import { feature } from 'bun:bundle'

// Inactive code is completely stripped at build time
const voiceCommand = feature('VOICE_MODE')
  ? require('./commands/voice/index.js').default
  : null

Notable flags: PROACTIVE, KAIROS, BRIDGE_MODE, DAEMON, VOICE_MODE, AGENT_TRIGGERS, MONITOR_TOOL

Key Files in Detail

QueryEngine.ts (~46K lines)

The core engine for LLM API calls. Handles streaming responses, tool-call loops, thinking mode, retry logic, and token counting.

Tool.ts (~29K lines)

Defines base types and interfaces for all tools — input schemas, permission models, and progress state types.

commands.ts (~25K lines)

Manages registration and execution of all slash commands. Uses conditional imports to load different command sets per environment.

main.tsx

Commander.js-based CLI parser and React/Ink renderer initialization. At startup, it overlaps MDM settings, keychain prefetch, and GrowthBook initialization for faster boot.

Tech Stack

| Category | Technology | |---|---| | Runtime | Bun | | Language | TypeScript (strict) | | Terminal UI | React + Ink | | CLI Parsing | Commander.js (extra-typings) | | Schema Validation | Zod v4 | | Code Search | ripgrep | | Protocols | MCP SDK, LSP | | API | Anthropic SDK | | Telemetry | OpenTelemetry + gRPC | | Feature Flags | GrowthBook | | Auth | OAuth 2.0, JWT, macOS Keychain |

Notable Design Patterns

Parallel Prefetch

Startup time is optimized by prefetching MDM settings, keychain reads, and API preconnect in parallel before heavy module evaluation begins.

// main.tsx — fired as side-effects before other imports
startMdmRawRead()
startKeychainPrefetch()

Lazy Loading

Heavy modules (OpenTelemetry, gRPC, analytics, and some feature-gated subsystems) are deferred via dynamic import() until actually needed.

Agent Swarms

Sub-agents are spawned via AgentTool, with coordinator/ handling multi-agent orchestration. TeamCreateTool enables team-level parallel work.

Skill System

Reusable workflows defined in skills/ are executed through SkillTool. Users can add custom skills.

Plugin Architecture

Built-in and third-party plugins are loaded through the plugins/ subsystem.

Research / Ownership Disclaimer

• This repository is an educational and defensive security research archive maintained by a university student.
• It exists to study source exposure, packaging failures, and the architecture of modern agentic CLI systems.
• The original Cola Code source remains the property of Anthropic.
• This repository is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or maintained by Anthropic.