hatch3r

Crack the egg. Hatch better agents.

hatch3r is an open-source CLI and Cursor plugin that installs a battle-tested, tool-agnostic agentic coding setup into any repository. One command gives you up to 16 agents, 25 skills, 22 rules, 34 commands, and MCP integrations -- optimized for your coding tool of choice. Selective init installs only what you need based on your project type and team size.

Quick Start

Requires Node.js 22+.

npx hatch3r init

That's it. hatch3r detects your repo, asks about your project context (greenfield/brownfield, solo/team), lets you choose a content profile (minimal/standard/full/custom), and generates everything. The platform (GitHub, Azure DevOps, or GitLab) is auto-detected from your git remote. Run into issues? See Troubleshooting.

What You Get

| Category | Count | Highlights | |----------|-------|-----------| | Agents | 16 | Code reviewer, test writer, security auditor, implementer (sub-agentic), fixer, researcher, architect, DevOps, and more | | Skills | 25 | Bug fix, feature implementation, issue workflow, release, incident response, context health, cost tracking, recipes, API spec, CI pipeline, migration, customization, and more | | Rules | 22 | Code standards, testing, API design, observability, theming, i18n, security patterns, agent orchestration, deep context analysis, and more | | Commands | 34 | Board management, planning (feature, bug, refactor, test), workflow, quick-change, revision, debug, healthcheck, security-audit, cost-tracking, onboard, benchmark, customization, and more | | MCP Servers | 10 (3 default + 7 opt-in) | Playwright, Context7, Filesystem (default); GitHub, Brave Search, Sentry, Postgres, Linear, Azure DevOps, GitLab (opt-in) | | Platforms | 3 | GitHub, Azure DevOps, GitLab -- auto-detected from git remote |

Supported Tools (14 Adapters)

| Tool | Output | |------|--------| | Cursor | .mdc rules, agents, skills, commands, MCP config | | GitHub Copilot | instructions, prompts, GitHub agents | | Claude Code | CLAUDE.md, skills, .mcp.json | | OpenCode | AGENTS.md, opencode.json | | Windsurf | .windsurfrules | | Amp | AGENTS.md | | Codex CLI | AGENTS.md, codex.md | | Gemini CLI | GEMINI.md | | Cline / Roo Code | .clinerules | | Aider | CONVENTIONS.md | | Kiro | .kiro/steering/, .kiro/settings/mcp.json | | Goose | .goosehints | | Zed | .rules | | Amazon Q | .amazonq/rules/, .amazonq/settings.json |

Platform is auto-detected from your git remote during hatch3r init. All board commands, agents, rules, and skills adapt to your selected platform.

How It Works

.agents/              <- Canonical source (tool-agnostic)
  ├── agents/
  ├── skills/
  ├── rules/
  ├── commands/
  ├── mcp/
  ├── AGENTS.md
  └── hatch.json       <- Manifest

.cursor/               <- Generated (Cursor adapter)
.github/               <- Generated (Copilot adapter)
CLAUDE.md              <- Generated (Claude adapter)
.windsurfrules         <- Generated (Windsurf adapter)
AGENTS.md              <- Generated (OpenCode, Amp, Codex adapters)
GEMINI.md              <- Generated (Gemini adapter)
.clinerules            <- Generated (Cline adapter)
CONVENTIONS.md         <- Generated (Aider adapter)
.kiro/                 <- Generated (Kiro adapter)
.goosehints            <- Generated (Goose adapter)
.rules                 <- Generated (Zed adapter)
.amazonq/              <- Generated (Amazon Q adapter)
.worktreeinclude       <- Generated (worktree isolation)

hatch3r keeps one source of truth in .agents/ and generates native configuration for each tool.

Multi-Repo Workspaces

hatch3r can manage multiple git repos from a single workspace root. Run hatch3r init in a non-git directory containing git subdirectories and it auto-detects the workspace layout.

my-platform/                   <- Workspace root (not a git repo)
  .agents/                     <- Shared canonical source
    workspace.json             <- Workspace manifest
    hatch.json
    agents/
    rules/
    ...
  frontend/                    <- Git repo (gets its own generated files)
    .cursor/
    CLAUDE.md
    ...
  backend/                     <- Git repo
    .cursor/
    CLAUDE.md
    ...
  infra/                       <- Git repo
    .cursor/
    CLAUDE.md
    ...

npx hatch3r init --workspace              # force workspace mode
npx hatch3r sync                          # cascade to all repos
npx hatch3r sync --repos frontend backend # sync specific repos
npx hatch3r sync --dry-run                # preview changes
npx hatch3r config                        # manage repos and sync strategy

Content flows from workspace defaults into each sub-repo with optional per-repo overrides (tools, features, include/exclude content). Sub-repos receive independent copies, not symlinks. See the Workspace guide for full details.

Workflow

hatch3r provides a full project lifecycle, from setup to release:

1. Initialize -- npx hatch3r init detects your repo and platform, asks about context and profile, generates agents/skills/rules/commands/MCP. For headless CI, pass --yes with optional flags. See agentic process diagrams.
2. Set up the board -- hatch3r-board-init creates or connects a Projects V2 board with status fields, label taxonomy, and config writeback.
3. Define work -- Create a todo.md at the project root (one item per line).
4. Fill the board -- hatch3r-board-fill parses todo.md, classifies items, groups into epics, builds a dependency DAG, and marks issues status:ready.
5. Groom the backlog -- hatch3r-board-groom surfaces stale items, priority imbalances, and decomposition candidates for selective refinement.
6. Pick up work -- hatch3r-board-pickup auto-selects the next issue by dependency order and priority, creates a branch, delegates implementation, and opens a PR.
7. Review cycle -- Reviewer + fixer agents loop (max 3 iterations) until clean, then test-writer and security-auditor run final checks.
8. Release -- hatch3r-release determines the semver bump, generates a changelog, tags, and publishes.

After init: For greenfield, run hatch3r-project-spec then hatch3r-roadmap. For brownfield, run hatch3r-codebase-map. For a single feature, run hatch3r-feature-plan. For small changes, run hatch3r-quick-change.

Commands

CLI Commands

npx hatch3r init          # Interactive setup
npx hatch3r config        # Reconfigure tools, MCP servers, features, and platform
npx hatch3r sync          # Re-generate from canonical state
npx hatch3r update        # Pull latest templates (safe merge)
npx hatch3r status        # Check sync status between canonical and generated files
npx hatch3r validate      # Validate canonical .agents/ structure
npx hatch3r verify        # Verify file integrity checksums
npx hatch3r worktree-setup <path>  # Set up gitignored files in a worktree
npx hatch3r add <pack>    # Install a community pack (coming soon)

Agent Commands

These commands are invoked inside your coding tool (e.g., as Cursor commands).

Board management: board-init, board-fill, board-groom, board-pickup, board-refresh, board-shared

Planning: project-spec, codebase-map, roadmap, feature-plan, bug-plan, refactor-plan, migration-plan, test-plan, api-spec

Workflow: workflow, quick-change, revision, debug, onboard, benchmark, hooks, learn, recipe

Operations: healthcheck, security-audit, dep-audit, release, context-health, cost-tracking

Customization: agent-customize, command-customize, skill-customize, rule-customize

All commands are prefixed with hatch3r- (e.g., hatch3r-board-fill). See the CLI Commands reference and Agent Commands reference for full details.

MCP Configuration

hatch3r init creates a .env.mcp file with required environment variables for your selected MCP servers (gitignored by default). MCP config is written to the tool-appropriate location (.cursor/mcp.json, .mcp.json, .vscode/mcp.json, etc.).

• VS Code / Copilot: Secrets load automatically via the native envFile field.
• Cursor / Claude Code / others: Source the file first: set -a && source .env.mcp && set +a && cursor .

See MCP Setup for full setup, per-server details, and PAT scope guidance.

Platform Agentic Workflows

hatch3r includes a complete board management system supporting GitHub, Azure DevOps, and GitLab. Configure in hatch.json:

{
  "board": {
    "owner": "my-org",
    "repo": "my-repo",
    "projectNumber": 1,
    "areas": ["area:frontend", "area:backend", "area:infra"]
  },
  "models": {
    "default": "opus",
    "agents": { "hatch3r-lint-fixer": "sonnet" }
  }
}

Sub-Agentic Architecture

• Four-phase pipeline -- Research, Implement, Review Loop (reviewer + fixer, max 3 iterations), Final Quality (testing + security)
• Implementer agent -- Receives a single sub-issue, delivers code + tests, reports back
• Fixer agent -- Takes reviewer findings and implements targeted fixes
• Issue workflow skill -- 8-step structured workflow with parallel sub-agent delegation for epics
• Tooling hierarchy -- Project docs > Codebase search > Library docs (Context7) > Web research

Content Profiles

During hatch3r init, you choose a content profile:

| Profile | What's included | Best for | |---------|----------------|----------| | Minimal | Core agents and workflows only (core tag) | Quick setup, minimal footprint | | Standard (recommended) | Full development lifecycle without niche audits | Most projects | | Full | Everything including board management and all audits | Large teams, full coverage | | Custom | Choose exactly what you need | Fine-grained control |

Content is tagged with workflow, context, and domain tags. After init, use hatch3r config to add or remove individual content items.

Customization

hatch3r separates managed from custom files:

• hatch3r-* files are managed by hatch3r and fully replaced on update
• Files without the prefix are your customizations and are never touched
• All hatch3r-generated markdown files use managed blocks (<!-- HATCH3R:BEGIN --> / <!-- HATCH3R:END -->). Content outside these markers is preserved. Bridge files are emitted by 14 adapters: Cursor, Claude, Copilot, Cline, Codex, Gemini, Windsurf, Amp, OpenCode, Aider, Kiro, Goose, Zed, Amazon Q.

Model Selection

Configure preferred AI models per agent via hatch.json (global default and per-agent overrides), canonical agent frontmatter, or .hatch3r/agents/{id}.customize.yaml. Resolution order: customization file > manifest per-agent > agent frontmatter > manifest default.

See Model Selection for the full guide.

Cursor Plugin

hatch3r is also available as a Cursor plugin. Enable it for instant access to all rules, skills, agents, and commands without running init.

Documentation

Full documentation is available at docs.hatch3r.com.

• MCP Setup -- Connecting MCP servers and managing secrets
• Adapter Capability Matrix -- Per-tool support and output paths
• Agent Teams -- Multi-agent team coordination and delegation patterns
• Model Selection -- Configuring AI models per agent
• Agentic Process -- Visual diagrams of init flow, board workflow, and agent orchestration
• Troubleshooting -- Common issues and solutions
• Changelog -- Release history

License

MIT