daedalus

name	daedalus
description	Plan and orchestrate coding work using the Daedalus CLI and Talos daemon. Daedalus is an AI planning CLI that creates structured beans (task files) for coding agents to execute autonomously. Use when planning features, breaking down work into tasks, or running autonomous agent workflows with beans.
license	MIT
compatibility	Requires Node.js >= 20 and the beans CLI (brew install hmans/beans/beans)
metadata	{"author":"internet-development","version":"1.0"}

Daedalus

Overview

Daedalus is an AI planning CLI that creates structured tasks (beans) for coding agents to execute autonomously. Instead of babysitting agents, you plan the work with Daedalus and let Talos (the daemon) execute it.

• Repository: internet-development/daedalus
• npm: npm install -g @internet-dev/daedalus
• Philosophy: A Beans Based AI Workflow

The core insight: the bottleneck isn't agents — it's having clear enough tasks for them to work on.

You (planning) ──→ Daedalus ──→ Beans (.beans/) ──→ Talos ──→ Coding Agents
     ↑                                                              │
     └──────────── review PRs, iterate on plan ─────────────────────┘

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 20
• beans CLI: brew install hmans/beans/beans (or go install github.com/hmans/beans@latest)
• One of:
  • Claude Code CLI (recommended) — uses subscription, no API key
  • ANTHROPIC_API_KEY — direct Anthropic API
  • OPENAI_API_KEY — OpenAI alternative

Quick Start

npm install -g @internet-dev/daedalus
cd your-project
beans init
daedalus

The daedalus CLI

Interactive AI-assisted planning agent. Start a planning session:

daedalus                       # Session selector
daedalus --new                 # Fresh session
daedalus --continue            # Resume most recent
daedalus --mode brainstorm     # Start in brainstorm mode
daedalus tree                  # Show bean dependency tree

Planning Modes

Mode	Purpose
new	Create new beans through guided conversation
refine	Improve and clarify existing draft beans
critique	Run expert review on draft beans
sweep	Check consistency across related beans
brainstorm	Explore design options with Socratic questioning
breakdown	Decompose work into actionable child beans (2-5 min each)

In-Session Commands

Command	Action
/help	Show all commands
/mode [name]	Switch planning mode
/prompt [name]	Select a built-in prompt
/edit	Open $EDITOR for multi-line input
/sessions	List and switch sessions
/new	Start a new session
/tree	Display bean tree
/start / /stop	Start/stop Talos daemon
/status	Show daemon status
/quit	Exit

Expert Advisors

Daedalus can consult 9 expert personas for multi-perspective analysis:

Expert	Focus
Pragmatist	Ship fast, avoid over-engineering
Architect	Scalability, maintainability, long-term health
Skeptic	Edge cases, failure modes, what could go wrong
Simplifier	Reduce complexity, find simpler alternatives
Security	Auth, data exposure, input validation, attack vectors
Researcher	Papers, docs, best practices
Codebase Explorer	Patterns, dependencies, existing architecture
UX Reviewer	User experience, discoverability, interface design
Critic	Synthesize multiple perspectives into actionable feedback

The talos CLI

Talos is the daemon that watches .beans/ and spawns coding agents to work on todo beans. Named after the bronze automaton that protected Crete.

talos start              # Start daemon (background)
talos start --no-detach  # Start in foreground
talos stop               # Stop daemon
talos stop --force       # Force kill
talos status             # Show daemon status
talos logs               # View recent logs
talos logs -f            # Follow logs
talos config             # Show configuration
talos config --validate  # Validate talos.yml

The Ralph Loop

Talos runs a ralph loop:

1. Pick a bean — Query todo/in-progress beans, filter blocked ones, sort by priority
2. Mark in-progress — Update bean status
3. Generate prompt — Implementation prompt for tasks/bugs, review prompt for epics
4. Run agent — Claude Code, OpenCode, or Codex
5. Handle result — On success, check status. On failure, retry up to 3 times
6. Pick next — Repeat until no beans remain

Configuration

Create talos.yml in your project root:

agent:
  backend: claude
  claude:
    model: claude-sonnet-4-20250514

planning_agent:
  provider: claude_code
  model: claude-sonnet-4-20250514

planning:
  skills_directory: ./skills
  modes:
    brainstorm:
      skill: beans-brainstorming
    breakdown:
      skill: beans-breakdown

Agent Backends

Backend	Command	API Key Required
claude	Claude Code CLI	No (uses subscription)
opencode	OpenCode CLI	No (uses subscription)
codex	OpenAI Codex CLI	Yes (OPENAI_API_KEY)

Planning Providers

Provider	Description
claude_code	Claude Code CLI (recommended, no API key)
claude	Anthropic API (requires ANTHROPIC_API_KEY)
openai	OpenAI API (requires OPENAI_API_KEY)
opencode	OpenCode CLI

Beans

Beans are plain markdown files with YAML front matter, stored in .beans/ and tracked in git.

---
id: daedalus-abc123
title: Add user authentication
type: feature
status: todo
priority: high
parent: daedalus-parent-id
blockedBy:
  - daedalus-other-id
---

## Problem

Users can't log in...

## Solution

Implement email + password auth...

## Files

- `src/auth/login.ts` - Login handler
- `src/auth/session.ts` - Session management

Bean Types

Type	Use For
milestone	Release target with deadline
epic	Thematic group of related work
feature	User-facing capability
bug	Something broken to fix
task	Concrete implementation work

Bean Statuses

Status	Meaning
draft	Not ready for execution
todo	Ready to be picked up
in_progress	Currently being worked on
done	Completed

Bean Commands

beans create "Title" -t task -s todo -d "Description..."
beans update <id> --status done
beans update <id> --parent <parent-id>
beans update <id> --blocking <other-id>
beans query '{ beans { id title status } }'

Workflow

The recommended workflow with Daedalus:

1. Plan — daedalus --mode brainstorm to explore the design space
2. Break down — daedalus --mode breakdown to decompose into small beans
3. Critique — daedalus --mode critique to get expert feedback
4. Execute — talos start to let agents work autonomously
5. Review — Check agent output, refine beans, plan next batch

Runtime Data

The .talos/ directory (gitignored) stores:

Path	Contents
.talos/output/	Agent execution logs
.talos/chat-history.json	Planning chat persistence
.talos/prompts/	Custom planning prompts
.talos/daemon.pid	Daemon process ID
.talos/daemon-status.json	Daemon state