Intent CLI

Semantic Git for the vibe coding era

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Your coding agent forgets where you left off. Intent keeps the goal, the latest verified checkpoint and the standing decisions in your project, so the next session continues the work instead of rediscovering it.

Git records how code changed. Intent records why, what is verified, and what comes next.

See it on a real project: browse Intent's own history on IntHub. It holds the goals, checkpoints and decisions behind this repository, and it needs no sign-in.

The idea

You now shape code through agents. The code lands in Git, but the reasoning stays in a chat that ends with the session, so the next agent starts blind and you explain everything again.

Intent adds a small layer of semantic history next to your code, built around one deliberate imbalance:

• Recording stays light. The agent saves a checkpoint only when something meaningful is verified. A quiet turn writes nothing.
• Resuming is complete. One command gives the next session the goal, what is verified, the boundary, the next step and the rules that still apply.

The history is plain JSON in .intent/, so any agent can read it, and so can you. Nothing leaves your machine unless you choose to share it.

Quick start

# 1. Install the CLI (macOS / Linux). Re-run any time to upgrade.
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dozybot001/Intent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

# 2. Add the agent skill (needs Node.js; -a cursor and others also work)
npx skills add dozybot001/Intent -g -a claude-code -a codex -y

# 3. Turn it on in a project (Git is optional)
cd your-project
itt init

Trust the project hooks once: in Claude Code, trust the folder and confirm both hooks in /hooks; in Codex, open /hooks. Then work as usual. To pick up later, in any session, say:

Resume this project through Intent.

Windows (PowerShell): irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dozybot001/Intent/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex. With pipx or uv: pipx install intent-history or uv tool install intent-history. Requires Python 3.9+.

The names, in one line: Intent CLI is the product, itt is the command, intent-history is the package, and IntHub is the optional web app.

Try it by hand

itt init
itt intent create "Add Apple Pay to the web checkout" --why "Apple Pay users convert 2x on mobile Safari"
itt snap create "Payment sheet confirms PaymentIntents in test mode" \
  --next "Handle shipping-method changes server-side" --blocker none
itt decision create "Payments go through the PaymentIntent API only" --why "One SCA path"
itt inspect

Active
  intent-3f9a2c1  Add Apple Pay to the web checkout
                  Next         Handle shipping-method changes server-side
                  Blocker      none
                  Verified     Payment sheet confirms PaymentIntents in test mode
                  snap-8e41d07 · 2026-10-30 00:25 · 1 snap

Decisions
  decision-c27b5fa  Payments go through the PaymentIntent API only

This is what a new session reads. In a terminal itt prints text; agents and scripts get JSON.

Why not just AGENTS.md or agent memory?

You may already use	It holds	Intent adds
AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, Cursor rules	How to work in this repository	Where the work stands: current goal, verified state, next step, blocker
Built-in agent memory	Per-tool, opaque notes	Plain JSON in your project that any agent (and you) can read
Issues, PRs, ADRs	Team plans and reviews	Checkpoints captured during the work, plus decisions that attach to new goals automatically
Git history	What changed in the code	The reasoning, and the boundary of what is actually done

What it records

Three kinds of objects, all append-only:

Object	Captures
Intent	One goal and why it matters
Snap	A verified checkpoint: what is verified, the boundary, the next step, any blocker
Decision	A durable rule that binds future goals, such as "payments go through PaymentIntents only"

Intents can be related: part of, derived from, succeeds, depends on, conflicts with. IntHub's Flow page draws how goals branch, continue and converge (Intent flow).

History that works like Git

If you know Git, you already know how Intent behaves. Every write is a revision, so there is nothing to commit.

itt log --graph               # revisions, branches and merges
itt diff HEAD~3               # what changed, in goals and checkpoints rather than lines
itt switch -c experiment      # branch the history, as you would in Git
itt merge experiment          # merge back; only a real disagreement stops it

Agents in separate Git worktrees share one history, each on its own branch, and new IDs cannot collide. A merge combines their checkpoints by itself and stops only when two sides set the same field differently, for example one marked a goal done and the other cancelled it. See the design.

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