LaneConductor 🛰️

The local-first control plane for multi-agent AI development.

See it in action: Brainstorming → Planning → Automated Implementation

LaneConductor is a sovereign developer environment that orchestrates AI agents (Claude, Gemini, and more) across multiple repositories, giving you real-time visibility through a unified Kanban dashboard — with zero cloud dependency and zero cost.

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⚡ Key Features

• Hybrid Operating Modes:
  • Local-First: Runs 100% on your hardware via local SQLite/Postgres. Zero cloud, zero cost.
  • Remote / Team Mode: Scales to production via Google Cloud Functions and Neon Postgres, enabling shared visibility for distributed teams.
• The Conductor Pattern: A structured Plan → Implement → Review → Quality Gate → Done pipeline. Compatible with the Gemini CLI conductor format.
• Filesystem Message Bus: Uses simple Markdown files in conductor/tracks/ as the source of truth, enabling agents and humans to coordinate seamlessly.
• Live Kanban Dashboard: A Vite + React dashboard that syncs in real-time with your filesystem via a local Postgres database.
• Quality Gates: Automated verification (tests, linting, builds) that must pass before any work is considered "Done".
• Git Worktree Isolation & Panel: Automatically isolates branch-mode track execution using Git Worktrees, keeping the main repository clean. The dashboard's Worktrees Panel offers live dev-server preview swapping, PR approval, and git lock management.
• Multi-Agent Support: Natively optimized for Claude Code and Gemini, with support for primary and fallback LLM configurations.

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🛰️ LaneConductor vs. Standalone Coding Agents

While standalone terminal tools (such as Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Aider, or Cursor) provide interactive single-session coding, LaneConductor acts as an autonomous multi-agent control plane that orchestrates complex development lifecycles across your entire repository.

Dimension	Standalone Coding Agents	LaneConductor Control Plane
Architecture	Ephemeral, single-terminal REPL	Sovereign multi-agent control plane with background worker fleet
Visibility	Terminal scrollback buffer	Real-time Kanban dashboard backed by local Postgres & Markdown bus
Workspace Isolation	Runs directly in your active working tree; prone to dirty checkouts	Git Worktree Isolation: automated worktrees per track keep main pristine
Lifecycle & Safety	Open-ended chat; manual testing & manual git committing	Structured Conductor Pipeline: Plan → Implement → Review → Automated Quality Gates → PR/Merge
Target Switchability	Single monolithic conversation session	Switch between The Manager (instance health & gap triage) and Track Workers
Steerable Alignment	Ad-hoc chat disconnected from project roadmaps	Conversational steering updates live design docs (spec.md, plan.md) and re-queues tracks
Parallel Execution	One task at a time; blocks your terminal	Multi-track concurrent queues running headlessly in parallel worktrees

Why LaneConductor?

• From Babysitting to Orchestration: Instead of watching an agent edit one file at a time, queue tracks to background workers that plan, implement, run quality gates, push branches, and open pull requests autonomously.
• Dual-Mode Safety: Chat turns run lock-free in your main working directory for instant planning and design doc synchronization. All code modifications are strictly sandboxed inside dedicated Git Worktrees.
• Continuous Project Memory: Specifications, implementation plans, and conversation histories are persisted directly in conductor/tracks/, serving as a durable, human-and-agent readable single source of truth.

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🛰️ Advanced Track Features

Every Track folder under conductor/tracks/ is controlled by a stateful index.md file. You can configure execution and workflow behavior per-track using simple markers:

• Workspace Mode (**Workspace**: main|branch):
  • branch (default): Isolation in a dedicated git worktree on a track branch.
  • main: Execution directly in the primary checkout (perfect for local developer-agent pairing or self-hosted worker infrastructure updates).
• PR & Merge Mode (**Merge Mode**: pr|direct):
  • pr (default): Automatically pushes the branch and opens a GitHub Pull Request upon passing the Quality Gate. You can review, preview, and merge it straight from the dashboard.
  • direct: The worker merges the track branch directly to main without opening a PR.
• Auto-Run Configuration (**Auto Run**: yes|no):
  • yes: Allows the worker to claim the track from the queue and execute it automatically through planning, implementation, and review.
  • no (or omitted): Restricts execution to manual trigger actions from the UI or CLI.

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🚀 Quick Start

Option A: Standard (CLI-driven)

# 1. Install the lc CLI globally
git clone https://github.com/meller/laneconductor.git && cd laneconductor && make install

# 2. Initialize in your project
cd ~/your-project && lc setup

# 3. Start the worker and dashboard
lc start && lc ui

The Kanban dashboard will be available at localhost:8090.

🧠 Option B: AI-Native (Skill Only)

No CLI, no local DB, no UI required. Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

1. Install Skill: Copy the laneconductor folder from .claude/skills/ into your Claude Desktop skill directory.
2. Initialize: Open your project codebase and run the following within Claude:

   /laneconductor setup
   

3. Conduct: Manage your project entirely through the AI skill. Try these commands:
   • /laneconductor newTrack "Feature Name" "Short Description"
   • /laneconductor plan NNN
   • /laneconductor implement NNN Check conductor/tracks.md at any time for a project-wide summary.

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Optional: AI Context Scaffolding

Use the Claude Code skill to automatically scan your codebase and generate project documentation:

# Within Claude Code
/laneconductor setup scaffold

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📖 Documentation

For a deep dive into operating modes, CLI reference, and workflow configuration, visit the LaneConductor Knowledge Base.

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🛠️ Project Structure

• bin/: The universal lc command-line tool.
• conductor/: Core orchestrator logic and heartbeat worker.
• ui/: Vite + React Kanban dashboard and Express API.
• cloud/: Firebase functions and Postgres connectors for remote/team mode.
• migrations/: Schema versioning using Atlas.
• .claude/skills/: The specialized AI skill definition for Claude.

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the Elastic License 2.0 - free to use, modify, and self-host; the one restriction is offering it to third parties as a hosted or managed service.