Autonomous Coding Agent

An autonomous coding agent powered by Claude Agent SDK and task-master AI that implements features from a structured task list.

Overview

This agent:

• Connects to task-master MCP server to fetch tasks
• Reads project context from PRD.md
• Autonomously implements one task at a time
• Creates feature branches and commits changes
• Marks tasks as complete

Prerequisites

1. Node.js - for task-master-ai
2. Python 3.11+ - for Claude Agent SDK
3. uv - Python package manager (recommended)
4. Git - for version control operations

Installation

1. Install task-master-ai globally

npm install -g task-master-ai

2. Set up Python environment

# Initialize project (if not already done)
uv init

# Install dependencies
uv add claude-agent-sdk rich python-dotenv

3. Configure environment variables

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env and add your API keys

Required:

• ANTHROPIC_API_KEY - Your Anthropic API key

Optional:

• PERPLEXITY_API_KEY - For task-master research features

Target Repository Setup

Your target repository should contain:

1. tasks.json - Task list managed by task-master
2. PRD.md (optional) - Product Requirements Document for context

Initialize task-master in your target repo:

cd /path/to/your/project
task-master init

Usage

Basic Usage

uv run python coding_agent.py --repo-path /path/to/target/repo

With Specific Model

# Use Haiku (faster, cheaper)
uv run python coding_agent.py --repo-path /path/to/target/repo --model haiku

# Use Sonnet (balanced)
uv run python coding_agent.py --repo-path /path/to/target/repo --model sonnet

# Use Opus (most capable)
uv run python coding_agent.py --repo-path /path/to/target/repo --model opus

How It Works

1. Task Fetching: Agent queries task-master MCP to get the next pending task
2. Context Gathering: Reads PRD.md and existing codebase to understand requirements
3. Planning: Creates its own internal todo list to plan implementation
4. Implementation: Writes/modifies code autonomously following existing patterns
5. Version Control: Creates a feature branch and commits changes
6. Completion: Marks task as complete via task-master

Agent Workflow

[Start] → Connect to task-master MCP
       → Run 'task-master next'
       → Read PRD.md for context
       → Create internal todo list
       → Implement task
       → Create feature branch
       → Commit changes
       → Mark task complete
       → [Done]

Architecture

• Agent SDK: Handles Claude API communication and tool orchestration
• MCP Server: task-master-ai provides task management interface
• Autonomous Mode: Agent creates its own plan and executes independently
• Single Task Focus: Implements one task per run for better quality

Example Output

Starting Coding Agent
Target Repository: /home/user/my-project
Model: sonnet
============================================================

Sending task to agent...

[Agent creates todo list]
[Agent fetches next task from task-master]
[Agent reads PRD and existing code]
[Agent implements feature]
[Agent creates branch and commits]
[Agent marks task complete]

============================================================
Agent completed task!

Configuration

The agent automatically configures task-master MCP with your environment:

{
    "taskmaster-ai": {
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "--package=task-master-ai", "task-master-ai"],
        "env": {
            "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "...",
            "MODEL": "claude-3-7-sonnet-20250219",
            "REPO_PATH": "/path/to/target/repo"
        }
    }
}

Troubleshooting

Agent can't find tasks

• Ensure tasks.json exists in target repo
• Run task-master list manually to verify tasks

MCP connection issues

• Check ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set correctly
• Verify task-master-ai is installed: npm list -g task-master-ai

Git errors

• Ensure target repo is a valid git repository
• Check you have write permissions

Future Enhancements

• Sub-agent for writing unit tests
• Pre-commit hooks for test validation
• Multi-task batch processing
• PR creation and submission
• Continuous mode (loop through all tasks)

Resources

• Claude Agent SDK Documentation
• task-master GitHub
• task-master Website

License

MIT