Kernel

Kernel is a repo-local quality system and portable operating layer for coding agents.

It helps Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, Kiro, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, OpenCode, Junie, Zed, and future ADEs work from the same durable task contracts, repo maps, verification evidence, policies, handoff packets, canonical skills, and generated adapter files.

Status

Kernel is pre-release software. The source repository is public, and the package identity is @mattbaconz/kernel. The package is still private and unpublished until an explicit public release task.

What Kernel Provides

• kernel init for .agent/ bootstrap
• task contracts under .agent/state/ and .agent/contracts/
• evidence ledgers under .agent/evidence/
• handoff packets under .agent/handoffs/
• deterministic repo maps under .agent/maps/
• canonical skill generation under .agent/skills/
• adapter compilation for Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, Kiro, and GitHub Copilot
• validation, skill linting, static skill eval fixtures, and JSON schema discovery

Development Install

Use Node.js 20 or newer and pnpm 10.24.0.

pnpm install
pnpm build

Run the CLI from source after building:

node dist/cli/index.js --help

Local Packed Install

For release-artifact testing without publishing:

pnpm build
npm pack
npm install -g ./mattbaconz-kernel-0.1.0.tgz
kernel --help

Once published, the intended package install name is:

npm install -g @mattbaconz/kernel

The project also includes an automated packed-artifact check:

pnpm verify:packed

Quickstart In A Repository

Initialize Kernel:

kernel init
kernel skill generate --set lint-ready
kernel map
kernel compile all
kernel validate

Create work artifacts:

kernel task new --type feature --goal "Describe the change"
kernel evidence new --task current --claim "Describe what was verified"
kernel handoff new --task current

Run quality checks:

kernel validate --json
kernel skill lint --json
kernel eval --json
kernel schema versions
kernel schema list
kernel schema path skill-eval-result
kernel schema show skill-eval-result --json

Adapter Compilation

Compile every priority ADE adapter:

kernel compile all

Compile one adapter:

kernel compile codex
kernel compile claude
kernel compile cursor
kernel compile kiro
kernel compile github-copilot

Development Checks

Run all local checks before pushing:

pnpm test
pnpm typecheck
pnpm lint
pnpm build
pnpm verify:packed

CI runs the same core checks on main and pull requests.

Release Readiness

Kernel is not published to npm yet. Release gates, trusted-publishing setup notes, provenance expectations, and rollback checks are documented in RELEASE.md.

JSON Outputs And Schemas

Machine-readable command outputs include schemaVersion: 1.

Discover schemas:

kernel schema versions --json
kernel schema list --json
kernel schema path validation-result --json
kernel schema show validation-result --json

Versioned schemas live under schemas/json/v1/.

Public Repository Boundary

This public repository contains the Kernel CLI source, tests, schemas, release docs, and GitHub community files. Internal planning notes, task evidence, handoff packets, and private documentation vaults are intentionally excluded from public history.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. This repository uses Kernel's own task/evidence workflow for non-trivial changes.

Security

See SECURITY.md for supported reporting channels and security handling expectations.

License

Apache-2.0. See LICENSE.