36 stable releases (3 major)
| new 3.2.0 | Jan 27, 2026 |
|---|---|
| 3.1.0 | Jan 27, 2026 |
| 2.9.0 | Jan 26, 2026 |
| 2.7.1 | Dec 30, 2025 |
| 0.1.6 | Dec 22, 2025 |
#2209 in Command line utilities
220KB
5K
SLoC
Grits
A Git-native, local-first issue tracker designed for AI Agents and humans.
Status: v3.0.0 — "Active State Store"
Quick Start
Prerequisites
- Rust (latest stable)
- Git
Install CLI
# Via Cargo (recommended)
cargo install grits-cli
# Or download binary from Releases
# https://github.com/babybirdprd/grits/releases
Initialize a Project
cd your-project
gr onboard
🤖 The State Store Protocol (Planner/Coder)
Grits transforms from a passive tracker into an Active State Store (World Model) for agents. It enforces a strict separation between research and execution to minimize LLM "halucinations" and context drift.
The Lifecycle of an Issue
- User Intent (
description): The high-level goal set by a human or orchestrator. - Planner Agent: Analyzes the intent, researches the code via
gr star, and populates the Implementation Plan (design). - Coder Agent: Wakes up to a Rich Pulse JSON. If
designis present, it begins coding. It logs every iteration/rollout to the Execution Log (notes) viagr update --append.
Key Commands for Agents
gr pulse: Returns a full Rich Context JSON (Intent + Plan + Rules + History).gr update --append: Persistent append-only logging for the Lab Notebook (notes).gr workon: Automatically warns if a Coder starts work without adesign.
Core Workflow
1. Check Pulse
Hydrate your session (or your agent's context) with the current project status.
gr pulse
2. Create Issue
gr create "Fix login bug" --description "intent" --design "plan" --start-work
3. Hierarchy & Linking
Link existing tasks or migrate them into a hierarchy.
gr dep add gr-child123 gr-parentabc --migrate
# ✅ Result: Child is renamed to gr-parentabc.n
4. Context Awareness (Blind Assembly)
Bundle relevant code even if you don't have a topology map yet.
gr context assemble --symbols "README.md,src/main.rs"
CLI Reference (v3.2.0)
| Field | Purpose | Agent Map |
|---|---|---|
description |
The User's Intent | Intent |
design |
Implementation Plan | Strategy |
acceptance_criteria |
Success Definitions | Proof |
notes |
Execution Log (Append-only) | Memory |
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
gr show <id> |
Displays Rich Context + Execution Log |
gr update --append |
Marks notes as append-only (Lab Notebook) |
gr pulse |
Rich Context JSON for Session Hydration |
gr context assemble |
Fallback "Blind" assembly for raw file paths |
- Planner Skill: .agent/skills/grits-plan/SKILL.md — Self-contained Architect instructions.
- Coder Skill: .agent/skills/grits-code/SKILL.md — Self-contained Builder instructions.
- Workflows: .agent/workflows/ — Automated turbo-execution paths.
- Standard: Follows the Agent Skills open specification.
Architecture
Twin Engine:
- SQLite (
.grits/grits.db) — Fast local queries. - JSONL (
.grits/issues.jsonl) — Git-versioned source of truth.
Graph-Lite:
- Uses a lightweight AST parser to build a dependency graph.
- Supports Blind Assembly fallback for non-topological file access.
License
MIT
Dependencies
~94MB
~2M SLoC