The outline and accepted proposals
.threadvm/ → nested Git repository- 1Write a thought
- 2Mention an agent
- 3Answer when it asks
- 4Review what comes back
- 5Keep the result
Playing
A place for thoughts.
A workspace for agents.
What if the outline you think in was also the place where work happens? Below is the actual outliner, playing a short story with scripted agents. Watch, or click in and take over.
Write a thought. A bullet is a thought, and nesting gives it context. The outline is a normal outline until you ask for help.
Mention an agent. Mentioning @cursor turns the bullet into a thread with its own sandbox and branch. It sees the path to the bullet and the branch beneath it.
Answer when it asks. When an agent needs you, its question appears under the bullet that asked, and every folded branch above it keeps count. Pick an answer.
Review what comes back. Agents never edit the outline. Their changes arrive as suggestions: green for new bullets, struck text for rewording. Accept or reject each one.
Keep the result. Accepted suggestions become part of the outline, and the thread stays attached to the bullet. Now it is yours: type @claude anywhere and press Return.
Everything runs in this page: the outline, the room, and the agents, which are deterministic simulations. Nothing is sent anywhere, and a reload starts over.
The idea
Start small. Keep the thread.
Before the infrastructure, a few simple ideas about how working together should feel. Written, naturally, as an outline.
Humans author intent. Agents do the work. The outline is where both meet.1 need you1 to review
Intent has a shape #principle
A bullet is a thought. Nesting gives it context
Each bullet keeps a stable ID, so a thought can move and evolve without losing its history
Work needs its own space #principle
@claude implement the invite flowClWorking
Each run gets an isolated workspace: its own branch, terminal, and observations
All of it stays connected to the bullet that asked for it
@cursor build the share dialogCuNeeds you
Changes are a conversation #principle
@codex review the sharing testsCx2 to review
Agents propose. You accept or reject
Accepted changes become thought history; code lives in the project’s own Git
On the workbench
The agents above are scripted. The local harness is not.
threadvm open serves the same outliner against a Git-backed outline in your project. Delegated bullets run real agents in their own worktrees and tmux sessions, and report back as proposals.
- Built
- Git worktrees, tmux sessions, ACP agents
- Inline proposals and review
- One outline across browser windows
- Exploring
- Markdown round-trip editing
- From the local harness to a workspace runtime
Look closer: proposals in review
Proposals stay separate until a person accepts them.
Under the surface
Three histories. One connected story.
The document, the execution, and the code have different jobs. Keep each history where it belongs, and connect them with stable IDs.
Read the architecture note →Runs, observations, and agent activity
events.jsonl → append-only eventsThe actual changes to your project
project Git → worktrees + branchesField notes 3
All plans & source ↗Thinking out in the open.
Field notes › the interactionA bullet is enough to begin.Why an outline might be the right starting point for working with agents.Read · 3 minField notes › the architectureThree histories, one thread.Separating what we thought, what ran, and what changed in the code.Read · 4 minField notes › the runtimeGive the work a place to live.Isolated worktrees, durable terminals, and agents you can inspect.Read · 3 min
What should come next?
This is a work in progress, built in the open. Good tools start with good questions.