Structured workflow: Plugin and Legacy CLI

::: note Structured workflow (v2.4 lineage) This reference follows the retained Plugin / source Legacy runtime and may include later fixes; it is not a frozen v2.4.0 snapshot. npm 3.x Web does not expose these structured APIs. Original v2.4.0 docs and migration · Current Web guide. :::

This is the optional protocol-driven workflow retained in the GitHub Plugin and source. For the current Web Workspace, start with Getting started. The Web task list and collaboration receipts are separate from the structured Task API described here.

The npm 3.x package provides Web Workspace only. All structured npm examples on this page pin 2.4.0. From source use node bin/coordinate-agents-legacy.mjs; the Plugin uses its bundled runtime and has independent versioning. As verified on 2026-10-21, npm latest and the source package are 3.0.2; the .codex-plugin Plugin is 2.4.0.

Install the optional Plugin

codex plugin marketplace add hogancv/coordinate-agents
codex plugin add coordinate-agents@coordinate-agents

Open the target repository in Codex, start a new thread, and invoke $coordinate-agents for discovery before configuring or dispatching work. A global npm install is not required.

Codex Plugin-first path

The Codex Plugin is the preferred structured-workflow experience. Its Multi-Skill surface routes onboarding without exposing Agent Bus folders:

Intent	Skill	First action
Discover	coordinate-setup	MCP setup discovery with no configuration mutation
Configure	coordinate-setup	one setup configure transaction for command, Agent, Adapter, and Implementer role
Try	coordinate-task	task create, then task dispatch for the approved specification
Review	coordinate-review	verify the Task's commit, diff, tests, evidence, and record the decision
Recover	coordinate-recover	inspect task status, then explicit task resume before another dispatch

The Plugin's Task API is the product abstraction over the existing durable Agent Bus. The five Skills normally use the bundled MCP tools. For explicit CLI debugging or when MCP is unavailable, the fallback resolves the same bundled Runtime with:

node "<skill-dir>/../coordinate-agents/scripts/runtime-entry.mjs" <command> ...

The active Skill supplies the absolute <skill-dir>. This resolves the canonical bin/coordinate-agents-legacy.mjs inside the cached or local Plugin payload; a global coordinate-agents executable is not required. The npm 2.4.0 Legacy CLI remains a Runtime/fallback and advanced-debugging path, not a prerequisite for Plugin onboarding. The Plugin homepage prompts are discover, configure, and try, with the Todo web app using the same Task workflow as any other request.

# Fallback/debug examples only; replace <skill-dir>
# with the absolute directory containing the active Skill's SKILL.md.
node "<skill-dir>/../coordinate-agents/scripts/runtime-entry.mjs" setup --root "<repository>" --json
node "<skill-dir>/../coordinate-agents/scripts/runtime-entry.mjs" task create --root "<repository>" --title "Build a Todo web app" --json
node "<skill-dir>/../coordinate-agents/scripts/runtime-entry.mjs" task dispatch --root "<repository>" --id task-... --spec "<approved specification>" --json
node "<skill-dir>/../coordinate-agents/scripts/runtime-entry.mjs" task status --root "<repository>" --id task-... --json

JSON stdout is one parseable document with {ok, command, ...} on success or {ok:false, command, error:{code,message,recoverable,...}} on failure. A failed Implementer is terminal for that activation; the Plugin reports the structured error and never loops through automatic retries.

::: note This walkthrough demonstrates the default reference workflow using OpenAI Codex App/CLI (planner and reviewer) and Google Antigravity CLI (implementer). The underlying .agent-bus runtime also supports custom agents via dynamic agent registration (English) and custom role assignments. :::

This walkthrough starts from an existing Git repository and ends with a reviewed commit. Install Node.js, Git, Codex App or Codex CLI, and an Implementer CLI such as Antigravity (agy) first. Native authentication remains owned by each CLI; Coordinate Agents does not preflight login state. Duration depends on the task and provider response time.

Codex App path (recommended)

Codex App can invoke the Skill directly, so users do not need to manually open two CLI windows.

1. Install and enable the coordinate-agents Codex plugin from the GitHub marketplace.
2. Add or open the target Git repository as a Codex App project.
3. Set the thread's project/workspace path to the repository root—the directory containing .git.
4. Start a new thread, invoke $coordinate-agents, and ask Codex to run discovery first.
5. After choosing an executable, let coordinate-setup run setup configure; do not manually chain config set, agent add, workflow edits, and doctor.

The Codex App thread is the Planner/Reviewer side. The Runtime opens or reuses a project/Agent-scoped Execution Session with a persistent PTY for the Implementer, so the execution command must be an installed executable on the same machine. The Session is independent of the Codex App Terminal UI; the Plugin itself supplies the Runtime and a global npm install is not required. After discovery, let the high-level setup transaction configure the selected executable, project Agent, Adapter, and Implementer role. The following commands are only the standalone npm compatibility/debugging path:

$ npx --yes @hogancv/coordinate-agents@2.4.0 config set agent.antigravity.command agy
$ npx --yes @hogancv/coordinate-agents@2.4.0 agent add claude \
    --adapter generic-cli --command claude \
    --args '["--print", "{prompt}"]'

Use the actual command that starts the Implementer (agy, claude, or a vendor wrapper), and verify its arguments with that CLI's own --help output. The runtime uses the selected project root as the child process working directory, so a --dir argument is not universally available or necessary. For a convenient setup, ask Codex App: “Use $coordinate-agents to configure Claude Code as this project's Implementer; inspect claude --help, register it with generic-cli, run doctor, show me the resolved configuration, and do not start until I confirm.” Use the CLI path below only for automation or hosts without direct Codex App Skill execution.

Workspace settings support Antigravity prompt mode or automatic approval. The adapter default is --dangerously-skip-permissions; explicit saved argument arrays take precedence. The published npm 2.4.0 runtime requires the explicit permission configuration shown below. The legacy one-shot path passes configured args and then appends --prompt-interactive <prompt>; a persistent Session starts with --prompt-interactive= for current agy parsers, then writes its first instruction through the PTY unless {prompt} is explicitly configured. If agy --help confirms --dangerously-skip-permissions and the user explicitly wants it, configure that argument in Workspace settings or via CLI rather than assuming the Plugin added it:

$ npx --yes @hogancv/coordinate-agents@2.4.0 config set agent.antigravity.args '["--dangerously-skip-permissions"]'
$ npx --yes @hogancv/coordinate-agents@2.4.0 config list

1. Check prerequisites and install both Skills

$ node --version
v22.23.0
$ git --version
git version 2.53.0.windows.1
$ codex --version
codex-cli 0.146.0
$ agy --version
1.1.12
$ npx --yes @hogancv/coordinate-agents@2.4.0 config set agent.antigravity.command agy
Updated user configuration: ~/.coordinate-agents/config.json
$ npx --yes @hogancv/coordinate-agents@2.4.0 install
Installed Codex: .../skills/coordinate-agents
Installed Antigravity: .../skills/coordinate-agents
$ npx --yes @hogancv/coordinate-agents@2.4.0 doctor
Node.js: available (v22.23.0)
Git: available (git version 2.53.0.windows.1)
Codex CLI: available (codex-cli 0.146.0)
Antigravity CLI (agy): available (1.1.12)
Codex: healthy (1.2.3) at .../codex/skills/coordinate-agents
Antigravity: healthy (1.2.3) at .../agy/skills/coordinate-agents
All prerequisites and selected installations are healthy.

The final Implementer command is resolved as project explicit command, then the user-level ~/.coordinate-agents/config.json command, then the Adapter default. doctor reports that command and executable status. launch fails fast with Agent state ERROR on an unavailable executable, spawn failure, non-zero exit, or conversation/runtime error; it does not silently fall back or retry.

Versions and home paths vary. The final healthy summary and exit status 0 are the success signals. A non-zero exit, missing, invalid, or requires attention means installation is not complete; follow the printed repair suggestion and rerun doctor.

Before installation, neither selected Skill home contains coordinate-agents. Afterwards, each selected home contains the same managed payload:

coordinate-agents/
├── .coordinate-agents.json
├── SKILL.md
├── agents/
├── references/
└── scripts/

The installer does not copy account tokens. Codex and Antigravity keep their native credentials in their own homes.

2. Initialize the first task

For the Plugin path, do not use quickstart as a substitute for Task dispatch. After Codex has a complete specification, the Skill calls task create and then task dispatch; dispatch performs Implementer resolution, executable checking, the IMPLEMENT Bus handoff, Session open/reuse, persistent PTY input, and failure propagation. The Task stores a non-owning sessionId. A successful IMPLEMENTATION_DONE maps the Task to REVIEWING; if the Implementer remains active, the Task is WAITING_IMPLEMENTER and the Session remains inspectable.

When review returns CHANGES_REQUESTED, the next explicit dispatch reuses the same healthy Session and writes the new feedback into it. An exited or failed Session is not automatically restarted; recovery inspection is read-only, and an explicit resume/dispatch is required.

Run this from the project Git root:

$ npx --yes @hogancv/coordinate-agents@2.4.0 quickstart \
    --template feature --task "Add completion support to the Todo app"
Collaboration workspace initialized: .../todo-app
Generated role prompts: .../todo-app/.agent-bus/launch

1. Codex terminal (copy and run):
npx --yes @hogancv/coordinate-agents@2.4.0 launch --agent codex ...

2. Antigravity terminal (copy and run):
npx --yes @hogancv/coordinate-agents@2.4.0 launch --agent antigravity ...

Run the two printed commands in separate terminals. Exact commands contain an encoded project path so spaces and Windows metacharacters do not require manual quoting.

Keep the Antigravity launch terminal open. Its Adapter-declared supervisor waits after each clean agy exit and reactivates it for later review feedback without claiming the Bus message itself. Use Ctrl+C or a processed STOP message to end it; --once opts into one activation for scripts.

quickstart adds a project-local .agent-bus/ directory and excludes it through .git/info/exclude; it does not add bus messages to commits. The project source tree is unchanged until Antigravity implements an approved specification.

3. Complete one lifecycle

1. Tell Codex the observable behavior, constraints, and acceptance criteria.
2. Codex writes a specification and sends IMPLEMENT.
3. Antigravity claims it, edits product code, runs tests, commits, and sends IMPLEMENTATION_DONE with the commit ID and evidence.
4. Codex inspects the real commit and reruns relevant checks. It sends REVIEW_APPROVED or CHANGES_REQUESTED.
5. Antigravity fixes requested changes and repeats the evidence handoff.
6. A release remains blocked until the user approves the exact release plan with RELEASE_APPROVED.

The repository's deterministic demo proves this full lifecycle without using either live model:

$ npm run demo
[CODEX] Clarify requirement and submit implementation specification
[ANTIGRAVITY] Claim message, implement, test, and commit
validation: node --test PASS
[CODEX] Claim result and review real commit plus validation evidence
review: APPROVED
[RESULT] IMPLEMENTED -> TESTED -> COMMITTED -> REVIEW_APPROVED
tests: PASS
bus: PASS

Success and failure signals

Success means all of the following are observable: Antigravity alone changed product files; the implementation commit exists; tests pass; Codex reviewed that exact commit; both inboxes have no unexpected processing claims; and release permission has not been inferred from review approval.

Stop and diagnose if both terminals show the same role, both agents attempt Git writes, a message stays in processing after its worker exited, evidence names a nonexistent commit, tests fail, or the project root differs between terminals. See troubleshooting, role comparison, and the protocol (English).