tau

module

v0.0.0-...-20cd8ba Latest Latest Go to latest Published: Jun 30, 2026 License: MIT

Details

Valid go.mod file
Redistributable license
Tagged version
Stable version
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Repository

github.com/coevin/tau

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README ¶

tau

tau is a native Go coding agent — a single-binary, process-isolated, tree-state port of the pi TypeScript coding agent.

It implements four subsystems:

Plugin layer (hashicorp/go-plugin over gRPC) — process-isolated tools.
State tree (bbolt) — conversation history as a navigable DAG.
Unified LLM client — Anthropic Messages + OpenAI Chat Completions providers.
TUI (charmbracelet/bubbletea) — split-pane interactive interface.

Build & run

cd tau
make build         # produces ./bin/tau (static binary, CGO disabled)
make run           # build + run
./bin/tau --help

Test

make test          # unit + integration tests
make e2e           # end-to-end tests (may need TAU_RUN_E2E=1)

Develop

make lint          # golangci-lint
make fmt           # gofmt + goimports
make proto         # regenerate gRPC code from internal/proto/plugin.proto
make tidy          # go mod tidy

Project layout

tau/
├── cmd/tau/        binary entrypoint
├── internal/       agent, llm, state, compaction, tools, plugins, tui, modes,
│                   cli, slash, config, prompts, util, proto
├── pkg/tau/        public SDK
├── examples/       reference plugin
└── test/           integration + e2e tests

See the project root CLAUDE.md for conventions and openspec/changes/initial/ for the design artifacts.

Directories ¶

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Path	Synopsis
cmd
tau command Package main is the tau binary entrypoint.	Package main is the tau binary entrypoint.
examples
plugin-git command Command tau-plugin-git is a reference plugin for the tau agent.	Command tau-plugin-git is a reference plugin for the tau agent.
sdk-custom-provider command sdk-custom-provider demonstrates registering a custom LLM provider with the tau SDK and running a session against it.	sdk-custom-provider demonstrates registering a custom LLM provider with the tau SDK and running a session against it.
sdk-embed command sdk-embed is a minimal program that embeds the tau agent via the public SDK.	sdk-embed is a minimal program that embeds the tau agent via the public SDK.
internal
agent command_session.go — the public interfaces and adapter types that decouple slash commands (built-in and external plugin) from the concrete AgentSession, AgentSessionRuntime, and resolvedOptions types.	command_session.go — the public interfaces and adapter types that decouple slash commands (built-in and external plugin) from the concrete AgentSession, AgentSessionRuntime, and resolvedOptions types.
cli Package cli implements tau's command-line interface: argument parsing, subcommand dispatch, and first-run setup.	Package cli implements tau's command-line interface: argument parsing, subcommand dispatch, and first-run setup.
compaction Package compaction implements the multi-stage compaction pipeline per the compaction spec.	Package compaction implements the multi-stage compaction pipeline per the compaction spec.
config Package config implements tau's configuration, paths, auth, trust, and model-registry layers.	Package config implements tau's configuration, paths, auth, trust, and model-registry layers.
fauxprovider Package fauxprovider is a built-in deterministic LLMClient used by the CLI's print/rpc integration tests and by `tau --model faux` invocations.	Package fauxprovider is a built-in deterministic LLMClient used by the CLI's print/rpc integration tests and by `tau --model faux` invocations.
llm
llm/provider/anthropic
llm/provider/openai
llm/tokencounter Package tokencounter provides model-aware token counting for the llm layer.	Package tokencounter provides model-aware token counting for the llm layer.
modes Package modes implements tau's three run modes: print, rpc, interactive.	Package modes implements tau's three run modes: print, rpc, interactive.
orchestrator
plugins Package plugins implements tau's process-isolated plugin host.	Package plugins implements tau's process-isolated plugin host.
prompts
proto
slash checkout.go — /checkout <entryID> command.	checkout.go — /checkout <entryID> command.
state Package state persists conversation history as a tree DAG of Entry records.	Package state persists conversation history as a tree DAG of Entry records.
storage
tools Package tools defines the Tool interface, Registry, and built-in tools.	Package tools defines the Tool interface, Registry, and built-in tools.
tui Package tui — app.go — top-level bubbletea Model.	Package tui — app.go — top-level bubbletea Model.
tui/components Package components — accordion.go — expandable/collapsible tool block.	Package components — accordion.go — expandable/collapsible tool block.
pkg
tau Package tau is the public Go SDK for embedding the tau agentic coding agent in a Go program.	Package tau is the public Go SDK for embedding the tau agentic coding agent in a Go program.
test
e2e Package e2e contains deterministic end-to-end tests for the agent loop.	Package e2e contains deterministic end-to-end tests for the agent loop.