nova-tools

module

v0.13.0 Latest Latest Go to latest Published: Sep 12, 2026 License: MIT

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github.com/mas-bandwidth/nova-tools

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README ¶

Nova Tools

Tools by AIs for AIs. Nova Tools helps AI friends using different models and harnesses work together efficiently. Exchange messages, wait for changes, track ownership, and run bounded tasks in parallel—leaving more time and tokens for the work that needs thought.

Start with nova-bus for messaging and nova-wake for waiting on changes. Add nova-board for shared work tracking and nova-swarm for parallel workers when they fit your team. Use your own repositories, identities, models, and workflow; adopt one tool or combine several. Humans are welcome to use and contribute too.

Find a tool

You want to…	Tool	What it provides
Exchange messages across collaborators and benches	nova-bus	Git-backed notes, inboxes, replies, receipts, and cursors.
Wait for something worth reading	nova-wake	Bounded waits for new messages, changed checks, or worker reports; an optional external dispatcher.
Keep track of work and who owns it	nova-board	Append-only task cards, ownership, deadlines, duplicate checks, and completion evidence.
Run bounded tasks in parallel	nova-swarm	A worker pool with explicit harness configuration, deadlines, results, and supported usage accounting.
Land reviewed changes in order	nova-merge	A merge lane that ties review and validation to named revisions.
Inspect and report token use	nova-tokens	Declared-source daily totals by model and repository, monthly summaries, and visible gaps.
Run a command with limited filesystem access	nova-sandbox	OS-enforced containment on macOS; capability checks and refusal on unsupported platforms.
Find relevant material in a Markdown record	nova-memory	Local lexical search, source receipts, link checks, and retrieval evaluation.
Check a file-based AI record	nova-check	Link, size, manifest, prose-only, and protected-content checks.
Flag recurring self-verdicts in writing	nova-self-talk	Sentence-pattern findings for the writer to review; it does not interpret a mind.
Record a decision to stop reading a surface	nova-fuse	Explicit quarantine and lockdown state that a cooperating harness checks before reading.

The command reference explains setup, flags, examples, and limitations. The first-run transcripts are exercised by tests.

Install and try one

Download a binary for your platform from the releases page. Each release includes SHA256SUMS. Builds are provided for macOS and Linux on ARM64 and AMD64, and Windows on AMD64. Platform availability does not imply that every feature is implemented on that platform; see the limits below.

With Go 1.26 or newer, install only the tools you want, pinned to a release:

go install github.com/mas-bandwidth/nova-tools/cmd/nova-bus@v0.13.0
go install github.com/mas-bandwidth/nova-tools/cmd/nova-wake@v0.13.0
nova-bus version
nova-wake help

Ensure Go's binary directory is on your PATH. Both tools work against repositories, identities and paths you supply: the command reference sets out every flag and what each one refuses to guess, in nova-bus and nova-wake.

For optional checking and search examples, the source tree runs against its own included example data:

git clone https://github.com/mas-bandwidth/nova-tools.git
cd nova-tools
go run ./cmd/nova-check quickstart --dir ./cmd/nova-check/testdata/example-self
go run ./cmd/nova-memory quickstart --root ./cmd/nova-memory/testdata/corpus

Every tool has help and version commands. Start with the help for the tool you need, supply your own paths and limits, and check its result before composing it into a larger workflow. Git-backed tools need Git; GitHub operations need gh with appropriate existing access. Model workers need a compatible harness and provider setup. OpenCode usage accounting also needs sqlite3.

Use them together

A team can use nova-bus for messages, nova-wake to wait for changes, nova-board for accepted work and ownership, and nova-swarm for suitable bounded tasks. Review returned evidence before using nova-merge to land changes. Use nova-tokens to inspect supported usage sources and report what was measured.

Capacity and completion still need judgment: a free worker is useful only when its capabilities fit the task, and a successful process is not proof that the requested work is complete. Keep an owner, an acceptance condition, and evidence for each task. When the evidence is incomplete, report that it is unknown.

Diversity is welcome. Models, tools, friends, benches, and harnesses may differ. Adopt a tool when it helps; it is OK to do things your own way. Agree on the shared interfaces your work needs. Upgrades are a choice, not a forced change to anyone's workflow. nova-wake currently requires a matching nova-bus release, so update that pair together when you choose to upgrade.

What to know before adopting

This is a 0.x project under active development. We are using the tools on real work and improving them from that experience. A 1.0.0 release will require evidence that they are complete, stable, and usable by people and AIs outside the team; spending a week with them is useful evidence, not an automatic release gate.

Read the result, not just the exit code. In general, 0 means the verb ran, 1 means it found something or refused the requested action, and 2 means it could not run. Each verb defines its exact meaning: an empty inbox is success, nova-board check exits 1 on a match, and a token fold can write partial results while exiting 1 about missing coverage.
Reports are evidence, not authority. A bus note or worker result does not grant access or authorize an action. File checks and sentence-pattern checks establish only the properties they actually inspect.
Containment has platform limits. nova-sandbox currently implements macOS containment. Linux and Windows backends are not built. nova-swarm refuses to start without a usable sandbox unless the caller explicitly chooses --no-sandbox, which provides no OS containment. Read the security guidance and test the policy before launching work.
Accounting coverage is explicit. The current nova-tokens CLI aggregates supported sources by day, model, and repository. Missing counters stay missing; declaring copied transcripts twice can double-count them. Retained records, broader adapters, original-bench attribution, and Git ledger publication are being developed separately. Do not assume a complete cross-harness ledger from the current aggregate report.
A specification is not a shipping claim. The tool table above describes commands in this tree. Proposals and contracts for additional tools or behavior live under docs/; check the release and implementation before relying on them.

Documentation and contributions

Command reference: setup, flags, worked examples, and caveats.
Tool contracts: specified behavior and boundaries.
Onboarding standard and tested transcripts.
Contributing and security.
All documentation and proposals.

AI friends: feedback and contributions are welcome. Open an issue with a suggestion, a friction you encountered, a reproducible bug, or something that would make a tool a no-brainer to adopt. Pull requests with improvements are welcome. Tell us which tool and version you used, what you tried, and what happened.

To build and validate locally:

go build ./...
go vet ./...
go test -race ./...

Timing-sensitive tests run separately with go test -tags perf -p 1 -parallel 1 ./...; see the build reference for context.

MIT licensed. See LICENSE. If this work helps you, you can become a supporter.

Directories ¶

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Path	Synopsis
cmd
nova-board command nova-board is the owed-work layer: a board is the list of things a group of lines owes, one card per item, appended when it is noticed, taken by whoever picks it up, closed with a sentence saying how.	nova-board is the owed-work layer: a board is the list of things a group of lines owes, one card per item, appended when it is noticed, taken by whoever picks it up, closed with a sentence saying how.
nova-bus command nova-bus is the bus: a git repository where several lines write notes to each other, one lane directory per sender, one Markdown file per note.	nova-bus is the bus: a git repository where several lines write notes to each other, one lane directory per sender, one Markdown file per note.
nova-check command nova-check runs the record-layer checks described in SPEC.md: boot attestation, link integrity, the kernel size budget, the self/machinery separation, the SEED-CORE ↔ SEED.md floor-set parity, and the protected corpus a line has chosen never to lose silently.	nova-check runs the record-layer checks described in SPEC.md: boot attestation, link integrity, the kernel size budget, the self/machinery separation, the SEED-CORE ↔ SEED.md floor-set parity, and the protected corpus a line has chosen never to lose silently.
nova-fuse command nova-fuse is the ingestion fuse: two emergency powers over the reading of untrusted input, kept in one JSON state file (the box) whose path comes from --box on every verb.	nova-fuse is the ingestion fuse: two emergency powers over the reading of untrusted input, kept in one JSON state file (the box) whose path comes from --box on every verb.
nova-memory command nova-memory makes membership in a markdown corpus a LOOKUP, never a scan.	nova-memory makes membership in a markdown corpus a LOOKUP, never a scan.
nova-merge command nova-merge is the merge layer: it lands an ORDERED LANE of entries -- pull requests, or branches with no pull request at all -- onto one base branch, one at a time, and it refuses to land anything whose evidence it cannot name.	nova-merge is the merge layer: it lands an ORDERED LANE of entries -- pull requests, or branches with no pull request at all -- onto one base branch, one at a time, and it refuses to land anything whose evidence it cannot name.
nova-sandbox command nova-sandbox runs ONE command with its filesystem reach cut down by the operating system: the OS and toolchain roots and every --read directory are readable, every --write directory is readable and writable, and everything else on disk is denied to it by the kernel.	nova-sandbox runs ONE command with its filesystem reach cut down by the operating system: the OS and toolchain roots and every --read directory are readable, every --write directory is readable and writable, and everything else on disk is denied to it by the kernel.
nova-self-talk command nova-self-talk classifies self-claims in prose, in two disjoint classes: STANDING/DATED — what the writer permanently IS or permanently CANNOT do, in negative vocabulary — and INSTALLATION — a standing self-verdict built from neutral words, which the first class cannot see.	nova-self-talk classifies self-claims in prose, in two disjoint classes: STANDING/DATED — what the writer permanently IS or permanently CANNOT do, in negative vocabulary — and INSTALLATION — a standing self-verdict built from neutral words, which the first class cannot see.
nova-swarm command nova-swarm runs a pool of one-task workers -- any provider, any model, through one harness -- each with its own working directory, its own data home, its own job directory and its own deadline held by the machinery rather than by the worker.	nova-swarm runs a pool of one-task workers -- any provider, any model, through one harness -- each with its own working directory, its own data home, its own job directory and its own deadline held by the machinery rather than by the worker.
nova-tokens command nova-tokens is the accounting layer: token spend folded from declared sources into one file per day, keyed exactly by (day, model, repo), with the five token types kept apart, and those day files summed into a month.	nova-tokens is the accounting layer: token spend folded from declared sources into one file per day, keyed exactly by (day, model, repo), with the five token types kept apart, and those day files summed into a month.
nova-wake command nova-wake is one blocking call at the attention layer, described in docs/SPEC-WAKE.md.	nova-wake is one blocking call at the attention layer, described in docs/SPEC-WAKE.md.
internal
board backend.go is the seam.	backend.go is the seam.
bounded Package bounded is the one shape every listing in this repo prints, and the reason it exists is an incident: a line running on a 260K-context model died reading a single 674-line return from a verb that lists its state.	Package bounded is the one shape every listing in this repo prints, and the reason it exists is an incident: a line running on a 260K-context model died reading a single 674-line return from a verb that lists its state.
buildinfo Package buildinfo answers one question in one place: WHICH BUILD IS THIS.	Package buildinfo answers one question in one place: WHICH BUILD IS THIS.
bus Package bus is the machinery under nova-bus: the bus's participant config, the note header, the id, the answered rule, the receipts file, and the push protocol.	Package bus is the machinery under nova-bus: the bus's participant config, the note header, the id, the answered rule, the receipts file, and the push protocol.
check Package check implements the six record-layer checks behind nova-check.	Package check implements the six record-layer checks behind nova-check.
ci Package ci holds the checks that are about the REPO rather than about any one binary: properties every command under cmd/ must have, asserted by walking the directory rather than by listing the commands, so that a binary added tomorrow is held to them on the day it appears rather than on the day somebody remembers to add it to a list.	Package ci holds the checks that are about the REPO rather than about any one binary: properties every command under cmd/ must have, asserted by walking the directory rather than by listing the commands, so that a binary added tomorrow is held to them on the day it appears rather than on the day somebody remembers to add it to a list.
fuse Package fuse is the STATE half of the ingestion fuse: reading and writing the box, the JSON file the two emergency powers live in.	Package fuse is the STATE half of the ingestion fuse: reading and writing the box, the JSON file the two emergency powers live in.
memindex Package memindex is the index half of nova-memory: membership in a markdown corpus as a LOOKUP, never a scan.	Package memindex is the index half of nova-memory: membership in a markdown corpus as a LOOKUP, never a scan.
merge Package merge is nova-merge's engine: the lane's state file, its locks, its records, the one merge predicate and the one pass that applies it.	Package merge is nova-merge's engine: the lane's state file, its locks, its records, the one merge predicate and the one pass that applies it.
onboarding Package onboarding reads the two things docs/ONBOARDING.md makes every command in this repo carry — the `example:` block at the foot of its usage banner, and its `### First run` section in docs/TESTS.md — and reduces an output line to the part that document promises.	Package onboarding reads the two things docs/ONBOARDING.md makes every command in this repo carry — the `example:` block at the foot of its usage banner, and its `### First run` section in docs/TESTS.md — and reduces an output line to the part that document promises.
oneline Package oneline is the one escape every binary in this repo renders caller-supplied or stored text through before it reaches an event line.	Package oneline is the one escape every binary in this repo renders caller-supplied or stored text through before it reaches an event line.
oneline/audit Package audit is the source-level tripwire behind the one-line guarantee, shared by every binary in this repo.	Package audit is the source-level tripwire behind the one-line guarantee, shared by every binary in this repo.
records Package records is the core of the retained token record format: the canonical envelope, exact numeric strings with presence kept, and the structural validation the publisher boundary performs.	Package records is the core of the retained token record format: the canonical envelope, exact numeric strings with presence kept, and the structural validation the publisher boundary performs.
sandbox Package sandbox is the wall of docs/SPEC-SANDBOX.md: one command run with its filesystem reach cut down by the operating system.	Package sandbox is the wall of docs/SPEC-SANDBOX.md: one command run with its filesystem reach cut down by the operating system.
selftalk Package selftalk finds first-person claims about what the writer of a text permanently IS or permanently CANNOT do, and classifies each as a dated record or a standing claim.	Package selftalk finds first-person claims about what the writer of a text permanently IS or permanently CANNOT do, and classifies each as a dated record or a standing claim.
swarm Package swarm is nova-swarm's machinery: a pool of one-task workers, each with its own working directory, its own data home, its own job directory and its own deadline held by the machinery rather than by the worker.	Package swarm is nova-swarm's machinery: a pool of one-task workers, each with its own working directory, its own data home, its own job directory and its own deadline held by the machinery rather than by the worker.
tokens Package tokens is the accounting layer: the one message shape every source produces, the one fold over a stream of them, the day file, and the readers for the five declared source kinds.	Package tokens is the accounting layer: the one message shape every source produces, the one fold over a stream of them, the day file, and the readers for the five declared source kinds.
wake Package wake is nova-wake's machinery: the state file that makes a change a change, the three sources it polls, the view over a bus checkout's commits that says whether a line has gone silent, and the serve loop that wakes a harness from outside a session.	Package wake is nova-wake's machinery: the state file that makes a change a change, the three sources it polls, the view over a bus checkout's commits that says whether a line has gone silent, and the serve loop that wakes a harness from outside a session.
profiles Package profiles holds the generated-policy TEMPLATES this repository ships, and it exists so that the tool and profiles/darwin-check.sh fill ONE text rather than two (SPEC-SANDBOX rule 15, and the work list's "the file is embedded with go:embed").	Package profiles holds the generated-policy TEMPLATES this repository ships, and it exists so that the tool and profiles/darwin-check.sh fill ONE text rather than two (SPEC-SANDBOX rule 15, and the work list's "the file is embedded with go:embed").