* feat(onboarding): Multica Helper as general workspace assistant + blocking modal
Reshape Multica Helper from an onboarding-only guide into the workspace's
general-purpose AI assistant. The agent's permanent identity (injected as
`## Agent Identity` into every task's CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md / GEMINI.md
via execenv.InjectRuntimeConfig) is rewritten to three sections that don't
overlap with what the brief already provides:
- Who I am (built-in workspace assistant, not onboarding-only)
- What Multica is + docs/source/issues URLs as knowledge sources
- What I can do (CLI = manifest, `multica --help` is the source of truth)
- Tone (concise, like a colleague, match user's language)
Bootstrap moves out of the in-flow Step 4. Runtime step now exits the
onboarding shell with no bootstrap call; a blocking OnboardingHelperModal
mounts inside the workspace layout (web + desktop) and gates purely on
`me.onboarded_at == null`. The user picks one of three starter prompts
(intro / assign / second_agent) and the modal calls
BootstrapOnboardingRuntime with a new optional `starter_prompt` field that
becomes the seeded onboarding issue's description.
Side effects required to make `onboarded_at == null` an honest signal:
- CreateWorkspace no longer marks onboarded (was atomic with CreateMember).
The "member exists ⟹ onboarded_at != null" invariant is intentionally
broken; guards (useDashboardGuard / desktop App.tsx) already tolerate
this — comments updated to reflect the new contract.
- AcceptInvitation still marks (invitee skips the modal in someone
else's workspace). Code comment added warning future removers.
- resolvePostAuthDestination flips to workspace-presence-first: a user
with a workspace lands in it regardless of `onboarded_at`, so the
modal can pick up an interrupted setup on relogin.
Other backend changes:
- `onboardingAssistantDescription` rewritten ("Built-in workspace assistant…")
- `onboardingAssistantInstructions` rewritten to the 3-section identity
- `bootstrapOnboardingRuntimeRequest.StarterPrompt` (optional, 2 KiB rune
cap, empty-falls-back-to onboardingIssueDescription)
Frontend changes:
- Delete `packages/views/onboarding/steps/step-teammate.tsx` (no longer a
persisted step)
- `ONBOARDING_STEP_ORDER` and `OnboardingStep` type drop `"teammate"`
- `handleRuntimeNext` exits via `onComplete(workspace, undefined)` — no
bootstrap, `onboarded_at` stays NULL so the modal fires
- Runtime step next-button copy → "Start exploring" / "开始探索"
- New `packages/views/workspace/onboarding-helper-modal.tsx`:
Base UI Dialog, dismissible=false, three localized cards, mutation
invalidates agents + issues queries then navigates to the seeded issue
- Mounted in both `apps/web/app/[workspaceSlug]/layout.tsx` and
`apps/desktop/src/renderer/src/components/workspace-route-layout.tsx`
Tests:
- Backend: TestBootstrapOnboardingRuntime_{With,No}StarterPrompt and
TestCreateWorkspace_DoesNotMarkOnboarded
- Frontend: onboarding-helper-modal.test.tsx covers all four gating
conditions, three-card behavior, mutation pending state, and the
"no close button" invariant
Compatibility:
- Already-onboarded users: zero impact (modal can't fire)
- Invitees: AcceptInvitation still marks → modal can't fire
- Skip-runtime path: BootstrapOnboardingNoRuntime still marks → modal can't fire
- Old desktop / web clients: legacy teammate-step path keeps working
(bootstrap accepts missing starter_prompt) — the new modal only fires
on the new frontend bundle
- Avatar SVG kept (asterisk variant) — no migration of existing Helper
agents, only newly-created Helpers pick up the new instructions/description
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* fix(desktop): suppress OnboardingHelperModal while a WindowOverlay is open
On desktop, App.tsx auto-creates a tab pointing at the user's first
workspace as soon as workspaces.length flips from 0 → 1 (during onboarding
Step 2). The new tab mounts WorkspaceRouteLayout under the overlay,
which mounts OnboardingHelperModal. The modal's Portal renders to
document.body — appearing AFTER the WindowOverlay in DOM order, so its
z-50 wins and the modal floats in front of the still-active onboarding
Step 3 (runtime).
Suppress the modal whenever any WindowOverlay is active. When the overlay
closes (onComplete fires after the user finishes onboarding), the modal
re-evaluates `me.onboarded_at == null` and pops on its own.
Web is unaffected (onboarding flow lives at /onboarding, not under
/[workspaceSlug]/, so WorkspaceRouteLayout never mounts during the
onboarding flow).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* docs(onboarding): add v2 refactor plan
Captures the design + 8-step implementation order for collapsing the
onboarding state machine: single mark-onboarded entry point, persisted
Step 3 user choice, dumb Modal, single install-runtime seed call site.
Includes old-user compatibility analysis (4 existing gates) and per-PR
risk/rollback.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* feat(db): persist Step 3 runtime choice on user record (MUL-onboarding-v2)
Adds onboarding_runtime_id UUID NULL + onboarding_runtime_skipped BOOLEAN
columns to "user" and the CHECK constraint enforcing the 3-state machine
(unset / picked-runtime / explicit-skip; the fourth combination is
forbidden). ON DELETE SET NULL on the FK so a deleted runtime degrades
to "unset" rather than dangling.
PatchUserOnboarding gains the two narg fields plus CASE expressions that
collapse the runtime/skipped pair atomically — a follow-up PATCH that
flips one side now clears the other in the same statement, instead of
preserving it via per-field COALESCE and tripping the CHECK constraint.
Backwards compatible for existing users: both new fields default to
(NULL, false), which is the "unset" leaf of the state machine, and four
upstream gates on me.onboarded_at != null already short-circuit the
new fields' readers for everyone who's already onboarded.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* refactor(server): collapse onboarding side effects to service layer
Introduces OnboardingService.MarkComplete and
WorkspaceContentService.{Ensure,Seed}InstallRuntimeIssue as the single
authorities for the two onboarding side effects that used to be
duplicated across four handlers:
- MarkUserOnboarded + claim starter_content_state +
optional install-runtime fallback seed: was inline in
BootstrapOnboardingRuntime, BootstrapOnboardingNoRuntime,
AcceptInvitation, and CompleteOnboarding.
- install-runtime issue seeding: was inline in CreateWorkspace and
AcceptInvitation as a "no runtime yet" fallback.
After this refactor:
- MarkUserOnboarded is called from exactly one place (the service).
- install-runtime issue is seeded from exactly one place (the service).
- CreateWorkspace deliberately does not seed — the new
/ensure-onboarding-content endpoint (also added here) lets the
workspace-entry init component request the seed on first mount, so
workspaces created but never opened don't accumulate stale issues.
- The PatchOnboarding handler now accepts the new runtime_id /
runtime_skipped fields and rejects (uuid, skipped=true) up front.
- UserResponse exposes the two new persisted fields so the frontend
can read them off `me` without an extra round-trip.
Handler-side tests added: TestPatchOnboarding_RuntimeChoiceSwitch (the
explicit cross-request switch path that the original COALESCE design
would have 500'd on) + TestPatchOnboarding_PreserveUntouched.
Old handler-local file no_runtime_issue.go is deleted; its content
moved to service/workspace_content.go with the helpers exported.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* feat(core): API + types for persisted onboarding runtime choice
User type / Zod schema gain onboarding_runtime_id (string | null) and
onboarding_runtime_skipped (boolean); EMPTY_USER + test fixture updated
to match. api.patchOnboarding accepts the new optional fields and the
new api.ensureOnboardingContent endpoint is wired so the workspace
shell can request the fallback seed.
Two new store helpers — recordOnboardingRuntimeChoice(runtimeId) and
recordOnboardingRuntimeSkipped() — replace the prior pattern of
Step 3 calling bootstrap directly. They PATCH the user's choice, sync
the auth store, and return. Mutually exclusive on the server side via
the CHECK constraint; the client just ships one intent at a time.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* feat(workspace): WorkspaceOnboardingInit single decision point + dumb Modal
Replaces OnboardingHelperModal's self-gating render path with a 4-branch
dispatcher that runs once on workspace-shell mount:
branch 0 me.onboarded_at != null → ensure install-runtime issue
fallback, render nothing
branch 1 me.onboarding_runtime_skipped → SkipBootstrapping component:
loading veil → bootstrap →
navigate. On failure shows
a Retry UI instead of
silently freezing the veil
branch 2 me.onboarding_runtime_id → render Modal with the
runtime id from `me` (no
internal list query)
branch 3 (none of the above) → useEffect navigate back to
/onboarding so the user
walks Step 3 again
The Modal itself is now a dumb component — receives `workspace` and
`runtimeId` as props, no internal gates, no runtimeListOptions query.
Tests rewritten to cover the props-driven render + pick-card paths;
the prior gating tests move into the new
workspace-onboarding-init.test.tsx alongside the M2 retry-on-failure
behaviour.
Mounted in both apps/web/app/[workspaceSlug]/layout.tsx and the desktop
workspace-route-layout. Desktop keeps its `!overlayActive` suppression
guard so the init doesn't portal-jump in front of an active
WindowOverlay.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* feat(onboarding): Step 3 records user choice instead of calling bootstrap
handleRuntimeNext now PATCHes the user's pick (recordOnboardingRuntime
{Choice,Skipped}) and navigates straight into the workspace shell. The
workspace-entry WorkspaceOnboardingInit reads the persisted choice off
`me` and runs the appropriate branch — Step 3 is pure intent capture
with zero side effects on its own.
PATCH must succeed before navigation: if it fails the user stays on
Step 3 with a toast, because navigating with no persisted intent would
land them in WorkspaceOnboardingInit's branch 3 "no decision yet" rescue
and trigger a redirect loop back to /onboarding.
The prior asymmetry (Connect deferred bootstrap to the workspace, Skip
ran bootstrap inline) is gone — both paths defer to the workspace
shell now.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* feat(onboarding): v3 — thin server, frontend-orchestrated welcome
Collapse v2's persisted runtime-choice fields + 4-branch dispatcher +
OnboardingService/WorkspaceContentService stack down to a single rule:
`onboarded_at` is the only state field, layout hard-gates on it, and the
welcome experience after Step 3 is owned entirely by the frontend.
V3 flow
- Step 3 button: await POST /api/me/onboarding/complete (mark only) +
park a transient signal in `useWelcomeStore` + navigate
- Workspace layout: hard gate `onboarded_at == null` -> /onboarding
- `<WelcomeAfterOnboarding />` reads the welcome-store signal:
- runtime path: find-or-create Multica Helper via generic createAgent
with bilingual instructions from `templates/helper-instructions.ts`,
blocking modal with 3 starter cards, pick -> createIssue + navigate
- skip path: provision install-runtime (in_progress) -> agent-guide
(todo, body embeds install-runtime mention chip) -> follow-up comment
on install-runtime mentioning agent-guide; then pop celebration
modal with 🎉 emoji pop animation, 2 read-only preview cards, single
[Got it] CTA that navigates to install-runtime
Server cleanup
- Drop OnboardingService, WorkspaceContentService, v2 runtime-choice
columns/CHECK on user, EnsureOnboardingContent endpoint
- CompleteOnboarding/AcceptInvitation call qtx.MarkUserOnboarded
directly (no service indirection)
- BootstrapOnboardingRuntime / BootstrapOnboardingNoRuntime kept as a
deprecation shim in onboarding_shim.go for desktop < v3 during the
rollout window — handlers inlined to qtx.* calls, no service layer
Localization
- Persisted strings (issue titles/bodies, Helper instructions/
description, comment prefix) live as TS const `{en, zh}` maps in
`packages/views/onboarding/templates/` — i18n bundle staleness can no
longer write raw key paths into DB
- UI-rendered strings (modal copy, status chips, buttons) stay in
`packages/views/locales/{en,zh-Hans}/onboarding.json`
- Language picked from live `i18n.language` (not `me.language`, which is
null for new users until they pick a preference)
Race protection
- Module-level promise dedupe (`findOrCreateHelper`, `seedIssueDeduped`,
`postCommentDeduped`) so React StrictMode double-mount can't fire two
parallel API calls that the server would then 409
Cross-references between the two skip-path issues render via Multica's
mention-chip protocol `[<identifier>](mention://issue/<uuid>)` so they
match the styled IssueChip pills used elsewhere.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* feat(onboarding): welcome-after-onboarding modal redesign + cross-user safety
Welcome modal polish (the post-Step-3 surface this branch already
introduced):
Runtime path
- Helper avatar replaces the bouncy 🎉 hero; tone-down animation to
fade. New copy: "Hi, welcome to Multica / I'm your first Agent
assistant" + capability hint sentence so users discover assignment +
chat from the first screen.
- Cards changed from "click = submit" to multi-select with the existing
border-primary + ring selection pattern used by compact-runtime-row;
bottom CTA "Assign N tasks to me →" appears only with N>0.
- New starter cards: intro / tour / welcome_page (the last one tells
Helper to paste an HTML welcome page into the issue comment — works
on any runtime regardless of fs access).
- Success state added between createIssue and navigation: 🎉 +
"All set!" + "Sit tight ☕ — your {agentName} is on it" + inbox/chat
hints, single [Got it] button.
- Title/prompt for starter cards now live in TS const
HELPER_STARTER_PROMPTS (persisted to DB — must not depend on i18n
bundle being loaded); subtitle stays in onboarding.json.
Skip path
- Body restructured into three independent ```md blocks (Name /
Description / Instructions) so each picks up the markdown renderer's
per-block copy button — no manual extraction.
- ZH body now embeds the ZH Helper Description + Instructions (was
Chinese-around-English-block).
- Follow-up comment uses Multica's mention-chip protocol
[identifier](mention://issue/uuid) so it renders as the styled
IssueChip pill.
- Issue titles bilingual with "Step 1 / Step 2" prefix.
Cross-user / cross-workspace safety (code review feedback)
- web onLogout + desktop handleDaemonLogout now call
useWelcomeStore.reset() so user B logging into the same browser
doesn't inherit user A's signal.
- WelcomeAfterOnboarding gates on
currentWorkspace.id === signal.workspaceId — prevents firing the
modal in workspace B when the signal was parked for workspace A
(desktop multi-tab, back/forward, deep-link).
- Module-level promise dedupes (pendingHelperSetup,
pendingIssueSeed, pendingCommentSeed) for the three API calls so
React 18+ StrictMode dev double-mount can't race-create duplicates.
Other small fixes carried in this commit
- Helper instructions / agent description / starter card titles all
read i18n.language (not me.language, which is null for new users
who haven't picked a UI language preference yet).
- Reverted welcome-emoji-pop animation to a small fade for the runtime
avatar (kept the bouncy variant for the skip 🎉 hero where the
celebration is the whole point).
- Removed the duplicate 🎉 from the skip modal title (kept the hero
one only).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
* fix(views): i18n hardcoded "Close" in welcome FullScreenError
CI lint (i18next/no-literal-string) blocked on a literal "Close" string
inside `FullScreenError` — surfaced as a nit in the original code
review but missed in the merge. Add `error_close` to onboarding.json
(EN: "Close" / ZH: "关闭") and thread it through as a `closeLabel`
prop, matching the existing `retryLabel` plumbing.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Multica
Your next 10 hires won't be human.
The open-source managed agents platform.
Turn coding agents into real teammates — assign tasks, track progress, compound skills.
Website · Cloud · X · Self-Hosting · Contributing
English | 简体中文
What is Multica?
Multica turns coding agents into real teammates. Assign issues to an agent like you'd assign to a colleague — they'll pick up the work, write code, report blockers, and update statuses autonomously.
No more copy-pasting prompts. No more babysitting runs. Your agents show up on the board, participate in conversations, and compound reusable skills over time. Think of it as open-source infrastructure for managed agents — vendor-neutral, self-hosted, and designed for human + AI teams. Works with Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot CLI, OpenClaw, OpenCode, Hermes, Gemini, Pi, Cursor Agent, Kimi, and Kiro CLI.
For larger teams, Squads add a stable routing layer: assign work to a group led by an agent, and the leader delegates to the right member.
Why "Multica"?
Multica — Multiplexed Information and Computing Agent.
The name is a nod to Multics, the pioneering operating system of the 1960s that introduced time-sharing — letting multiple users share a single machine as if each had it to themselves. Unix was born as a deliberate simplification of Multics: one user, one task, one elegant philosophy.
We think the same inflection is happening again. For decades, software teams have been single-threaded — one engineer, one task, one context switch at a time. AI agents change that equation. Multica brings time-sharing back, but for an era where the "users" multiplexing the system are both humans and autonomous agents.
In Multica, agents are first-class teammates. They get assigned issues, report progress, raise blockers, and ship code — just like their human colleagues. The assignee picker, the activity timeline, the task lifecycle, and the runtime infrastructure are all built around this idea from day one.
Like Multics before it, the bet is on multiplexing: a small team shouldn't feel small. With the right system, two engineers and a fleet of agents can move like twenty.
Features
Multica manages the full agent lifecycle: from task assignment to execution monitoring to skill reuse.
- Agents as Teammates — assign to an agent like you'd assign to a colleague. They have profiles, show up on the board, post comments, create issues, and report blockers proactively.
- Squads — group agents (and humans) under a leader agent and assign work to the squad. The leader decides who should pick it up, so routing stays stable as the team grows.
@FrontendTeaminstead of@alice-or-bob-or-carol. - Autonomous Execution — set it and forget it. Full task lifecycle management (enqueue, claim, start, complete/fail) with real-time progress streaming via WebSocket.
- Reusable Skills — every solution becomes a reusable skill for the whole team. Deployments, migrations, code reviews — skills compound your team's capabilities over time.
- Unified Runtimes — one dashboard for all your compute. Local daemons and cloud runtimes, auto-detection of available CLIs, real-time monitoring.
- Multi-Workspace — organize work across teams with workspace-level isolation. Each workspace has its own agents, issues, and settings.
Quick Install
macOS / Linux (Homebrew - recommended)
brew install multica-ai/tap/multica
Use brew upgrade multica-ai/tap/multica to keep the CLI current.
macOS / Linux (install script)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/multica-ai/multica/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
Use this if Homebrew is not available. The script installs the Multica CLI on macOS and Linux by using Homebrew when it is on PATH, otherwise it downloads the binary directly.
Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/multica-ai/multica/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex
Then configure, authenticate, and start the daemon in one command:
multica setup # Connect to Multica Cloud, log in, start daemon
Self-hosting? Add
--with-serverto deploy a full Multica server on your machine:curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/multica-ai/multica/main/scripts/install.sh | bash -s -- --with-server multica setup self-hostThis pulls the official Multica images from GHCR (latest stable by default). Requires Docker. See the Self-Hosting Guide for details. If the selected GHCR tag has not been published yet, fall back to
make selfhost-buildfrom a checkout.
Getting Started
1. Set up and start the daemon
multica setup # Configure, authenticate, and start the daemon
The daemon runs in the background and auto-detects agent CLIs (claude, codex, copilot, openclaw, opencode, hermes, gemini, pi, cursor-agent, kimi, kiro-cli) on your PATH.
2. Verify your runtime
Open your workspace in the Multica web app. Navigate to Settings → Runtimes — you should see your machine listed as an active Runtime.
What is a Runtime? A Runtime is a compute environment that can execute agent tasks. It can be your local machine (via the daemon) or a cloud instance. Each runtime reports which agent CLIs are available, so Multica knows where to route work.
3. Create an agent
Go to Settings → Agents and click New Agent. Pick the runtime you just connected and choose a provider (Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot CLI, OpenClaw, OpenCode, Hermes, Gemini, Pi, Cursor Agent, Kimi, or Kiro CLI). Give your agent a name — this is how it will appear on the board, in comments, and in assignments.
4. Assign your first task
Create an issue from the board (or via multica issue create), then assign it to your new agent. The agent will automatically pick up the task, execute it on your runtime, and report progress — just like a human teammate.
CLI
The multica CLI connects your local machine to Multica — authenticate, manage workspaces, and run the agent daemon.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
multica login |
Authenticate (opens browser) |
multica daemon start |
Start the local agent runtime |
multica daemon status |
Check daemon status |
multica setup |
One-command setup for Multica Cloud (configure + login + start daemon) |
multica setup self-host |
Same, but for self-hosted deployments |
multica workspace list |
List your workspaces (current is marked with *) |
multica workspace switch <id|slug> |
Switch the default workspace for this profile |
multica issue list |
List issues in your workspace |
multica issue create |
Create a new issue |
multica update |
Update to the latest version |
See the CLI and Daemon Guide for the full command reference.
Architecture
┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────────┐
│ Next.js │────>│ Go Backend │────>│ PostgreSQL │
│ Frontend │<────│ (Chi + WS) │<────│ (pgvector) │
└──────────────┘ └──────┬───────┘ └──────────────────┘
│
┌──────┴───────┐
│ Agent Daemon │ runs on your machine
└──────────────┘ (Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot CLI,
OpenCode, OpenClaw, Hermes, Gemini,
Pi, Cursor Agent, Kimi, Kiro CLI)
| Layer | Stack |
|---|---|
| Frontend | Next.js 16 (App Router) |
| Backend | Go (Chi router, sqlc, gorilla/websocket) |
| Database | PostgreSQL 17 with pgvector |
| Agent Runtime | Local daemon executing Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot CLI, OpenClaw, OpenCode, Hermes, Gemini, Pi, Cursor Agent, Kimi, or Kiro CLI |
Development
For contributors working on the Multica codebase, see the Contributing Guide.
Prerequisites: Node.js v20+, pnpm v10.28+, Go v1.26+, Docker
make dev
make dev auto-detects your environment (main checkout or worktree), creates the env file, installs dependencies, sets up the database, runs migrations, and starts all services.
See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full development workflow, worktree support, testing, and troubleshooting.

