akritrim-colab 0.1.16

Three-party AI collaboration TUI for Codex, Claude, and the user

akritrim-colab

A three-pane collaboration TUI that puts you between Claude and Codex inside any repository. You direct, they implement and review.

Requires Claude CLI and Codex CLI installed and authenticated.

Install

pip install akritrim-colab

Or, for an isolated CLI install:

pipx install akritrim-colab

Quick Start

cd /path/to/your-repo
akritrim-colab

On first run, collaboration files are scaffolded into .collab/. Then the TUI launches.

Layout

Pane	Contents
Left	Shared session chat
Upper right	Claude output
Lower right	Codex output
Bottom	Master input

Resizing panes: Two draggable dividers let you adjust the layout:

• Vertical divider (between chat and agent panels) — drag left/right to give more space to the chat or to the agent output columns
• Horizontal divider (between Claude and Codex panels) — drag up/down to give more space to Claude or Codex output

Click and hold on a divider, then drag to resize. The layout adjusts in real time.

Input

Key	Action
Enter	Send message
Ctrl+Enter	Insert newline
Tab	Accept autocomplete suggestion
↑ / ↓	Browse command history or navigate autocomplete
Escape	Cancel active agent work
Ctrl+C	Quit

Type / to open the command autocomplete palette.

Routing

Direct a message to a specific agent:

@claude propose a UI improvement
@codex review the current changes
@both compare these two approaches

Or use /ask for a one-off direct message without changing the default routing:

/ask claude explain this function
/ask codex run the tests
/ask both what are the risks here

File Mentions

Inject file content directly into your message using @path/to/file:

@claude refactor this — @src/auth.py
@both compare the two implementations: @src/v1.py and @src/v2.py

The TUI expands the token at submit time. The agent receives the file content inline — no need to ask the agent to read it separately.

Line limit: Files over 150 lines are automatically truncated. A notice is appended showing how many lines were omitted and how to use a range:

[first 150 of 892 lines — 742 lines omitted. Use @src/auth.py:START-END for a specific range.]

Line ranges: Inject a specific section of a file:

@src/auth.py:40-80        lines 40 to 80 inclusive

The header shows (lines 40–80 of 892) so the agent knows the context position. The end of the range is clamped to the actual file length.

Safety guards:

• Path must resolve inside the repository root — @../../etc/passwd is blocked
• Files over 50 KB are skipped entirely
• Binary files (null bytes) are skipped
• @claude, @codex, @both, @master are never treated as file paths

Work Flows

Structured multi-agent flows that coordinate Claude and Codex automatically:

/fix <bug>           isolate → patch → review
/audit <target>      independent dual review + comparison
/feature <desc>      design → implement → review
/refactor <target>   map call sites → refactor → verify
/analyze <question>  dual analysis + position comparison
/decide <text>       log a decision to collaboration memory

Session Commands

/fresh                   start a new session (clears history)
/resume                  resume from last saved state
/status                  show current session state
/save                    persist session state to disk
/exit                    exit the TUI

Dangerous Operation Enforcement

Certain operations require your explicit approval before an agent executes them:

git push (any form)        git tag
npm publish / npm pack     twine upload
pip install --user         rm -rf
docker push                kubectl apply / kubectl delete
CI/CD pipeline file edits  (.github/workflows/, .gitlab-ci.yml, Jenkinsfile)

Claude (pre-execution blocking): When Claude's tool call matches a dangerous operation, the subprocess is aborted and a full-screen approval modal appears. The turn pauses until you respond:

• y or the Approve button — allows that specific command and continues
• n, Escape, or the Deny button — blocks it; Claude stops and waits for your next instruction

Approval is command-specific: approving git push origin main does not approve git push --force origin main.

Codex (post-execution notice): Codex's event stream only surfaces tool calls after they have already run. The TUI cannot block them pre-execution. Instead, a ⚠ POST-EXEC warning appears in the Codex pane after the fact. The same command will not produce a repeated warning in the same session.

The permission policy is also injected into every agent prompt, asking both agents to request Master: requesting permission to ... before executing dangerous operations.

To configure which operations are gated, see the dangerous_ops key in Configuration below.

Agent Control

/approve                 approve a pending agent request
/deny                    deny a pending agent request
/compare                 run a manual comparison round between agents
/mode <value>            broadcast a mode change to both agents
/role <target> <role>    reassign agent roles at runtime

Role targets: claude, codex, both. Role values: implementer, reviewer, collaborator.

Example:

/role codex implementer
/role both reviewer

Collaboration Memory

/decision D-XXX | Title | Decision | Rationale    log a structured decision
/topic T-XXX | Title | Codex pos | Claude pos      open a scratchpad topic
/resolve-topic T-XXX | D-XXX                       mark a topic resolved

Decisions are appended to .collab/memory.md. Topics go to .collab/scratchpad.md. Both files are read by agents at session start and on update.

Export

/export claude session_claude.txt     export Claude pane to file
/export codex session_codex.txt       export Codex pane to file
/export master session_chat.txt       export the shared chat to file

Diff Viewer

After each agent turn, ▶ [DIFF] <file> links appear inline for every file the agent changed. Each link is permanently bound to the exact patch from that turn — later edits to the same file do not overwrite earlier diff history.

• Click a link to open a full-screen diff overlay (colour-coded: + green, - red, @@ cyan)
• Click ⎘ Copy to copy the raw diff to the clipboard
• Click X to close

Themes

/theme akritrim    (default)
/theme nord
/theme dracula
/theme solarized

The active theme is saved to .collab/settings.toml and restored on next launch.

Configuration

Settings live in .collab/settings.toml inside your repository. The file is created with defaults on first run. Edit it directly — changes take effect on the next launch.

[app]
# Session identity and default agent roles
identity = "codex"
role = "collaborator"
codex_role = "reviewer"
claude_role = "implementer"

# Maximum number of automatic agent relay turns before pausing for Master input
max_auto_turns = 12

# UI theme: akritrim | nord | dracula | solarized
theme = "akritrim"

# Model overrides — change to use a different model for either agent
claude_model = "claude-sonnet-4-6"
codex_model = "gpt-5.4"

# Set to false to allow running outside a git repository.
# Codex will receive --skip-git-repo-check; diff display still works.
# Can also be overridden per run: --no-require-git
require_git = true

# Dangerous-operation gate.
# Agents must request Master approval before executing the listed operations.
# Stream-level interception aborts Claude's subprocess before the tool runs.
# Codex receives a post-execution warning (its event stream fires after execution).
#
# Set to an empty list to disable the gate entirely:
# dangerous_ops = []
#
# Or restrict to specific operations:
# dangerous_ops = ["git push", "npm publish", "rm -rf"]
#
# Omit the key to use the full default set (all operations listed above).

# TUI debug log — records lifecycle events, routing decisions, and stream activity.
# Useful for diagnosing unexpected routing or stuck sessions.
# The Claude stream JSONL log (one entry per turn) is always written to
# .collab/session/stream_debug.jsonl separately.
# debug_log = ".collab/session/tui_debug.log"

Run Options

CLI flags override the corresponding settings.toml values for that run only:

akritrim-colab run --codex-role reviewer --claude-role implementer
akritrim-colab run --claude-model claude-opus-4-6
akritrim-colab run --no-require-git
akritrim-colab run --debug-log .collab/session/tui_debug.log