autonomous-claude 0.5.3

Build apps autonomously with Claude Code CLI

autonomous-claude

Build apps autonomously with Claude Code CLI. Uses your existing Claude subscription - no API key required.

Based on Anthropic's long-running agents guide.

Installation

# Install uv if you haven't
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Install autonomous-claude
uv tool install autonomous-claude

Or install from source:

git clone https://github.com/ferdousbhai/autonomous-claude.git
cd autonomous-claude
uv tool install .

Prerequisites

Claude Code CLI must be installed and authenticated:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
claude login

Usage

Build a new app

# From a description
autonomous-claude build "An Apple Notes clone as a web app - uses local directory structure and .md files for storage, supports folders, rich text editing, and search"

# From a spec file
autonomous-claude build ./app-spec.md -o ./notes-app

# With options
autonomous-claude build "Markdown notes app with folder organization" -o ./notes -n 50

Resume an existing project

Continue implementing existing features where you left off:

autonomous-claude resume ./notes-app

Continue with new features

Add new features to any existing project - whether built with this tool or not.

Note: If your project has incomplete features, you'll be asked to confirm. Use resume to continue without adding new features.

# Adopt an external project for maintenance
autonomous-claude continue ./my-nextjs-app "Add dark mode toggle and fix the sidebar collapse bug"

# Add new features to a project built with this tool
autonomous-claude continue ./notes-app "Add note sharing via public links and real-time collaboration"

Options

Option	Short	Description	Default
--output	-o	Output directory	prompted
--model	-m	Claude model	Claude Code default
--max-sessions	-n	Max sessions (Claude Code invocations)	100
--timeout	-t	Timeout per session (seconds)	18000 (5 hours)
--verbose	-V	Stream Claude output in real-time	false

Configuration

Create ~/.config/autonomous-claude/config.toml to customize defaults:

[session]
timeout = 18000        # Seconds per session (default: 5 hours)
max_turns = 2000       # Max turns per Claude session
max_sessions = 100     # Max Claude sessions before stopping
spec_timeout = 600     # Timeout for spec generation (10 minutes)

[tools]
allowed = ["Read", "Write", "Edit", "Glob", "Grep", "Bash"]

[ui]
pending_display_limit = 10     # Max pending features to show
feature_name_max_length = 500  # Truncate long feature names

Spec Confirmation

Before building, Claude generates a detailed spec from your description. You can review and request changes:

Accept? [y] n
What needs changing? Add offline support and keyboard shortcuts
Updating spec...

Type y (or press Enter) to accept, or describe what to change.

Project Files

The tool creates these files in your project:

File	Purpose
feature_list.json	Tracks features and their completion status
app_spec.txt	The full application specification
claude-progress.txt	Session notes and progress updates
.autonomous-claude/logs/	Session logs (stdout, stderr, prompts)

Use --verbose (-V) to stream Claude's output in real-time instead of showing a spinner.

How It Works

Building new projects (build)

1. Session 1 (Initializer): Creates feature_list.json with testable features
2. Sessions 2+ (Coding Agent): Implements features one by one, marking them as passing

Adopting existing projects (continue)

1. Session 1 (Adoption Initializer): Analyzes codebase, creates feature_list.json for requested tasks
2. Sessions 2+ (Coding Agent): Implements the new features

Adding features to existing projects (continue with feature_list.json)

1. Session 1 (Enhancement Initializer): Appends new features to existing feature_list.json
2. Sessions 2+ (Coding Agent): Implements the new features

Progress is persisted via feature_list.json and git commits. Press Ctrl+C to stop, then resume to continue.

Example

$ autonomous-claude build "An Apple Notes clone - web app with local .md file storage, folder organization, rich text editing, and full-text search"
Project name: apple-notes-clone

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╩ ╩╚═╝ ╩ ╚═╝╝╚╝╚═╝╩ ╩╚═╝╚═╝╚═╝
     Claude Code CLI

  Project     /home/user/apple-notes-clone
  Model       Claude Code default

Starting new project - initializer will run first
...

Security Note

This tool uses --dangerously-skip-permissions for autonomous operation. Only run in trusted environments.

License

MIT - Based on Anthropic's claude-quickstarts