autonomous-claude 1.3.0

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

Prerequisites

Claude Code CLI:

pnpm add -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
claude login

GitHub CLI - required for issue tracking:

# Install: https://cli.github.com/
gh auth login

Docker - required for secure sandboxed execution:

# Install Docker: https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/
docker --version  # Verify installation

By default, Claude runs in a Docker container with access only to your project directory. Use --no-sandbox to bypass this isolation (not recommended).

Usage

# cd into your project directory first
cd my-project

# Start a new project or add features
autonomous-claude [INSTRUCTIONS]

# Continue work on existing features
autonomous-claude --continue

# Update to latest version
autonomous-claude update

Start a new project

# Create and enter project directory
mkdir notes-app && cd notes-app

# Interactive - prompts for description
autonomous-claude

# With description
autonomous-claude "An Apple Notes clone - local .md storage, folders, rich text, search"

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

Add features to an existing project

cd notes-app

# Add new features
autonomous-claude "Add dark mode and keyboard shortcuts"

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

Continue work

Continue implementing existing features where you left off:

cd notes-app
autonomous-claude --continue

Options

Option	Short	Description	Default
--continue	-c	Continue work on existing features	-
--no-sandbox	—	Run without Docker sandbox (not recommended)	false
--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)

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", "MultiEdit", "Glob", "Grep", "Bash", "WebSearch", "WebFetch"]

[sandbox]
enabled = true         # Run in Docker sandbox (default: true)
memory_limit = "8g"    # Container memory limit
cpu_limit = 4.0        # Container CPU limit

[ui]
pending_display_limit = 10     # Max pending features to show

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
.autonomous-claude/spec.md	The full application specification
.autonomous-claude/progress.txt	Session notes and progress updates
.autonomous-claude/logs/	Session logs (stdout, stderr, prompts)
init.sh	Dev environment setup script
TODO.md	Human tasks (API keys, credentials) - only if needed

Features are tracked as GitHub Issues with the autonomous-claude label. View progress at https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/issues.

How It Works

New projects

1. Setup: Creates a private GitHub repo (if needed)
2. Session 1 (Initializer): Creates GitHub Issues for each testable feature
3. Sessions 2+ (Coding Agent): Implements features one by one, closing issues when done

Adding features to existing projects

1. Session 1 (Enhancement Initializer): Creates new GitHub Issues for the requested features
2. Sessions 2+ (Coding Agent): Implements the new features

Progress is tracked via GitHub Issues and git commits. Press Ctrl+C to stop, then --continue to resume.

Example

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

╔═╗╦ ╦╔╦╗╔═╗╔╗╔╔═╗╔╦╗╔═╗╦ ╦╔═╗
╠═╣║ ║ ║ ║ ║║║║║ ║║║║║ ║║ ║╚═╗
╩ ╩╚═╝ ╩ ╚═╝╝╚╝╚═╝╩ ╩╚═╝╚═╝╚═╝
     Claude Code CLI

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

Setting up new project...
...

Security

Docker Sandbox (Default)

By default, all Claude Code executions run inside an isolated Docker container.

Mounts:

Host Path	Container Path	Mode	Why
Project directory	/workspace	rw	Code being built
~/.claude/.credentials.json	/home/node/.claude/.credentials.json	rw	Auth tokens (needs write for refresh)
~/.claude/settings.json	/home/node/.claude/settings.json	ro	User preferences
~/.claude/settings.local.json	/home/node/.claude/settings.local.json	ro	Permission allowlists
~/.config/gh	/home/node/.config/gh	ro	GitHub CLI auth

Settings and gh config are read-only to prevent a sandboxed session from escalating permissions.

Not accessible: ~/.ssh, ~/.aws, or any directory outside your project.

Limits: 8GB RAM, 4 CPUs (configurable). Runs as non-root with all capabilities dropped.

License

MIT - Based on Anthropic's claude-quickstarts