Continuum

Rule engine so coding agents obey repo rules across Cursor, Claude, and ChatGPT: they get blocked, warned, or asked before breaking rules, with clear explanations of which rule fired and how to fix.

v0.1 promise

• Add continuum.yaml to your repo.
• Run continuum check locally and in CI.
• Cursor (MCP) agents are gated: blocked / warned / clarification_required before breaking rules.
• The system explains which rule fired and how to fix it.

Install

pip install -e .   # from repo
# or when published:
pip install continuum-code

Requires Python 3.10+. The CLI is installed as continuum. If another tool named continuum is in your PATH, use continuum-code instead (e.g. continuum-code --version, continuum-code init --pack data-dbt-airflow), or run python -m continuum.

Development on Windows (WSL2)

Keep the repo on the WSL filesystem (e.g. ~/repos/continuum) for best compatibility.

One-time (PowerShell as Admin):

wsl --install -d Ubuntu-24.04

After WSL install, open Ubuntu and run:

# Base (keep repo under WSL, e.g. ~/repos/continuum)
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y build-essential git curl

# Python via uv (fast, clean venvs)
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
source ~/.local/bin/env  # or restart shell

Per clone (inside WSL, in repo root):

cd ~/repos/continuum   # or your path
uv venv
source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install -e ".[dev]"

Run tests:

pytest

Run CLI:

continuum check
continuum init --pack python-fastapi

For a broader Windows + WSL2 dev setup (Terminal, Docker, Antigravity safety), see your preferred guide.

Quick start

# Create config (optional: use a pack)
continuum init
continuum init --pack python-fastapi   # or node-backend, typescript-monorepo

# Check current changes (git diff)
continuum check
continuum check --staged              # only staged
continuum check --base origin/main    # diff against branch

# Explain why a rule fired
continuum explain
continuum explain ban_lodash

# List active contracts
continuum inspect

Config: continuum.yaml

version: 0.1
scopes:
  - id: repo
    match: ["**/*"]
    contracts:
      - type: ban
        id: ban_lodash
        match:
          deps: ["lodash"]
        message: "Use native JS or approved utils."
      - type: ask_first
        id: confirm_migrations
        match:
          paths: ["**/migrations/**"]
        prompt: "Touching migrations. Confirm: (A) add-only (B) destructive (C) refactor"
  - id: backend
    match: ["backend/**"]
    precedence: 10
    contracts:
      - type: require
        id: require_tests
        match:
          paths: ["backend/**"]
        require:
          - kind: tests
            hint: "Add or adjust unit tests for changed modules."

Contract types: ban (deps/paths/commands), require (tests/logging/ADR), ask_first (confirmation gate), define (metadata).

Escape hatch

To skip checks (e.g. emergency hotfix), set CONTINUUM_SKIP=1; continuum check will exit 0 without running contracts. Prefer adjusting rules (e.g. severity: warn) in continuum.yaml when possible. See docs/adoption.md.

CI (GitHub Action)

- uses: actions/checkout@v4
  with:
    fetch-depth: 0
- uses: ./actions/continuum-check
  with:
    base_ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}

Or in another repo: uses: your-org/continuum/actions/continuum-check@v0.1 (and install continuum via pip in the action).

Cursor / MCP

Run the MCP server so the Cursor agent can call continuum_check before applying changes:

continuum mcp --transport stdio

Add to Cursor MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "continuum": {
      "command": "continuum",
      "args": ["mcp", "--transport", "stdio"]
    }
  }
}

See docs/cursor-mcp.md and docs/demo.md for setup and the “Refactor auth middleware” demo.

Golden demo: Run the 3 scenarios in demo/README.md (dbt marts require, airflow ask-first, banned command) in under 10 minutes.

Packs

Starter configs:

• node-backend – Node/JS backend (ban lodash, require tests, ask on migrations).
• python-fastapi – FastAPI app (ban requests in favor of httpx, require tests, ask on migrations).
• typescript-monorepo – TS monorepo (ban lodash, require tests in packages).
• data-dbt-airflow – dbt + Airflow repos (ask_first on marts/DAGs, require tests on marts, ban risky commands).

continuum init --pack python-fastapi
continuum init --pack data-dbt-airflow   # dbt + Airflow

5-minute adoption (dbt + Airflow)

1. pip install continuum-code (or pip install -e . from repo).
2. continuum init --pack data-dbt-airflow → writes continuum.yaml.
3. continuum validate → confirm the file is valid.
4. continuum check (or continuum check --base origin/main for PRs).
5. Add the GitHub Action for CI; optionally run continuum mcp --transport stdio for Cursor.

Next steps (after v0.1)

• Richer dependency detection (poetry, pnpm, pip-tools).
• Pattern bans (regex on diffs).
• Stricter “require” checks (e.g. tests touched when src touched).
• Decision diffs / supersession (v0.2).

License

MIT.