Do Again

Do Again gives AI coding agents a policy-controlled way to execute work on a local development machine, return auditable receipts and artifacts, and keep iterating when another pass is needed.

How it works

agent
  |
  | request
  v
operator-control branch
  |
  v
Do Again -> policy validation -> local command / file / test / git action
  ^                                         |
  |                                         |
  +----------- receipt / artifact -----------+

The agent can inspect the result, decide what still needs work, and submit another scoped action instead of stopping at the first attempt.

Install

Python / PyPI

pip install do-again

Node / npm

npm install -g do-again

or run it without a global install:

npx do-again doctor

Both distributions expose the same command:

do-again

The npm package ships the same Python runtime from this repository behind a small Node launcher. It requires Node.js 18+ and Python 3.11+.

Quick start

do-again doctor
do-again init
do-again install
do-again status

Service lifecycle

On macOS, Do Again can install a per-repository launchd agent:

do-again install
do-again status
do-again restart
do-again stop
do-again uninstall

For attended or cross-platform use, run the agent in the foreground:

do-again run
do-again run --once

Each repository gets an isolated runtime, control worktree, state directory, policy copy, and service label under ~/.do_again. The installed service runs from a copied runtime so installs made through either PyPI or npm remain stable after the invoking shell exits.

Why Do Again

• Explicit policy-based command permissions
• GitHub-backed request and receipt transport
• Project-scoped filesystem and command access
• Deterministic audit trail and recovery
• No agent API keys embedded in the project
• A shared platform interface for macOS, Linux, and Windows
• CI-tested on Python 3.11, 3.12, and 3.13 across all three platforms

Platform status

Do Again is currently alpha software. The foreground runner works across the supported Python platforms; macOS is the first platform with an installable background service while Linux and Windows service integration are being completed behind the same interface.

Development

git clone https://github.com/Tran-Steven/do-again.git
cd do-again
python -m pip install .
python -m unittest discover -s tests -v
do-again doctor

Release model

Releases use semantic versioning. Pushing a version tag such as v0.2.0 validates the shared release version, publishes the Python distribution to PyPI and the Node launcher to npm through Trusted Publishing, and creates the matching GitHub Release.

PyPI distribution name: do-again

npm package name: do-again

CLI command: do-again

Python package: do_again

Security

Do Again is designed around explicit allowlists, scoped filesystem roots, bounded execution, and auditable request/receipt records. It should not be configured as unrestricted shell access.

License

MIT