qen 0.2.1

A tiny, extensible tool for organizing multi-repository development work

QEN: A Developer Nest for Multi-Repo Innovation

QEN ("קֵן", nest in Biblical Hebrew, pronounced 'kin') is a lightweight tool for organizing multi-repository development work.

QEN gathers all context for a project (code, specs, artifacts, etc.) into a single managed folder inside a central meta repository.

Quick Start

No installation needed! Use uvx to run QEN commands directly:

uvx qen --version
uvx qen --help

1. Initialize QEN

From within or near your meta repository:

uvx qen init

This finds your meta repo, extracts your organization from git remotes, and stores configuration in your system's CONFIG_HOME directory.

2. Create a Project

uvx qen init my-project

This uses the previously-discovered meta repository to create a project-specific:

• Git branch: YYMMDD-my-project (e.g., 251203-readme-bootstrap)
• Project directory: proj/YYMMDD-my-project/
• Project files:
  • README.md - Project documentation stub
  • pyproject.toml - Repository configuration with [tool.qen] section
  • qen - Executable wrapper for running qen commands in project context
  • .gitignore - Ignores repos/ directory
  • repos/ - Gitignored directory for sub-repositories
  • workspaces/ - IDE multi-repo configuration

Using the Project Wrapper

Each project includes a ./qen executable wrapper that automatically runs qen commands in that project's context:

cd proj/YYMMDD-my-project/
./qen status      # Works without specifying --proj
./qen add myrepo  # Automatically uses this project
./qen pr status   # Check PR status for this project

The wrapper is especially useful when you have multiple projects, as it eliminates the need to specify --proj or remember which project you're in

3. Manage Configuration

Configuration is stored in your system's CONFIG_HOME directory and tracks:

• Your meta repository location
• Your GitHub organization
• Current active project
• Per-project settings (branch name, project path, etc.)

To view or modify, use the config command:

# Show current project
uvx qen config

# List all projects
uvx qen config --list

# Switch to a different project
uvx qen config --switch other-project

# Show global configuration
uvx qen config --global

4. Add Repositories

# Add a repository using different formats
uvx qen add https://github.com/myorg/myrepo    # Full URL
uvx qen add myorg/myrepo                       # org/repo format
uvx qen add myrepo                             # Uses org from config

# Add with specific branch
uvx qen add myorg/myrepo --branch develop

# Add with custom path
uvx qen add myorg/myrepo --path repos/custom-name

The repository will be:

• Cloned to repos/myrepo/
• Added to pyproject.toml in the [[tool.qen.repos]] section
• Tracked with its URL, branch, and local path
• Assigned an index based on the order it was added (starting from 1)

Repositories are displayed with indices for easy reference:

[1] myorg/repo1 (main)
[2] myorg/repo2 (feature)
[3] myorg/repo3 (dev)

5. Check Git Status

# Show git status across all repos (with indices)
uvx qen status

# Show detailed status with verbose output
uvx qen status -v

# Fetch latest changes before showing status
uvx qen status --fetch

The status command displays each repository with its index:

Sub-repositories:

  [1] repos/main/repo1 (https://github.com/org/repo1)
    Status: Clean
    Branch: main

6. Work with Pull Requests

# Show PR status for all repositories (with indices)
uvx qen pr status

# Show detailed PR information
uvx qen pr status -v

# Identify and display stacked PRs
uvx qen pr stack

# Update stacked PRs (rebase child PRs on parent PRs)
uvx qen pr restack

# Preview restack changes without making them
uvx qen pr restack --dry-run

PR status displays also include repository indices:

[1] 📦 repo1 (main)
   📋 PR #123: Feature implementation
   ✓ Checks: passing

[2] 📦 repo2 (feature)
   • No PR for this branch

7. Generate Editor Workspaces

Create editor workspace files that span all repositories in your project:

# Generate workspace files for all supported editors
uvx qen workspace

# Generate only VS Code workspace
uvx qen workspace --editor vscode

# Generate only Sublime Text workspace
uvx qen workspace --editor sublime

# Open the generated workspace
code workspaces/vscode.code-workspace

Workspace files are created in the workspaces/ directory and include:

• Project root folder
• All sub-repositories
• PR numbers in folder names (when available)
• Sensible file exclusions (.git, pycache, etc.)

Repository Indices

QEN automatically assigns 1-based indices to repositories based on their order in the [[tool.qen.repos]] array in pyproject.toml. These indices:

• Start at 1 (not 0) for user-friendliness
• Are based on the order repositories appear in the configuration
• Are displayed in all repository listings (qen status, qen pr status, etc.)
• Provide a convenient way to reference repositories

The index reflects the position in the TOML array, making it easy to understand which repo you're referring to when working with multiple repositories.

Requirements

• Python 3.12 or higher
• Git
• GitHub CLI (gh) for PR commands

Contributing

QEN is open source and contributions are welcome! For developer documentation, see AGENTS.md.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Links

• Homepage: https://github.com/data-yaml/qen
• Issues: https://github.com/data-yaml/qen/issues
• PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/qen/