CLI Agent Orchestrator
Coordinate coding CLIs in isolated tmux sessions so a supervisor can delegate work in parallel or sequence.
What does this agent do, and when should you use it?
CLI Agent Orchestrator (CAO) is a locally run coordinator for multiple coding CLIs. It starts a local cao-server and runs provider CLIs in isolated terminal sessions, while each agent retains its native authentication and capabilities. A supervisor agent uses CAO tools to coordinate worker agents on parallel or sequential work. Sessions can be observed from the attached launch terminal, the Web UI, or tmux, and controlled through the shell CLI, operations MCP server, or plugins. It fits development teams that already use coding CLIs and want to organize specialist-agent work within a project directory.
You start cao-server as the local service, then run cao launch --agents code_supervisor from the project directory to start a supervisor. CAO starts authenticated provider CLIs—including Kiro CLI, Claude Code, Codex CLI, Antigravity CLI, Hermes, Kimi CLI, GitHub Copilot CLI, OpenCode CLI, and Cursor CLI—in isolated terminal sessions. The supervisor delegates work to workers through CAO coordination tools and can run that work in parallel or sequence. Operators can observe sessions in the launch terminal, tmux, or the Web UI at http://localhost:9889, then stop one session with cao shutdown --session {session-name} or every CAO session with cao shutdown --all.
- A developer using several authenticated coding CLIs who wants a supervisor to distribute independent coding tasks to worker agents in one project.
- An engineering team coordinating parallel AI-DLC intents across repositories and isolated worktrees.
- A team that wants to preserve its existing Claude Code or Codex CLI authentication and native capabilities while adding a multi-agent coordination layer.
- A technical lead who needs to inspect and operate coding-agent sessions through a local Web UI, tmux, or an operations MCP server.
What are this agent's strengths and limitations?
- Uses a local cao-server and isolated tmux sessions while preserving each provider CLI as a native, authenticated process.
- Explicitly supports multiple coding CLIs, including Claude Code, Codex CLI, Kiro CLI, GitHub Copilot CLI, OpenCode CLI, and Cursor CLI.
- Offers several control planes: the launch terminal, Web UI, shell CLI, operations MCP server, and plugins.
- It requires Python, tmux, uv, and at least one supported provider CLI that has already been authenticated.
- The default launch flow uses Kiro CLI; using another provider requires its provider-specific override.
- It manages local terminal sessions, so operators must run cao-server and explicitly shut sessions down when work is complete.
How do you install or deploy this agent?
Prerequisites: Python 3.10 or later, tmux 3.3 or later, uv, and at least one supported provider CLI authenticated before CAO is launched. Install the current main branch:
uv tool install git+https://github.com/awslabs/cli-agent-orchestrator.git@main --upgrade
cao --help
For a first run, install the built-in supervisor profile:
cao install code_supervisor
How do you use this agent?
In terminal A, start the local service:
cao-server
In terminal B, enter the project to be worked on and launch the supervisor:
cd /path/to/your/project
cao launch --agents code_supervisor
Without a provider override, this uses CAO's default Kiro CLI provider; other providers require their documented provider override. Open http://localhost:9889 for the Web UI. To end a named session:
cao shutdown --session {session-name}