Stack

A local research-engineering cockpit — a Codex agent pane, GEPA prompt optimization, and Stack MCP for hosted Synth ops, in one terminal UI.

Stack runs locally: an OpenTUI cockpit with a Codex agent pane, OSS prompt optimization (GEPA via synth-optimizers), StackEval receipts, and Stack MCP for hosted Synth ops — SMR, Research Factory, optimizers, and WorkProducts — across dev, staging, and prod. It is built for research engineering first and works for everyday coding too.

Open source (MIT), public alpha. Install from source today; a first-party installer is planned.

Quickstart

Requirements

• Bun
• Codex CLI

Install from source

git clone https://github.com/synth-laboratories/stack.git
cd stack
make install
stack --version

First run

stack doctor   # check your environment
stack demo     # local, signed-out demo
stack          # launch the cockpit

To update: git pull && make install.

Hosted features (optional)

SMR, Research Factory, and hosted optimizers need a Synth API key from usesynth.ai/keys. Set SYNTH_API_KEY in your environment, or point stack.config.json at a key file via environments.*.authEnvFile. The local cockpit, demo, and OSS optimizers work without an account.

First-party installer (planned)

When release assets are live, the intended default path is:

curl -fsSL https://stack.usesynth.ai/install.sh | sh

Package-manager channels (Homebrew, npm) are deferred until they have their own install, update, and rollback proofs.

What's new — Monitor Gardener Goal release (dev)

Stack 0.2.0-dev.20260703.2 sharpens the live cockpit: /lights on opens a right-panel status view with scrollable/filterable threads, gardener/actor/cloud status, local runtime, and usage. /gardener opens in the core panel, goal mode keeps worker chat and slash commands available, and Stack MCP now gives the gardener owner-route tools for creating durable worker/meta threads.

See CHANGELOG.md and Usage § Slash commands.

Docs

Website: docs.usesynth.ai/stack — quickstart, goal mode, cockpit, MCP, configuration.

In-repo (engineers):

• Usage & reference — deep operator reference
• Synth productivity — OSS + hosted workflows
• Release process — channels, versioning, changelog
• Distribution — installer/download contract
• Telemetry — privacy posture and event allowlist
• Quality — lint, acceptance tiers, StackEval
• Security — reporting and credential handling

License

MIT