Plan the work. Equip the agent. Approve what it runs.
Athenode is a local console for AI coding agents: specifications to decide what gets built, plugins to teach every tool how, and a gateway that lets agents work on your servers with your consent.
npm i -g athenodesudo systemctl restart shop-apiproduction-api-1Overview
- Specifications428 in progress
- ToDo cards62 high priority
- Connections91 service failing
- PluginatnSynced to 3 tools
In progress
- Checkout flow / PaymentProcessing
- Checkout flow / ShippingPrepared
- Checkout flow / CartCompleted
Services
- shop-apistaging-api-1Healthy
- payments-workerproduction-api-1Unhealthy
- postgresproduction-db-1Healthy
What to build, how to build it, and where it runs.
01 · Specifications
Think the feature through before code is written.
Your agent researches the code, asks what you did not think of, splits the work into stages and builds them one stage at a time.
- Question rounds with recommended answers
- Stages ordered by what blocks what
- ToDo cards for what comes up along the way
shop-platform
- Catalogue, Completed
- Checkout flow, Processing
- Cart, Completed
- Payment, Prepared
- Shipping, Draft
- Accounts, Completed
Payment
Prepared- Content
- Plan
- Questions6
Take the customer's money once the cart is confirmed. The order is created only after the payment succeeds.
- A failed payment keeps the cart.
- Webhooks are idempotent by event id.
- Guests pay without an account.
02 · Servers
Let agents work on your hosts, one approval at a time.
An SSH gateway for agents: commands, files and long jobs on your connections. Routine work passes your allow rules, and the rest waits for you.
- Allow rules and a denylist
- Health checks with webhooks
- An audit log of every action
Deploy the checkoutClaude Code
sudo systemctl restart shop-apiReason Restart the API so that it loads the new payment settings
- 14:01production-api-1
systemctl status shop-apiAuto-approved - 13:59production-api-1
journalctl -u shop-api -n 50Auto-approved
03 · Plugins and library
Give every AI tool the same skills, agents and rules.
Keep skills, agents, rules and MCP servers in one plugin, install it into 30 AI coding tools with one command, and take ready plugins from the plugin library.
- One plugin for 30 AI coding tools
- Import plugins from public repositories
- Publish your own to the plugin library
- Skills · 7
- atn-mindmap
- atn-decompose
- atn-apply
- atn-manage
- atn-settings
- atn-todo-enqueue
- atn-todo-dequeue
- MCP servers · 1
- athenode
skills/atn-mindmap/SKILL.md---
name: atn-mindmap
description: Use when shaping a new specification through researched question rounds until it is prepared.
---
# Mind map
1. Research the code before the first question.
2. Ask a few questions per round, each with a recommended answer.
Synced toClaude CodeGitHub CopilotCodex
One feature, followed from the first question to the night it broke.
The three parts hand the work to each other inside one project. This is how "Checkout flow" went through them.
- Specificationsdecide what gets built
- Pluginsteach the agent how
- Serverslet it act, with your consent
Checkout flow
- Mon 10:02
Mind mapSpecifications
Three rounds of questions, and "Checkout flow" is Prepared.
- Mon 11:40
DecomposeSpecifications
Split into Cart, Payment and Shipping, ordered by what blocks what.
- Tue 09:15
ApplyPlugins
/atn:apply planned, built and reviewed each stage with the agents of the atn plugin.
- a41c9e2 cart: keep items for guests
- 7d03b18 payment: payment intents and webhooks
- e5f2a70 shipping: rates by weight band
- Tue 16:20
Deploy to stagingServers
docker compose up -d on staging-api-1 matched the allow rules and ran at once.
- Tue 16:31
Deploy to prodServers
sudo systemctl restart shop-apiWaited for you, then approved - Wed 03:12
WatchServersToDo
payments-worker failed its health check. A webhook told you, and your agent filed the ToDo card "Restarts in a loop".
The card starts the next round/atn:todo-dequeue
Your code, specs and keys stay on your machine.
The console runs on your machine with its own database, and needs no account to start.
npm i -g athenode
athenode start
Console on http://athenode.lan
athenode init
Wrote the atn plugin for Claude Code and Codex
Secrets you cannot read back
SSH keys and passwords are stored encrypted with AES-256-GCM and are never shown again, to the browser or to agents.
One approval gate
Allow rules pass routine commands, and anything on the denylist always waits for a person.
A full audit log
Every command, file and job, with who asked, why, and what came back.
Source you can read
The free packages are open source under Apache-2.0, so you can read, build and run them yourself.
Start from a plugin someone already tuned.
Every plugin is readable before you add it: each skill, agent, rule and MCP server, with its version history.
athenode
StandardThe spec-driven workflow: mind map, decompose, apply and ToDo cards.
npx @athenode/cli use athenodeRead the standard pluginSecurity
CategoryPlugins that find vulnerabilities and harden code and configuration.
Browse the Security pluginsTesting & QA
CategoryPlugins that write, run and maintain tests and check quality.
Browse the Testing & QA plugins
Free on your machine. Pro for your team.
The console is free and open source for one person. Pro is a self-hosted server for a team, in three tiers: Solo, Team and Enterprise.
Free
For one developer, on their own machine.
$0forever
Open source under Apache-2.0
npm i -g athenodeInstall for freeIncludes
- Specifications, ToDo cards and the workflow
- Plugins for all 30 AI coding tools
- Servers: approvals, health checks and an audit log
- Use and publish library plugins
- Runs on your machine, with no account to start
Pro
For a team, on a server you host.
Everything in Free, plus
- Accounts with invitations, one seat per enabled account
- Search specifications by meaning
- Your own PostgreSQL, with offline licence import
- MCP access through OAuth 2.1
- Roles, access to connections and personal or shared credentials
- Full audit history, audit export and SIEM forwarding
- Health webhooks, HMAC-signed
- Two-factor sign-in
An invoice or a security review? Write to support@athenode.com.
Compare plans
A seat is one enabled account on your Pro server. Enterprise has no seat limit.
| Features | Free | Pro Solo | Pro Team | Pro Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product | ||||
| Specifications and ToDo cards | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Plugins, skills, agents and rules | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Servers: connections, approvals and health checks | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| All 30 AI coding tools | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Plugin library: use and publish | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Team | ||||
| People | One person | 1 seat | 8 seats | Unlimited seats |
| Accounts and invitations | Not included | Included | Included | Included |
| Two-factor sign-in | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Single sign-on (OIDC) | Not included | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Roles per project and group | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| MCP access through OAuth 2.1 | Not included | Included | Included | Included |
| Specifications | ||||
| Search by words and phrases | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Search by meaning | Not included | Included | Included | Included |
| Servers | ||||
| Allow rules and denylist | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Audit history | Local history | Not included | Included | Included |
| Access to connections by role | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Personal allow rules and SSH credentials | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Credential mode per connection, personal or shared | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Audit export and SIEM forwarding | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Health webhooks | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Hosting and licence | ||||
| Runs on | Your machine | Your server | Your server | Your server |
| Database | Embedded | PostgreSQL 15 or later | PostgreSQL 15 or later | PostgreSQL 15 or later |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Commercial | Commercial | Commercial |
| Support and price | ||||
| Support | Documentation | Standard support | Standard support | Priority support |
| Price | $0 | $7.50 / month | $16 / month | $37 / month |
Prices in USD, excl. tax. Every plan has all three parts, and Pro adds what a team needs on a shared server.
Before you install.
More answers are in the Athenode documentation, or write to support@athenode.com.
Do I have to use all three parts?
No. Each part of Athenode works on its own: specifications, plugins and the SSH gateway for your servers. Many teams start with one of them and add the others later, in the same project.
Which AI coding tools does it work with?
Athenode works with 30 AI coding tools, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and GitHub Copilot among them. It writes one plugin in the format each tool reads, and athenode init installs it into the tools you pick for the repository.
Can an agent delete my production database?
No. Not without your consent: by default the SSH gateway of Athenode runs an agent's command at once only when it matches your allow rules, and anything else waits until a person approves or rejects it. A command on the denylist always waits, and every request goes into the audit log.
What does Athenode keep in the cloud?
Athenode keeps your account, your organisations with their billing and licences, and the plugin library in the cloud. Your specifications, ToDo cards, projects and plugins stay in the athenode daemon on your machine or on your own Athenode Pro server.
How is a seat counted in Pro?
Every enabled account on your Athenode Pro server takes one seat. Pending invitations take none, and disabling an account frees its seat. Pro comes in three tiers, Solo, Team and Enterprise, and the licence key of your tier sets how many accounts can be enabled.
Start with one specification.
Free on your machine, with no account.
npm i -g athenode