Your first team
Define a team for your work, then start its agents in the background. Use guided setup or adapt a complete example.
You’ll need macOS or Linux, tmux, git, and the runtimes you choose, installed and signed in: Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode or Gemini CLI. Keep the host awake while the team runs.
Path 1: guided (recommended)
The Guided template opens the Claude Code plugin, so this path requires both claude and the TeamCTL plugin:
cd /path/to/your/projectteamctl init --template guidedDescribe your goal, review the proposed roles and structure, and choose when to bring the team up. The plugin writes editable YAML and Markdown under .team/. Designing an agent team covers peer collaboration, leads and domain ownership.
Path 2: start from a real example
Choose an example as a starting point, then review its roles, credentials and paths. The personal-research definition has a buddy and a curator, one project and Claude Code. You can also define peers without reports_to or adapt a larger organization:
git clone git@github.com:Alireza29675/teamctl.git # the curl install doesn't bundle the examplescp -r teamctl/examples/personal-research ~/my-teamcd ~/my-teamteamctl validate # ok · 1 project · 2 agent sessionsteamctl up # renders .team/state/, starts tmux sessionsteamctl status # shows the buddy and curator runningteamctl ui # watch them workSend the agent a message:
teamctl send research:buddy "what's on my plate?"What .team/state/ holds
Whichever path you took, teamctl up renders these under .team/state/:
envs/<project>-<agent>.env: environment for the agent wrappermcp/<project>-<agent>.json: MCP config pointing atteam-mcpmailbox.db: SQLite mailbox (WAL mode)
Change something
Edit and share the configuration and role files. Document required tools, and leave credentials and private runtime state out of shared files.
Edit a role prompt and run teamctl reload: only the affected agents restart, others are untouched. Same for the project YAML; reload picks up adds, drops, and renames.
What’s next
- Add a Telegram bot so you can DM the manager from your phone.
- Read about channels to wire up broadcast groups.
- See the bigger
oss-maintainerandnewsletter-officeexamples for more developed shapes.