# Backant
> Two free tools for autonomous software engineering: Kairos (an autonomous developer that runs Claude Code against your repo) and backant-memory (local-first, repo-scoped memory for AI agents).

URL: https://backant.io
Docs: https://docs.backant.io
GitHub: https://github.com/backant-io
Discord: https://discord.gg/6GNzK2SAeC

---

## Kairos — autonomous developer

Runs Claude Code against a repo continuously: picks its own tasks from issues/CI/production state, builds small PRs, verifies deploys, remembers outcomes. Free; Google sign-in for auth. Claude Code usage costs remain the user's own.

Install: `npx backant-kairos`  (first run: auth, project analysis, daemon start)
Attach in a repo: `backant`
Daemon: `backant start` / `backant stop` / `backant watch` / `backant status`

Access control (.backant.toml at repo root):
- [permissions] merge, merge_migrations, create_issues, create_epics, strategic_work, modify_dependencies, modify_ci, modify_infrastructure, security_fixes (booleans)
- [scope] include / exclude (path globs)
- [branches] target, prefix
- [behavior] max_cycles_per_day, max_cost_per_cycle, min_sleep, deploy_verification
- [gates] actions (always wait for human), timeout_minutes, timeout_policy = "requeue" | "auto_deny"

Steering from chat (Hermes addon): focus, pin, ban, goal, pause, resume; approval gates; journaled reasoning. See https://backant.io/blog/kairos-hermes

Requirements: macOS/Linux, Claude Code, GitHub CLI, Docker.

---

## backant-memory — memory for AI agents

Free npm package. Repo-scoped namespaces from git origin; libSQL store per repo; embeddings always local (Qwen3 via Ollama in Docker); no remote embedding APIs. Elastic-2.0.

Install: `npm install -g backant-memory && backant-memory install`
Verify: `backant-memory status` / `backant-memory doctor`
Other MCP clients: `backant-memory print-config`

Tools: memory_recall, memory_recall_with_edges, memory_write_stm, memory_write_episode, memory_write_ltm, procedure_grounding, procedure_propose, memory_reinforce, memory_promote.
Graph edges: supports / contradicts / related_to, proposed → approved lifecycle.

---

## Pages
- https://backant.io/kairos — Kairos
- https://backant.io/memory — backant-memory
- https://backant.io/blog — engineering notes

---

## Kairos CLI reference

| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| `backant` | First-time setup or resume in the current workspace |
| `backant login` / `logout` | Authenticate with backant.io |
| `backant setup` | Re-analyze the project and refresh installed skills |
| `backant start` | Start the Kairos daemon in the current workspace |
| `backant stop` | Stop the daemon |
| `backant watch` | Live event feed with status bar |
| `backant status` | Show current state and stats |
| `backant memory <sub>` | Memory store management (see `memory --help`) |
| `backant dream <sub>` | Memory consolidation introspection (see `dream --help`) |
| `backant eval <sub>` | Weekly compliance/cost/outcome report (see `eval --help`) |

## backant-memory configuration (env, all optional)

| Variable | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `BACKANT_MEMORY_HOME` | `~/.claude/kairos` | Data home. Shared with backant-kairos on purpose. |
| `BACKANT_MEMORY_PORT` | `41414` | HTTP port for the daemon. |
| `BACKANT_MEMORY_OLLAMA_URL` | `http://127.0.0.1:11434` | Local Ollama endpoint. |
| `BACKANT_MEMORY_EMBEDDING_MODEL` | `qwen3-embedding:0.6b` | Embedding model. |