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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.opencoven.ai/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Coven is a local-first harness substrate. The Rust CLI/daemon is the authority layer; clients such as the CLI TUI, comux, and the optional OpenClaw plugin are presentation/integration layers. The versioned local socket API contract lives in API contract. Clients should handshake with GET /api/v1/health and negotiate against apiVersion: "coven.daemon.v1" plus the capabilities object before depending on session or event response shapes. All error responses use the structured { error: { code, message, details } } envelope documented in Error envelope.

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Runtime topology

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Session lifecycle

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Authority boundary

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OpenMeow / automation boundary

OpenMeow should remain a chat UI, local echo/optimistic rendering surface, intent-capture layer, and tiny fast-path host for ultra-simple local actions. It should not become the automation engine. Coven is the canonical shared local runtime for reusable automation because it centralizes:
  • daemon/process ownership;
  • policy and permission decisions;
  • config/profile storage;
  • capability discovery;
  • action routing and event emission;
  • adapter ownership for Accessibility, AppleScript, keyboard/mouse, window, filesystem, clipboard, and app-specific bridges.
The intended flow is: 
user -> OpenMeow -> Coven -> adapters -> desktop/apps
desktop/apps -> Coven -> OpenMeow UI updates
GET /api/v1/capabilities lets OpenMeow and other clients discover what Coven can route. POST /api/v1/actions gives clients a stable intent envelope without coupling them directly to brittle OS automation APIs.

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Future: multi-harness orchestration (Phase 1-4)

Coven v0 is single-harness per session. Future phases will add multi-harness orchestration:

Phase 1 — Handoff

Explicit transfer of task + full context between harnesses. Adds POST /api/v1/handoff.

Phase 2 — Routing

Capability discovery, router, load balancing. Adds POST /api/v1/task/execute.

Phase 3 — Affinity

Multi-instance, distributed context, affinity constraints. Adds health heartbeat + node registration.

Phase 4 — Audit

Handoff ledger queries and metrics for compliance and observability.
The Rust daemon stays the authority boundary throughout. Orchestration logic can live above the daemon, delegating safety-critical decisions (process spawning, cwd validation, capability checking) to Coven.