Content
<div align="center">
<img src="docs/screenshots/logo.svg" alt="great_cto" width="280" />
**Describe a product. Approve twice. Ship the software.**
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/great-cto)
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/great-cto)
[](LICENSE)
[](https://claude.com/claude-code)
```bash
npx great-cto init
```
[Website](https://greatcto.systems) · [One real run →](https://greatcto.systems/proof) · [Live demo](https://greatcto.systems/r/CsqYVXs1Vibac5yp) · [Blog](https://greatcto.systems/blog/) · [Changelog](CHANGELOG.md)
[Русский](docs/ru/README.md) · [简体中文](docs/zh-CN/README.md) · [繁體中文](docs/zh-TW/README.md) · [日本語](docs/ja/README.md) · [한국어](docs/ko/README.md) · [Español](docs/es/README.md) · [Português](docs/pt-BR/README.md) · [Deutsch](docs/de/README.md) · [Français](docs/fr/README.md)
</div>
---
great_cto is the **orchestration layer above the coding agent you already use**.
A pipeline of **69 specialist agents** — architect, design-advisor, senior-dev,
code-reviewer, QA, security, devops — plans, builds, reviews, and deploys a real
application: backend, frontend, generated tests, live URL.
You are stopped exactly twice: once on **what gets built**, once on **whether it
ships**. Everything between runs unattended.
```
describe a product
│
🤖 spec · architecture · data model · screens
▼
👤 checkpoint 1 — approve the design
│
🤖 scaffold → backend → frontend → tests → review → security
▼
👤 checkpoint 2 — approve the deploy
│
🤖 deployed · repo · live URL
```
<p align="center">
<img src="docs/screenshots/board.png" alt="The build board — live pipeline, gates, per-agent cost" width="900" />
</p>
The board at `localhost:3141` fills itself in — pipeline state, pending gates,
per-agent cost, 30-day spend. You do not feed it; you check it.
## Numbers, measured
| | |
|---|---|
| One feature, end to end, fully traced | **1h 26m · $3.40** in tokens — [the receipts](https://greatcto.systems/proof) |
| A whole product — 7 built in the open benchmark | median **$171** in tokens · **70/100** quality (58–86) — [reproduce it](docs/benchmarks/BENCH-2026-07-batch1.md) |
| Typical month, 20 pipeline runs | **~$34** — you pay your own LLM provider, nothing else |
| Products it knows how to build | **60**, across 15 US industries, through [6 reusable pipelines](https://greatcto.systems/pipelines) |
The quality score is produced by running each product's own tests, not by
counting files — which is why it says 70 and not a rounder, prettier number.
## Quick start
```bash
npx great-cto init # Claude Code (default) · add --host codex for OpenAI Codex
```
Restart your AI host, then:
```bash
/start "build a dispatch & scheduling app for an HVAC business"
```
The pipeline takes it from there. Day to day you touch three things:
| | |
|---|---|
| `/start "…"` | describe a product or feature — the pipeline runs it |
| `/inbox` | what needs you: pending gates, P0s, blocked tasks |
| `/digest` | weekly DORA metrics + cost-per-feature roll-up |
Requires Node ≥ 18.17. Companion plugins (Superpowers, Beads) install
automatically. After init, verify the host actually loaded the plugin —
`claude plugin list --json` should show no `errors` for `great_cto`.
## When it asks you
One setting in `.great_cto/PROJECT.md` decides where the pipeline stops:
| `approval-level` | Stops at | Per feature |
|---|---|---|
| `product-only` | what we build · whether it ships | 2 |
| `gates-only` *(default)* | the design · the deploy | 2 |
| `strict` | + code review | 3 |
| `auto` | nothing | 0 |
A regulated archetype — fintech, healthcare, gov — keeps its security,
compliance and ship gates **at every level, including `auto`**. A lighter level
delegates judgement; it never skips compliance. Full table: [docs/GATES.md](docs/GATES.md).
## What makes it different
- **Specialists, not a generalist** — 69 agents with narrow jobs and their own
review gates, instead of one assistant that types faster than it thinks.
[The roster →](docs/reference/agents.md)
- **Critics before code** — architecture, spec, and schema critics run before
planning, where a mistake still costs hours instead of days.
- **Scope enforced at write time** — an agent physically cannot touch files
outside its brief. Not flagged at review; refused at write.
- **QA that distrusts itself** — critical paths written as Gherkin before test
code, then mutation testing asks whether the suite would catch anything at all.
- **Memory across sessions** — decisions, lessons, and promoted patterns persist
per project and globally; an interrupted run resumes knowing which stages ran.
- **Cost you can see** — per-agent spend, estimate-vs-actual drift, and
cost-per-accepted-change on the board, not in a spreadsheet.
Everything runs locally, MIT-licensed, on your own keys. Your code stays on your
machine; prompts go to your LLM provider and nowhere else. Telemetry is
**off by default** ([docs/PRIVACY.md](docs/PRIVACY.md)).
## Limitations
- **For one builder** — a solo founder or CTO. Two or more engineers sharing the
pipeline have outgrown it.
- **Not a CI/CD system** — gates run locally; you still merge through GitHub Actions.
- **Not certification-audited** — PCI/HIPAA/SOC2 scaffolds are starting points,
not certifications.
- **Not deterministic** — LLM output. Gate verdicts deserve a sanity check.
## Documentation
**[Docs hub →](docs/README.md)** ·
[Getting started](docs/tutorials/getting-started.md) ·
[Gates & approval levels](docs/GATES.md) ·
[Agents](docs/reference/agents.md) · [Commands](docs/reference/commands.md) ·
[Archetypes](docs/ARCHETYPES.md) · [Architecture](docs/ARCHITECTURE.md) ·
[MCP](docs/MCP.md) · [FAQ](docs/FAQ.md) ·
[Everything else](docs/DETAILS.md) — critics, jurisdictions, cost breakdown, CI, alerts
## Community
[Issues](https://github.com/avelikiy/great_cto/issues) ·
[Discussions](https://github.com/avelikiy/great_cto/discussions) ·
[Blog](https://greatcto.systems/blog/) ·
[Security policy](SECURITY.md) · [Contributing](CONTRIBUTING.md)
MIT — [LICENSE](LICENSE). Built by [@avelikiy](https://github.com/avelikiy):
CTO building AI-native trading and fintech platforms; great_cto is my own loops,
automated one agent at a time.
If it saved you time, a star helps other solo builders find it.
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*Stop being the only person who can ship.*
</div>
