Zouroboros is a self-enhancing AI platform built natively on Zo Computer. It provides production-grade multi-agent orchestration, persistent memory, and autonomous self-healing — all in a unified monorepo. Every module is native to the Zo ecosystem, not ported from external platforms.
- Hybrid Memory System — SQLite + vector embeddings with episodic, procedural, and cognitive memory. Domain context injection bridges operational knowledge into swarm tasks.
- Swarm Orchestration (v5) — Multi-agent DAG execution with 5 executors (Claude Code, Gemini, Codex, Hermes, Mimir), adaptive routing (6-signal core with budget/role-aware 8-signal path), MetaGPT SOP coverage across all 57 roles, trace_id end-to-end observability, executor retry/fallback cascades, and mandatory pipeline gates.
- Transport Abstraction — Bridge, ACP (Agent Client Protocol), and Mimir transports with real-time streaming where supported, enabling communication with executor backends and the memory gate.
- Resilience-First — Category-aware circuit breakers (8 failure types), cascade failure propagation with 4 recovery policies, stagnation detection with auto-recovery, and 5-layer loop guards (ECC-009).
- Pipeline Gates — Mandatory seed validation, post-flight evaluation, and gap audit loops enforce quality at every stage of swarm execution.
- Consensus Gate — Multi-vendor validation (GLM-5.1, Kimi-K2.6, MiniMax-M2.5 in parallel) gates procedure evolution before commits; structured objection classification (PATCH_SPECIFIC / PRE_EXISTING / OUT_OF_SCOPE) separates signal from noise.
- RAG Enrichment — OpenAI embeddings (
text-embedding-3-small) + Qdrant vector search across 5 RAG surfaces (swarm, vault, autoloop, eval, persona) with RAPTOR L1/L2 hierarchical retrieval over the research corpus. - Budget Governance — Per-executor token tracking with USD conversion, alert thresholds, hard caps, and automatic cost-aware executor downgrade.
- Role Registry — 57 seeded roles mapped from personas to executors, with hierarchical delegation and write scope isolation for child tasks.
- Persona Framework — SOUL/IDENTITY architecture with 8-phase creation workflow and persona-scoped fact storage.
- Spec-First Development — Interview, three-stage evaluate with Self-RAG token enrichment, gap audit (4 checks), unstuck, and autoloop tools.
- Self-Healing — Daily introspection, prescription, and autonomous evolution with 8 playbooks (A–H), Reflexion failure critique, and a governor safety gate.
- Health Council — Four autonomous watchers (Healer, Doctor, Introspector, Steward) monitor runtime, orchestration, capability, and knowledge layers with zero overlap.
- API Server — Hono REST API with SSE event streaming for real-time budget, heartbeat, and task events.
- Heartbeat Scheduler — Persistent wake cycles with SQLite state for long-running swarm campaigns.
The architecture is organized into 5 layers:
| Layer | Components |
|---|---|
| Interface | orchestrate-v5 CLI, Hono REST API, SSE Event Stream, TUI dashboard, scheduled agents |
| Core Systems | Memory System, Swarm Orchestration, Workflow Tools |
| Execution & Intelligence | Executor System (5 executors, Bridge/ACP/Mimir transports), adaptive routing, RAG Enrichment (Qdrant, 5 surfaces, RAPTOR L1/L2) |
| Resilience & Governance | Pipeline gates, Cascade Manager, Stagnation Detector, Budget Governor, Consensus Gate |
| Foundation | Personas & Role Registry (57 roles), Self-Heal Engine (8 playbooks), Health Council, Heartbeat Scheduler |
# Core types and utilities
npm install zouroboros-core
# Memory system (SQLite + vector embeddings)
npm install zouroboros-memory
# Multi-agent swarm orchestration
npm install zouroboros-swarm
# Spec-first workflow tools
npm install zouroboros-workflow
# Self-healing pipeline
npm install zouroboros-selfheal
# Persona framework
npm install zouroboros-personas
# RAG enrichment toolkit
npm install zouroboros-rag
# CLI (global install)
npm install -g zouroboros-cliOr install everything:
npm install zouroboros-core zouroboros-memory zouroboros-swarm zouroboros-workflow zouroboros-selfheal zouroboros-personas zouroboros-rag- Node 20+ and pnpm 9+ (or bun 1.x) for source installs.
OPENAI_API_KEY— required for vector search, HyDE expansion, and graph cohesion. Embeddings usetext-embedding-3-smallvia the OpenAI API.- If unset, Zouroboros soft-degrades to text/FTS-only memory with a one-time warning. SQL fact storage and full-text search continue to work; semantic retrieval is skipped.
- Set
ZOUROBOROS_VECTOR_FORCE=1to bypass the gate when proxying embeddings through a non-OpenAI compatible endpoint.
- At least one swarm executor binary if you plan to run multi-agent campaigns:
claude,codex,gemini, orhermes.zouroboros doctorreports availability.
git clone https://github.com/marlandoj/zouroboros.git
cd zouroboros
pnpm install
pnpm run build
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..." # required for semantic retrieval
zouroboros init
zouroboros doctorFor distributing to other Zo Computers as standalone Bun scripts:
bun ~/Skills/zouroboros/scripts/install.ts
bun ~/Skills/zouroboros/scripts/doctor.ts| Package | Version | Description |
|---|---|---|
zouroboros-core |
Types, config, utilities | |
zouroboros-memory |
Hybrid SQLite + vector memory with domain context injection | |
zouroboros-swarm |
v5 orchestration: DAG execution, 8-signal routing, MetaGPT SOP roles, trace_id observability, circuit breakers, pipeline gates, executor retry/fallback | |
zouroboros-workflow |
Interview, three-stage eval with Self-RAG tokens, gap audit, unstuck, autoloop | |
zouroboros-selfheal |
Introspection, prescription & evolution with 8 playbooks + Reflexion failure critique | |
zouroboros-personas |
SOUL/IDENTITY persona framework with scoped fact storage | |
zouroboros-rag |
RAG enrichment: OpenAI embeddings + Qdrant, 5 RAG surfaces, RAPTOR L1/L2 hierarchical retrieval | |
zouroboros-cli |
Unified CLI | |
zouroboros-tui |
Terminal dashboard |
The swarm orchestrator runs multi-agent campaigns with mandatory quality gates:
Seed Spec → Seed Eval Gate → Execute DAG → Post-Flight Eval → Gap Audit Loop
5 executors communicate through a transport abstraction layer:
| Executor | Transport | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | ACP | Complex implementation, architecture |
| Gemini | ACP | Research, analysis, content |
| Codex | ACP | Code generation, refactoring |
| Hermes | Bridge | Autonomous investigation, web research |
| Mimir | Mimir | Historical context injection, institutional memory synthesis |
Executors are selected via a 5-priority routing decision tree:
- Explicit executor ID in task
- Role-based resolution (57 seeded roles)
- Budget override (< 20% remaining → cheapest executor)
- 8-signal composite routing (capability, health, complexity, history, procedure, temporal, budget, role)
- Tag-based heuristic fallback
When an executor fails, the retry/fallback cascade automatically reroutes to the next healthy executor with circuit breaker protection (10-min cooldown on credit exhaustion).
All three gates are enabled by default:
- Seed Validation — Pre-execution audit for file paths, schema correctness, DAG conflicts
- Post-Flight Evaluation — Success rate analysis with 50% threshold
- Gap Audit Loop — 4-question validation: reachability, data prerequisites, cross-boundary state, eval-production parity
- Circuit Breakers — 8 error categories with distinct thresholds and cooldowns (rate_limited: 1 failure/60s, timeout: 2 failures/30s, permission_denied: 1 failure/300s)
- Cascade Manager — 4 policies: abort_dependents, skip_dependents, retry_then_skip, isolate
- Stagnation Detector — Monitors no_output, repetitive_output, progress_plateau, timeout_approaching
- ECC-009 Loop Guard — 5-layer recursion prevention (origin headers, depth limits, cycle detection, chain timeout, circuit breaker)
- Consensus Gate — GLM-5.1, Kimi-K2.6, and MiniMax-M2.5 run in parallel to validate procedure evolution; structured objection classification prevents premature commits
# Memory
zouroboros memory store --entity user --key preference --value "dark mode"
zouroboros memory search "technology preferences"
# Swarm campaigns
zouroboros swarm run --tasks campaign.json
# Workflow
zouroboros workflow interview --topic "Design a database schema"
zouroboros workflow evaluate --seed seed.yaml --artifact ./src
zouroboros workflow unstuck --signal "same error keeps happening"
# Persona creation
zouroboros persona create --name "Security Auditor" --domain security
# Self-healing
zouroboros heal introspect
zouroboros heal prescribe
zouroboros heal evolve
# Dashboard
zouroboros tuiimport { Memory } from 'zouroboros-memory';
import { SwarmOrchestrator } from 'zouroboros-swarm';
const memory = new Memory({ dbPath: './memory.db' });
await memory.store({
entity: 'user',
key: 'preference',
value: 'TypeScript',
category: 'preference',
decayClass: 'permanent',
});
const results = await memory.search({ query: 'programming languages' });
const orchestrator = new SwarmOrchestrator();
await orchestrator.run({
tasks: [
{ id: '1', persona: 'Backend Developer', task: 'Design API' },
{ id: '2', persona: 'Frontend Developer', task: 'Build UI', dependsOn: ['1'] },
],
});Store in memory that I prefer TypeScript for backend development
Run a spec-first interview for building a REST API
Check my Zouroboros system health
After installation, create scheduled agents from Zo Chat:
Create all Zouroboros agents from agents/manifest.json
This registers 5 agents on your Zo Computer:
- Memory Embedding Backfill — indexes new facts nightly
- Memory Capture — captures conversation facts
- Unified Decay — runs memory decay and cleanup
- Self-Enhancement Summary — daily introspect → prescribe → evolve
- Vault Indexer — indexes workspace files into the knowledge graph
# ~/.zouroboros/config.yaml
defaults:
memory:
dbPath: ~/.zouroboros/memory.db
embeddingProvider: openai
embeddingModel: text-embedding-3-small
embeddingDimension: 1536
vectorEnabled: true # auto-disabled at runtime if OPENAI_API_KEY is unset
swarm:
localConcurrency: 8
timeoutSeconds: 600
routingStrategy: balanced # fast | reliable | balanced | explore
pipelineGates:
seedValidation: true
postFlightEval: true
gapAudit: truegit clone https://github.com/marlandoj/zouroboros.git
cd zouroboros
pnpm install
pnpm run build
pnpm test # 757+ tests- Installation Guide — Get started in minutes
- Quick Start — Build your first project
- Architecture Overview — System design
- Health Council — Self-monitoring watchers
- CLI Reference — Complete command reference
Contributions are welcome! Please read our Contributing Guide for details.
MIT License — see LICENSE for details.
- Inspired by Q00/ouroboros for spec-first development patterns
- Inspired by Karpathy's AutoResearch and 2ndBrain concepts for auto-loop and memory enhancements
- Built natively on Zo Computer — try Zo Computer
- Thanks to all contributors and the Zo community
Made with care for the Zo Computer ecosystem

