{"slug": "show-hn-bdfl-open-source-supervisor-for-codex-and-claude-code", "title": "Show HN: BDFL – Open-source supervisor for Codex and Claude Code", "summary": "BDFL (Benevolent Delegator for LLMs) is an open-source terminal supervisor for AI agents that lets users create versioned plans, review diffs, approve sections, and delegate work to isolated workers using Codex, Claude Code, or Ollama. The tool, published by @thisisnsh, requires macOS or Linux, Node.js 20+, and Git, and keeps local state private with no analytics or logs.", "body_md": "### Talk\n\nWork with a planning agent that can inspect the repository but cannot edit it.\n\nBenevolent Delegator for LLMs\n\nBDFL is a terminal supervisor for AI agents. Create versioned plans, review diffs, approve whole plans or individual sections, delegate work to isolated workers, review every result, and stay in control.\n\nOne supervisor. Your choice of agents. More coming soon.\n\n01 / THE IDEA\n\nUse Codex, Claude Code, or Ollama independently for planning and worker roles. Work with a planning agent, compare and approve versioned plans or individual sections, then let isolated worker agents implement the approved work.\n\n02 / IN THE TERMINAL\n\nManage running sessions or resume closed ones. Navigate to any worker from the bottom rail to follow progress or respond when it needs attention.\n\nThis demo is live. Click the top actions and agent rail.\n\n03 / WORKFLOW\n\nRole-specific `bdfl`\n\nMCP tools and the `bdfl-plan`\n\nskill keep planning and verification read-only while workers edit only isolated worktrees.\n\nWork with a planning agent that can inspect the repository but cannot edit it.\n\nDefine shared decisions, owned paths, dependencies, locks, local checks, and global validation.\n\nReview plan versions, compare diffs, and request revisions where needed.\n\nApprove exact sections. Execution stays blocked until every section is approved.\n\nBuild eligible chunks in isolated branches and worktrees where the dependency graph allows.\n\nReview each worker’s actual diff and checks. Accept it or send feedback.\n\nVerify the consolidated result with global checks and a fresh non-implementing agent.\n\nIntegrate only after final review while the frozen target remains unchanged and clean.\n\n04 / CONTROL SURFACE\n\nRole-specific `bdfl`\n\nMCP tools constrain each agent: planners and verifiers do not edit; workers edit only isolated worktrees.\n\nBrowse durable plan versions, compare adjacent versions, inspect exact changes, and approve individual sections while preserving unchanged approvals.\n\nUse Codex, Claude Code, or Ollama independently for planning and worker roles, with separate models, effort levels, and options.\n\nEach worker receives isolated, focused context. Independent chunks run in parallel while prerequisites and named locks keep conflicting work in order.\n\nInspect each worker’s summary, diff, changed paths, checks, and commit metadata. Accept the result or send feedback to the same worker.\n\nEach repository owns its ignored `.bdfl/`\n\nruntime state. BDFL does not publish local state, metrics, analytics, or logs; use Ollama with a local model for a fully local setup.\n\n05 / GET STARTED\n\nInstall globally, start BDFL in a Git repository, then choose separate planning and worker agents, models, effort levels, options, and worker capacity.\n\n`$ npm install --global @thisisnsh/bdfl`\n\nRequires macOS or Linux, Node.js 20+, Git, and at least one supported agent CLI installed and authenticated.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-bdfl-open-source-supervisor-for-codex-and-claude-code", "canonical_source": "https://usebdfl.com/", "published_at": "2026-07-23 17:27:40+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-23 17:52:40.302166+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["developer-tools", "ai-agents", "ai-tools", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["BDFL", "Codex", "Claude Code", "Ollama", "@thisisnsh"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-bdfl-open-source-supervisor-for-codex-and-claude-code", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-bdfl-open-source-supervisor-for-codex-and-claude-code.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-bdfl-open-source-supervisor-for-codex-and-claude-code.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-bdfl-open-source-supervisor-for-codex-and-claude-code.jsonld"}}