🐙 Claude Octopus

Every AI model has blind spots. Claude Octopus supports ten external provider integrations — Codex, Antigravity CLI, Copilot, Qwen, Ollama, Perplexity, OpenRouter, OrcaRouter, OpenCode, and Grok — alongside the built-in Claude Code host, with consensus gates that flag disagreements before you ship.

Claude-native first, Octopus for escalation. Use Claude-native /init, /review, and /security-review when Claude is enough. Use Octopus when you want multiple model opinions, adversarial review, or stricter multi-LLM workflows.

🐙 Research, build, review, and ship — with ten external providers checking the host's work. Claude-native handles the ordinary path. Octopus remains dormant until you explicitly run /octo:*, then handles the escalated path. A 75% consensus gate catches disagreements before they reach production.

🧠 Remembers across sessions. Integrates with claude-mem and agentmemory for persistent memory — past decisions, research, and context survive session boundaries.

⚡ Spec in, software out. Dark Factory mode takes a spec and autonomously runs the full pipeline — research, define, develop, deliver. You review the output, not every step.

🔄 Four-phase methodology, not just tools. Every task moves through Discover → Define → Develop → Deliver, with quality gates between phases. Other orchestrators give you infrastructure. Octopus gives you the workflows.

🐙 32 specialized personas (role-specific AI agents like security-auditor, backend-architect), 54 commands (slash commands you type), 63 skills (reusable workflow modules). Explicit workflows select the experts they need; ordinary Claude requests do not activate Octopus.

🐙 Works with just Claude. Adds up to ten external provider integrations. Zero external providers are needed to start. Add them one at a time — each becomes available when detected and runs only inside an explicit workflow.

💰 Four providers cost nothing extra when you already have access. Codex, Antigravity CLI, and Copilot use existing subscriptions or local auth. Ollama runs locally for free. Qwen now requires API-key or Coding-Plan auth; its free OAuth tier ended on 2026-04-15.

What's New

🆕 v9.65.0 — Setup enables routing suggestions; council and tangle runs stay recoverable.

Default roster: Claude Opus 5 leads architecture, planning, security reasoning, and final judgment; GPT-5.6 Sol is the independent implementation/review peer; Claude Sonnet 5 is the standard Claude seat; Fable 5 remains an opt-in judgment escalation. Existing model pins and provider configuration still win. See the routing strategy.

bash /octo:model-config # inspect or override the frontier roster OCTOPUS_OPUS5_AUTO_XHIGH=1 # opt in to automatic xhigh Opus 5 phases OCTOPUS_OPUS_MODEL=claude-fable-5 # explicitly opt in to Fable 5

🆕 v9.41 — Multi-LLM Council. /octo:council runs a structured 3/5/7-persona deliberation across Claude, Codex, Antigravity, and OpenCode with goal modes (advice, decision, plan, implement, review), styles (balanced, adversarial, red-team, executive, implementation), benchmark-aware role routing, quorum + critical-veto gates, budget caps, and gated worktree handoff for approved plans. Use it when one model's opinion isn't enough.

bash /octo:council --goal decision --style adversarial "Should this service stay monolithic?" /octo:council --goal implement --implement plan-only "Refactor the auth flow"

Full changelog →

Quickstart

# Terminal (not inside a Claude Code session):
claude plugin marketplace add https://github.com/nyldn/plugins.git
claude plugin install octo@nyldn-plugins

# Then inside Claude Code:
/octo:setup

That's it. Setup detects installed providers, shows what's missing, and walks you through configuration. You need zero external providers to start — Claude is built in.

Dormant by default

Installing Octopus does not route ordinary prompts, launch provider workflows, or delegate to Octopus agents. Every shipped command and skill uses Claude Code's native manual-invocation gate. Start it with /octo:*.

Optional automation remains available, but it is explicit opt-in:

export OCTOPUS_AUTO_ROUTER_MODE=suggest  # suggest a route for plain prompts
# or: OCTOPUS_AUTO_ROUTER_MODE=invoke    # load the matched command route
export OCTO_DONE_CRITERIA=on             # compound-task completion coaching
export OCTOPUS_COMPRESS_ENABLED=true     # PostToolUse output compression
export OCTO_STRATEGY_ROTATION=on         # failure strategy rotation
export OCTOPUS_CONTEXT_AWARENESS=on      # statusline-to-context reinforcement
export OCTOPUS_SESSION_MEMORY=on         # SessionStart preference restoration

This legacy opt-in examines ordinary prompts. invoke can start paid external-provider workflows and share the routed prompt context with configured providers; prefer suggest unless that behavior is intentional. Provider-side retention follows each provider account's policy. Unset the variable (or set it to off) to opt out without disabling direct /octo:* commands.

Safety guards that prevent invalid direct Codex, Qwen, or retired Gemini CLI dispatch remain available, but host-side command filters keep them out of unrelated tool calls.

Claude Code v2.1.14+ is the minimum supported runtime. Newer Claude Code releases unlock additional Octopus diagnostics and release checks automatically; the current plugin tracks 182 Claude Code capability flags through Claude Code v2.1.219.

codex plugin marketplace add https://github.com/nyldn/plugins.git
codex plugin add claude-octopus@nyldn-plugins

codex plugin marketplace upgrade nyldn-plugins
codex plugin add claude-octopus@nyldn-plugins

# 1. Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/nyldn/claude-octopus.git ~/.cursor/claude-octopus

# 2. Install MCP server dependencies
cd ~/.cursor/claude-octopus/mcp-server && npm install

# 3. Configure Cursor — add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json (per-project):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "claude-octopus": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["tsx", "${userHome}/.cursor/claude-octopus/mcp-server/src/index.ts"],
      "env": {
        "OCTO_CLAW_ENABLED": "true",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "${env:OPENAI_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "claude-octopus": {
      "command": "wsl",
      "args": ["npx", "tsx", "/home/<user>/.cursor/claude-octopus/mcp-server/src/index.ts"],
      "env": {
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "${env:OPENAI_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/nyldn/claude-octopus.git ~/.opencode/claude-octopus
mkdir -p ~/.agents/skills
ln -s ~/.opencode/claude-octopus/skills ~/.agents/skills/claude-octopus

droid plugin marketplace add https://github.com/nyldn/claude-octopus.git
droid plugin install octo@nyldn-plugins

# Manual update
claude plugin marketplace update nyldn-plugins
claude plugin update octo@nyldn-plugins

# Or let Octopus select the active host's supported plugin-manager commands
~/.claude-octopus/plugin/scripts/orchestrate.sh update-plugin

# Clean reinstall (if update fails)
claude plugin uninstall claude-octopus 2>/dev/null
claude plugin uninstall octo 2>/dev/null
rm -rf ~/.claude/plugins/cache/nyldn-plugins/octo
claude plugin marketplace remove nyldn-plugins
claude plugin marketplace add https://github.com/nyldn/plugins.git
claude plugin install octo@nyldn-plugins

octopus doctor config   # install path, version, manifest, Claude Code feature flags
octopus doctor skills   # skill loading, skillOverrides, plugin zip/URL capability notes
octopus doctor updates  # loaded/install/catalog/cache versions and auto-update state

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://your-gateway.example/v1
export CLAUDE_CODE_ENABLE_GATEWAY_MODEL_DISCOVERY=1

Claude Code Web and Remote Sessions

When an explicit Octopus workflow is running in a hosted, web, or remote-control environment, set OCTOPUS_REMOTE_SESSION=true in that environment. Claude hosting alone does not activate Octopus. Once a workflow starts, orchestrate.sh also recognizes CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE=true or CLAUDE_CODE_WEB=true and applies unattended-safe runtime defaults:

• CLAUDE_OCTOPUS_AUTONOMY=autonomous / OCTOPUS_AUTONOMY=autonomous unless already set
• provider smoke tests and Codex tier probes are skipped
• the statusline uses a lightweight remote-safe display

Set OCTOPUS_REMOTE_STATUSLINE=full to opt back into the full local HUD, or OCTOPUS_REMOTE_STATUSLINE=off to suppress statusline output entirely.

Cloud environment setup should install provider CLIs and expose only the credentials required for the workflow. Paste this into the cloud environment setup script:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -e

npm install -g @openai/codex @qwen-code/qwen-code 2>/dev/null || true

echo "Octopus cloud setup:"
command -v codex >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo "  Codex CLI: installed" || echo "  Codex CLI: missing"
command -v agy >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo "  Antigravity CLI: installed" || echo "  Antigravity CLI: missing"
command -v qwen >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo "  Qwen CLI: installed" || echo "  Qwen CLI: missing"
command -v gh >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo "  GitHub CLI: installed" || echo "  GitHub CLI: optional, install if Sentinel needs GitHub"

Set environment variables in the cloud environment, not in the script:

OPENAI_API_KEY=...
PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=...   # optional
OPENROUTER_API_KEY=...   # optional

Provider API calls require internet access from the hosted environment.

For scheduled Claude Code tasks, run /octo:sentinel for triage and /octo:security for recurring audits. Keep jobs read-only by default and route fixes through /octo:debug, /octo:review, or /octo:embrace after triage.

Set OCTO_TIER=prototype|mvp|production as a project hint. It does not hard-block behavior; it helps setup, doctor, and workflow prompts recommend the right amount of verification and provider spend.

9 Commands That Matter Most

Nine high-traffic commands cover the common Octopus workflows: lifecycle execution, councils, debate, research, design, quality, and specs.

/octo:embrace build stripe integration     # Full lifecycle: research → define → develop → deliver
/octo:factory "build a CLI that converts CSV to JSON"  # Autonomous pipeline — spec in, software out
/octo:council --goal decision "Should we keep this service monolithic?"  # Persona council with budget/veto gates
/octo:debate monorepo vs microservices     # Structured provider debate with consensus
/octo:research --breadth=standard htmx vs react in 2026  # Attributed multi-provider research
/octo:design mobile checkout redesign       # UI/UX design with BM25 style intelligence
/octo:tdd create user auth                 # Red-green-refactor with test discipline
/octo:security                              # OWASP vulnerability scan + remediation
/octo:prd mobile checkout redesign          # AI-optimized PRD with 100-point scoring

/octo:council uses the real runner by default. Single-model simulation is only used when explicitly requested with --simulate or --single-model; --research-first writes a research artifact before fanout, and --corpus-mode append|require preserves synthesis and plans in project corpus workflows.

Plus 40+ more: review, debug, extract, deck, docs, schedule, parallel, sentinel, optimize, brainstorm, claw, doctor, and the full set.

Don't remember the command name? Just describe what you need:

/octo:auto research microservices patterns    -> routes to discover phase
/octo:auto build user authentication          -> routes to develop phase
/octo:auto compare Redis vs DynamoDB          -> routes to debate

The smart router parses your intent and selects the right workflow.

Multi-provider runs also write an agent status ledger. Use octopus agent-summary to see which providers contributed, which ran degraded, and which failed before synthesis.

Pick a Command by Goal

Not sure which command to use? Pick by goal:

Or type /octo:auto <what you want> and the smart router picks for you. Plain-prompt routing is off until you run /octo:setup, which turns on suggestions (Octopus names a matching command; it never dispatches a provider on its own). Set OCTOPUS_AUTO_ROUTER_MODE=off to silence them, or invoke to let a matched route load automatically. 🔍

How It Works

How 10 External Providers Work Together

Claude Octopus coordinates ten external provider integrations alongside the built-in Claude Code host. The optional claude-sdk route is a second Anthropic seat, so it is shown below but is not counted as a separate provider family.

Explicit research-breadth, debate, council, and adversarial-review workflows use multiple providers. Generic mergeable work starts with one capable owner and adds another model only for a distinct job. A 75% consensus quality gate prevents questionable work from shipping. Only Claude is required — all others are optional and auto-detected.

Frontier routing defaults architect, strategist, security-reviewer, and opt-in implementer-heavy to Opus 5 on Claude Code v2.1.219+, with Opus 4.8/4.7/4.6 fallbacks. code-reviewer and implementer use GPT-5.6 Sol; synthesizer uses Sonnet 5 on Claude Code v2.1.197+. Fable 5 remains an opt-in judgment escalation. Existing pins/configs win, and OCTOPUS_LEGACY_ROLES=1 restores the v9.28 mapping. See the routing strategy.

Native dynamic workflows: Claude Code v2.1.154+ can run native dynamic workflows for huge single-Claude migrations. Use that path when one Claude workflow is enough; use Octopus when you need multi-provider disagreement, councils, adversarial review, external model validation, or blind-spot coverage.

Four Phases: Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver

Four structured phases adapted from the UK Design Council's methodology:

Run phases individually or all four with /octo:embrace. Configure autonomy: supervised (approve each phase), semi-autonomous (intervene on failures), or autonomous (run all four).

32 Specialist Personas

Specialized agents selected by explicit Octopus workflows. /octo:security can select security-auditor and /octo:design-ui-ux can select ui-ux-designer; ordinary requests never delegate to these agents merely because keywords match.

Categories: Software Engineering (11), Specialized Development (6), Documentation & Communication (5), Research & Strategy (3), Business & Compliance (3), Creative & Design (4).

Full persona reference | All 63 skills

Built-in Reaction Engine

When agents create PRs, the reaction engine monitors what happens next — CI failures, review comments, stale agents — and responds automatically. No new commands to learn. It fires transparently inside workflows you already use:

What it auto-handles:

Override defaults per project by creating .octo/reactions.conf:

# EVENT|ACTION|MAX_RETRIES|ESCALATE_AFTER_MIN|ENABLED
ci_failed|forward_logs|5|45|true
changes_requested|forward_comments|3|90|true
stuck|escalate|0|10|true

Reactions track 13 agent lifecycle states: running → pr_open → ci_pending → ci_failed / review_pending → changes_requested / approved → mergeable → merged → done.

Providers and What They Cost

Authentication

OAuth users pay nothing beyond their existing subscriptions. Qwen is the exception: its free OAuth tier ended on 2026-04-15, so use QWEN_API_KEY or Coding-Plan (OPENAI_API_KEY + OPENAI_BASE_URL).

What a Typical Run Costs

Illustrative token-only estimates, using standard global API rates checked 2026-07-27: GPT-5.6 Sol $5/$30, Sonar Pro $3/$15, and Opus 5 $5/$25 per million input/output tokens. The ranges assume roughly 90% input and 10% output tokens, standard (not batch, flex, priority, or fast) processing, no cache discounts, and a representative mix of those models. OAuth/subscription seats (Codex via ChatGPT, Antigravity, Copilot) bill nothing extra; Ollama is free.

The table excludes provider tool charges. Sonar Pro adds a request fee of $6-$14 per 1,000 requests depending on search-context size. Long-context and provider-specific rate rules can push large runs above these bounds, so check the linked rate cards before material spend.

Before an expensive run, /octo:costs shows a session cost projection; after runs, /octo:usage breaks down actual spend per provider and skill. Anything projected over $1 is called out before dispatch.

What You Get With Just Claude

Everything except multi-AI features. You get all 32 personas, structured workflows, smart routing, context detection, and every skill. Multi-AI orchestration (parallel analysis, debate, consensus) activates when external providers are configured.

Claude Code 2026 Compatibility Layer

v9.50.0 aligns the plugin with Claude Code's 2026 native capabilities. Each piece degrades gracefully on older Claude Code versions via the existing SUPPORTS_* feature detection.

• Routines (.claude-plugin/routines.json): saved automation configs mapping schedule and GitHub-event triggers to /octo: commands. All ship disabled; each entry carries a provider roster and a cost note so you know what enabling it will bill.
• SubagentStop gate (hooks/subagent-stop-gate.sh): quality scoring, provider attribution, cost logging, and council verdict pre-screening before a subagent's summary reaches the lead.
• /octo:usage: per-provider, per-skill, and per-MCP-server token and cost breakdown in Claude Code's /usage schema, built from local usage records (no provider dispatch).
• Worktree bgIsolation opt-out: mirror of Claude Code's worktree.bgIsolation session flag; disables background worktree cloning for fast direct-edit runs.
• Claude Agent SDK seat (claude-sdk): with CLAUDE_SDK_API_KEY set, workflows can seat Opus 5 with the 1M-token context window independent of the host session.
• Starter pack (skills/octopus-starter-pack/): debate kickoff, council verdict interpretation, provider health summary, and model cost comparison skills.
• /plugin browse manifest (.claude-plugin/plugin-manifest.json): projected context cost and component inventory for the plugin browse pane.

New environment variables (v9.50.0)

Fable 5 Support

v9.51.0 added first-class support for Claude Fable 5 (Anthropic's Mythos-class model, $10/$50 per MTok — 2x Opus 5). Fable 5 is never auto-selected; pin it with OCTOPUS_OPUS_MODEL=claude-fable-5 (opus seats) or OCTOPUS_CLAUDE_SDK_MODEL=claude-fable-5 (the 1M-context SDK seat). When a pin is detected, the plugin auto-enables three guards and prints a one-line banner:

• Security reroute — security-audit dispatches (security-auditor persona, squeeze red/blue workflow) run on Opus 5 instead of Fable 5, whose safety classifiers can refuse adversarial security phrasing even in authorized audits.
• Effort clamp — xhigh/max effort clamps to high for Fable dispatches. Fable 5 effort applies per tool call; higher settings widen scope at 2x cost without extending runs.
• Refusal retry — a refused or empty Fable 5 dispatch on the claude-sdk seat retries once on Opus 5 instead of failing the seat.

A SessionStart hook injects the dispatch profile (prompt anti-patterns, judgment routing, risk-surface escalation) whenever a pin is active. Full guidance: skills/blocks/fable5-prompting.md.

New environment variables (v9.51.0)

Trust, Safety, and Limits

Command namespace — Slash commands are namespaced under /octo:* and the octo natural-language prefix routes through the plugin's intent detection. Lifecycle hooks (session start/end, prompt submit, tool use, compaction, plan mode, worktrees, task lifecycle, idle, config change, permission events) also attach to Claude Code so multi-provider routing, freeze/discipline modes, and the work-queue watcher can function. See hooks/hooks.json for the full list. Uninstall removes every hook.

Data locations — Results in ~/.claude-octopus/results/, logs in ~/.claude-octopus/logs/, project state in .octo/. Nothing hidden.

Provider transparency — Every command shows a 🐙 activation indicator on launch. Provider markers such as 🔴 🟡 🧭 🟣 🔵 show exactly which providers are running and when external APIs are called. You always know what's happening.

Session provider controls — Temporarily disable exhausted providers without uninstalling them. For example, /octo:model-config disable codex --session keeps Codex out of provider detection and multi-LLM fanout for the current session; /octo:model-config clear-allowlist --session restores the default.

Clean uninstall — Run claude plugin uninstall octo from your terminal. If you see a scope error, add --scope project. No residual config changes.

Works With OpenClaw

Claude Octopus ships with a compatibility layer for OpenClaw, the open-source AI assistant framework. This lets you expose Octopus workflows to messaging platforms (Telegram, Discord, Signal, WhatsApp) without modifying the Claude Code plugin.

Architecture

Claude Code Plugin (unchanged)
  └── .mcp.json ─── MCP Server ─── orchestrate.sh
                                        ↑
OpenClaw Extension ─────────────────────┘

Three components, zero changes to the core plugin:

MCP Server

The MCP server is opt-in — it does not start automatically. This prevents a permanent ✘ failed status in Claude Code's /mcp panel for users who don't need it.

To enable it, add the server to your project's .mcp.json or global Claude Code settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "octo-claw": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["--require", "./mcp-server/check-node-version.js", "./mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "cwd": "<path-to-claude-octopus>",
      "env": {
        "OCTO_CLAW_ENABLED": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

Once enabled, it exposes:

• octopus_discover, octopus_define, octopus_develop, octopus_deliver — Individual phases
• octopus_embrace — Full Double Diamond workflow
• octopus_debate, octopus_council, octopus_review, octopus_security — Specialized workflows
• octopus_list_skills, octopus_status — Introspection

Any MCP-compatible client can connect to the server.

OpenClaw Extension

Install in an OpenClaw instance from git:

npm install github:nyldn/claude-octopus#main --prefix openclaw

Or clone and link locally:

cd openclaw && npm install && npm run build

The extension registers as an OpenClaw plugin with configurable workflows, autonomy modes, and Claude Code path resolution.

Build & Validate

./scripts/build-openclaw.sh          # Regenerate skill registry from frontmatter
./scripts/build-openclaw.sh --check  # CI mode — exits non-zero if out of sync
./tests/validate-openclaw.sh         # 13-check validation suite

FAQ

Do I need every AI provider? No. One external provider plus Claude gives you multi-AI features. No external providers still gives you personas, workflows, and skills.

Will this break my existing Claude Code setup? No. Activates only with the octo prefix. Results stored separately. Uninstalls cleanly.

What happens if a provider times out? The workflow continues with available providers. You'll see the status in the visual indicators.

Why "octopus"? 🐙 Fun fact: a real octopus has three hearts, blue blood, and 500 million neurons — two-thirds of which live in its eight arms. Each arm can taste, touch, and act independently. Claude Octopus works the same way: each tentacle (command) operates autonomously with its own squeeze of logic, then ink flows back as the final deliverable. The crossfire review? That's the squeeze — adversarial pressure that untangles everything before it ships.

How do I debug when something goes wrong? Run commands with the --verbose flag to get detailed debugging output. Logs are stored in ~/.claude-octopus/logs/ for inspection. You can also use /octo:doctor to run diagnostics and identify potential issues.

Community

Join r/ClaudeOctopus for help, workflow tips, showcases, and updates.

Contributing

1. Report issues
2. Submit PRs following existing code style
3. git clone https://github.com/nyldn/claude-octopus.git && make test

See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

Documentation

• Documentation Guide — Start here
• Command Reference — Commands, triggers, and provider indicators
• Troubleshooting — Provider auth failures and common errors
• Architecture — Provider flow and execution model
• Agents & Personas — All 32 personas
• Provider Wiring Map — How a provider is wired (contributors)
• Developer Guide — Modular config, E2E testing, enforcement patterns
• Scheduler — Scheduled workflow runner
• Privacy — What leaves your machine and when
• Security Policy — Threat model and trust boundaries
• Releasing — Release checklist (maintainers)
• Changelog

Attribution

• wolverin0/claude-skills — AI Debate Hub. MIT License.
• obra/superpowers — Discipline skills patterns, verification-before-completion philosophy, two-stage review approach, and review response patterns. MIT License.
• nextlevelbuilder/ui-ux-pro-max-skill — BM25 design intelligence databases. MIT License.
• UK Design Council — Double Diamond methodology.

License

MIT — see LICENSE

nyldn | MIT License | r/ClaudeOctopus | Report Issues