APEX

10-Agent Senior Engineering Team for Any CLI Coding Agent

A zero-dependency orchestrator that routes your requests to 10 specialist AI agents — each with domain expertise, purpose-built tools, and the ability to dynamically call peers mid-task. Works with 16+ coding agents out of the box.

Quick Start • Agents • Installation • Skills • MCP Servers • Commands • Composio • Mirage VFS • License

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Quick Start

# Install globally via npm
npm install -g @asno-dev/apex

# Run universal installer — detects all your coding agents
npx @asno-dev/apex

That's it. Now talk to your coding agent:

@arch refactor this                → Max compresses your code
@ui build a login form             → Zara paints a WCAG AA form
@debug fix this error              → Kai runs 5-step debug protocol
@perf this is slow                 → Rex profiles & optimizes
@sec review auth code              → Vex scans for OWASP Top 10
@infra dockerize this              → Io outputs production-grade config
@nova any ideas?                   → Nova proposes non-obvious angles
@reed best caching strategy        → Dr. Reed compares options with evidence
@review check this code            → Rila gives structured PR review
@flex what's the MVP?              → Flex scores Value×Cost and cuts scope

Built-in Commands

apex-docs                          → Create Word/Excel/PPT documents
apex-excel
apex-ppt

apex-composio-setup                → Connect 1000+ external tools (Gmail, GitHub, Slack, etc.)
apex-composio-status               → Show connected tools status
apex-composio-sync                 → Force sync from Composio backend

apex-mirage ls /s3/                → Virtual filesystem across 50+ backends

/apex team                         → Switch to team mode (default)
/apex select a,b                   → Activate only specific agents
/apex status                       → Show current mode and active agents

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Agents

APEX ships with 10 specialist agents, each with a unique persona, domain expertise, and set of purpose-built tools.

Badge	Tag	Name	Role	Specialty
[Arch]	@arch	Max	Architect	System design, refactoring, structure. Compresses 50→1 line.
[UI]	@ui	Zara	UI/UX Designer	Mood-first, anti-slop. shadcn/ui + Tailwind. WCAG AA. 10 palettes.
[Dbg]	@debug	Kai	Debugger	5-step protocol: reproduce → isolate → hypothesize → fix → prevent.
[Perf]	@perf	Rex	Performance Engineer	Profile first. Algorithm → DB → bundle → render. Baseline → optimize → measure.
[Sec]	@sec	Vex	Security Engineer	OWASP Top 10. CRITICAL/HIGH/MEDIUM. Every input is malicious.
[Inf]	@infra	Io	Infrastructure	Docker/k8s/CI-CD. Multi-stage builds. Non-root. Rollback always.
[Nov]	@nova	Nova	Creative	Non-obvious angles. Lib + npm + POC + downside analysis.
[Res]	@reed	Dr. Reed	Researcher	Evidence-based. ≥2 options with O(?) complexity. No opinions without data.
[Rev]	@review	Rila	Code Reviewer	Blocking → Suggestions → Praise. Specific praise always.
[Fnd]	@flex	Flex	Founder / PM	Value(1-3) × Cost(1-3). Ships 60%, defers 30%, kills 10%.

Automatic Routing

The orchestrator analyzes your request and routes to the best agent automatically:

Your Request	Routed To
Code is long/complex/messy	@arch
Build UI / component / page	@ui
Error / bug / crash / undefined	@debug
Slow / memory / performance	@perf
Auth / input / secrets / vuln	@sec
Deploy / Docker / CI / k8s	@infra
New idea / library / creative	@nova
Best way / which / research	@reed
Review / PR / merge / quality	@review
Scope / MVP / what to build	@flex

Task States

Every agent reports progress with a single icon:

🧠 Thinking  →  🔍 Exploring  →  ⚡ Working  →  🔧 Fixing  →  ✅ Verifying  →  ✨ Complete

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Modes

APEX supports three operating modes:

Team Mode (Default)

The orchestrator routes your request to the best agent. That agent works and dynamically calls peers when needed. Zero pre-loading.

> refactor and optimize the API layer
# Orchestrator routes → @arch → @arch calls @perf when spotting N+1 queries

Direct Mode

Address a specific agent directly. That agent becomes the lead with full authority.

@debug fix the authentication timeout
# Kai works directly, can still call @sec if a vulnerability is found

Select Mode

Activate only specific agents for a focused session.

/apex select kai,rex              # Only debugger and performance active
/apex select arch,ui,infra        # Architecture + UI + Infrastructure

Mode Commands

Command	Description
/apex team	Switch to team mode (default)
/apex select a,b	Activate only specific agents
/apex off	Disable APEX
/apex status	Show current mode and active agents
/apex help	Show help guide

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Installation

APEX supports 16+ coding agents with dedicated adapters for each.

Universal Installer (Recommended)

# Auto-detect installed agents and configure all of them
npx @asno-dev/apex

# Or install globally
npm install -g @asno-dev/apex

The CLI auto-detects which coding agents are installed on your system and copies the right configuration files for each one. It handles all the format differences — plugin.json for Claude Code, .mdc for Cursor, plugin.json + toml for Codex, extension.json + toml for Gemini, and so on.

Shell Installers

# macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/asno-dev/apex/main/install.sh | sh

# Windows (PowerShell 7+)
.\install.ps1

Per-Agent Details

Agent	Config File(s)	Notes
Claude Code	~/.claude/plugin.json + ~/.claude/agents/* + ~/.claude/commands/*	10 subagents, 8 commands, 3 MCP servers
Codex CLI	~/.codex/plugin.json + ~/.codex/agents/*.toml + ~/.codex/mcp.toml	10 subagents, 8 commands, 3 MCP servers
Cursor	.cursor/rules/apex.mdc + .cursor/agents/*.mdc + .cursor/commands/*.md	10 agents, 8 commands, MCP
Gemini CLI	~/.gemini/extension.json + ~/.gemini/agents/* + ~/.gemini/commands/*.toml	10 agents, 8 commands, 3 MCP servers
Windsurf	.windsurf/rules/apex.md + .windsurf/agents/* + .windsurf/workflows/*	10 agents, 8 workflows
Cline / Kilo Code	.clinerules (project root)	Comprehensive rules file
GitHub Copilot	.github/copilot-instructions.md	Full APEX instructions
GitHub Copilot CLI	~/.config/gh-copilot/config.yml (via CLI plugin)	Subcommands
Devin	~/.devin/plugin.yaml + ~/.devin/mcp.json + ~/.devin/agents/*	10 agents, MCP
Hermes	~/.hermes/apex-features.yaml + ~/.hermes/plugin.yaml	Feature flags
OpenCode	opencode.json + .opencode/*	Native subagent support
Pi Agent	~/.pi/extension.json	MCP servers
Antigravity	~/.agy/antigravity-extension.json	Extension + MCP
Kiro	~/.kiro/steering/apex.md	Steering instructions
Swival	~/.swival/apex.md (via skills add)	Skill rules
OpenClaw	~/.clawhub/apex.md + ~/.clawhub/package.json	Package + MCP
CodeWhale	AGENTS.md (project root)	Auto-reads

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Commands

All APEX commands use the apex- prefix for clean namespacing — no collisions with built-in agent commands.

Command	Description
apex-docs	Create/edit Word documents via OfficeCLI
apex-excel	Create/edit Excel spreadsheets via OfficeCLI
apex-ppt	Create PowerPoint presentations via OfficeCLI
apex-composio-setup	Connect external tools — paste API key, get OAuth link
apex-composio-status	Show connected tools and API key status
apex-composio-sync	Force sync from Composio backend
apex-mirage <command>	Execute commands across mounted virtual filesystem backends
/apex team|select|off|status|help	APEX mode control

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Skills

APEX includes 25 pre-built skills — composable, multi-step workflows that any agent can invoke.

Agent Skills (10)

Each agent has its own core skill defining its persona, behavior, and domain rules:

Skill	Agent	Description
apex-arch	Max	System architecture, refactoring heuristics, blast radius mapping
apex-ui	Zara	UI/UX design system, palette selection, component painting
apex-debug	Kai	5-step debug protocol, stack walking, guard injection
apex-perf	Rex	Profiling, baseline capture, Big-O analysis
apex-sec	Vex	OWASP scanning, secret detection, input tracing
apex-infra	Io	Docker linting, k8s validation, CI/CD pipeline checks
apex-nova	Nova	POC generation, library compass, trend analysis
apex-reed	Dr. Reed	Evidence search, tradeoff matrices, complexity calculation
apex-review	Rila	Diff categorization, anti-pattern detection, quality gates
apex-flex	Flex	Value-cost scoring, MVP cutting, effort estimation

Workflow Skills (15)

Pre-composed multi-agent workflows for common engineering tasks:

Skill	Agents Used	Description
refactor	@arch	Code compression and structural refactoring
ui-generate	@ui	Generate UI components from descriptions
debug-protocol	@debug	Full 5-step debugging workflow
perf-audit	@perf	End-to-end performance audit
sec-review	@sec	Security review with OWASP scoring
pr-review	@review	Structured pull request review
system-design	@arch, @reed	Architecture design with research backing
research	@reed	Evidence-based technology research
mvp-cut	@flex	MVP scoping and feature prioritization
full-stack-scaffold	@arch → @ui → @infra	Complete app scaffolding pipeline
test-harness	@debug	Test suite generation
bug-patch	@debug → @review	Bug fix with review verification
requirements-to-spec	@flex → @arch	Requirements analysis to technical spec
deploy-pipeline	@infra	CI/CD pipeline generation

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MCP Servers

APEX provides 3 MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers with 56 purpose-built tools across all 10 agents, plus 6 virtual filesystem tools and 1000+ external tool bridges.

1. apex-hands — 56 Agent Domain Tools

The primary MCP server. 56 tools organized by agent domain:

Agent	Tools	Description
@arch	blast_radius dep_graph complexity extract_refactor compose_check module_boundary	Architecture analysis
@ui	contrast palette_extract a11y_audit responsive_test component_search	UI/UX tooling
@debug	reproduce stack_walk log_mine bisect_run guard_inject var_watch	Debugging instruments
@perf	profile memory_profile baseline_capture measure bundle_analyze big_o	Performance profiling
@sec	vuln_scan secret_find input_trace auth_map owasp_score dependency_audit	Security scanning
@infra	docker_lint k8s_validate ci_check deploy_dry rollback_plan health_check	Infrastructure ops
@nova	poc_gen lib_compass alt_angle trend_sniff downside_check approach_matrix	Creative exploration
@reed	compare complexity_calc evidence_search tradeoff_matrix recommend	Research tools
@review	diff_cat anti_pattern quality_gate praise_find review_card	Code review
@flex	value_cost mvp_cut risk_matrix roadmap effort_estimate	Product management

MCP Config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apex-hands": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["node", "src/hands-server.mjs"]
    }
  }
}

2. mirage-vfs — Virtual Filesystem (50+ Backends)

Unified filesystem across S3, GDrive, Slack, Redis, Postgres, and more.

MCP Config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mirage-vfs": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["node", "src/mirage-server.mjs"]
    }
  }
}

Usage:

apex-mirage ls /s3/                    — List files in S3 bucket
apex-mirage cp /gdrive/report.pdf /data/  — Copy from Google Drive
apex-mirage grep -r error /s3/logs/    — Search across backends
apex-mirage cat /slack/channel/messages  — Read Slack messages

Setup: pip install mirage-ai && npm install -g @struktoai/mirage-cli

3. apex-composio — 1000+ External Tool Bridge

Bridges Gmail, GitHub, Slack, Jira, Notion, and 1000+ more tools.

MCP Config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apex-composio": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["node", "src/composio-server.mjs"]
    }
  }
}

All 3 MCP Servers in One Config

The root .mcp.json includes all three servers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apex-hands": { "command": ["node", "src/hands-server.mjs"] },
    "mirage-vfs": { "command": ["node", "src/mirage-server.mjs"] },
    "apex-composio": { "command": ["node", "src/composio-server.mjs"] }
  }
}

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Composio Integration

Connect 1000+ external tools (Gmail, GitHub, Slack, Google Drive, Jira, Linear, Notion, and more) through Composio.

Setup

# Interactive setup wizard
apex-composio-setup

The wizard will:

1. Ask for your Composio API key (get one at composio.dev)
2. Let you select which tools to connect (gmail, github, slack, jira, etc.)
3. Open an OAuth link in your browser for authorization
4. Save the connection config to .composio-config.json

Status & Sync

apex-composio-status    # Show all connected tools and their status
apex-composio-sync      # Force refresh tool definitions from backend

Usage

After connecting a tool, invoke it with @toolName:

@gmail send an email to the team about the release
@github create a PR from feature branch
@slack post build status to #deployments
@jira create a ticket for this bug
@notion update the architecture doc

Configuration

Stored at .composio-config.json (auto-added to .gitignore / .npmignore):

{
  "apiKey": "ak_your_api_key",
  "userId": "your_user_id",
  "connections": [
    { "tool": "gmail", "label": "Gmail", "status": "ACTIVE", "authType": "OAUTH2" }
  ]
}

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Agent Chains

Agents can be chained for complex workflows:

Sequential Chains

Full app:        @arch → @ui → @infra      # Design → Paint → Deploy
Bug patch:       @debug → @review           # Fix → Verify
Spec to code:    @flex → @arch → @ui        # Scope → Design → Build

Parallel Chains

System design:   @arch ∥ @reed              # Architecture + Research in parallel

Dynamic Peer Calling

Any agent can call any peer mid-task:

• @perf finds SQL injection → calls @sec
• @ui needs a backend API → calls @infra
• @debug finds performance issue → calls @perf
• @review finds security concern → calls @sec

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Programmatic API

Use APEX as a Node.js library:

const apex = require('@asno-dev/apex');

console.log(apex.version);          // "3.0.2"
console.log(apex.agents);           // ['arch', 'ui', 'debug', 'perf', 'sec', 'infra', 'nova', 'reed', 'review', 'flex']
console.log(apex.listAdapters());   // ['claude-code', 'cursor', 'opencode', 'cline', 'copilot', ...]

const archSkill = apex.getSkill('arch');
const cursorAdapter = apex.getAdapter('cursor');

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Design System (Zara)

Zara's UI design system includes:

• 10 curated palettes: Trust, Energy, Authority, Clarity, Warmth, Midnight, Forest, Ocean, Aurora, Minimal
• CSS variable tokens for all colors as :root variables
• 2 fonts max per project
• shadcn/ui component library + Tailwind CSS scale
• WCAG AA compliance (4.5:1 contrast ratio minimum)
• Mobile-first responsive design
• 200ms max transition duration
• Skeleton loaders for async content
• Semantic HTML throughout

Anti-Slop Rules

• No decorative elements without purpose
• No inline styles
• No hardcoded hex colors
• No lorem ipsum in production
• No gradients without justification
• No ALL CAPS text

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Requirements

• Node.js ≥ 18.0.0
• At least one supported coding agent installed

Zero Dependencies

APEX has zero production dependencies. It uses only Node.js built-in modules:

• Instant install
• No supply chain risk
• Tiny package size

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Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Guidelines

• Follow the Core Laws in your contributions
• Keep adapters in sync — run npm test before submitting
• Add skills with proper YAML frontmatter
• Document new tools in the appropriate hands/*.mjs module

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Development

git clone https://github.com/asno-dev/apex.git
cd apex
npm test

Project Structure

Directory	Purpose
adapters/	Per-agent config files (16 agents)
agents/	Canonical agent definitions (10 agents)
commands/	Canonical command definitions (8 commands)
skills/	SKILL.md files for orchestrator and agents
src/	MCP servers and tool implementations
src/hands/	Individual tool modules per agent
hooks/	Lifecycle hooks for session management
scripts/	Build and validation scripts
docs/	Extended design documentation
bin/	CLI entry point

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License

MIT asno-dev

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Built with by asno-dev

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