Vibecode Uncircle
track this build5 steps, step by step0%The core loop · read a yml of processes from the repo, run them, stream logs into terminals, show status dots · is a genuine one-sitting build with node-pty and xterm.js, and mprocs already gives you most of it in a TUI for free. What does not one-shot is everything around it: a native window with tray and notifications, killing whole process trees without orphans on three OSes, crash auto-restart that does not flap, and signed auto-updating builds. And since the paid tier is $19 once rather than a subscription, the usual death-list math barely applies.
You are building a lean indie version of Uncircle. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== README.md ===== # Uncircle indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core Uncircle workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope A local web dashboard that starts and stops the processes defined in a repo's yml file and streams their logs into browser terminals. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - a real native app: tray, crash/finish notifications, auto-updates - reliable process-tree cleanup and auto-restart across macOS/Windows/Linux - agent presets (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, goose, Aider) and clickable localhost pills - the built-in file editor, diff view, and command palette If those capabilities are essential, use mprocs instead of pretending the gap is solved. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs". ===== BUILD_PLAN.md ===== # Build plan ## Original build brief Build me a local dev-stack dashboard like Uncircle. Requirements: - Node 20 + Express + ws, single process, started as `devstack` from any repo folder; opens http://localhost:4680. - Read a `stack.yml` in the repo root: list of processes with name, command, cwd (relative), and autostart flags. Include an example file. - Run each process in a real PTY via node-pty and stream output over WebSocket into xterm.js terminals in the browser, one tab per process. - Sidebar lists processes with green/red/grey status dots and buttons for start, stop, restart, plus Start all / Stop all. Stopping must kill the whole process tree · no orphaned children. - If a process exits nonzero, auto-restart with exponential backoff, max 5 tries, and show a "flapping" badge when it keeps dying. - Scan output for localhost URLs and render them as clickable pills above the terminal. - Add ad-hoc shell tabs (plain PTYs cwd'd at the repo root) so CLI coding agents like Claude Code can run inside the dashboard too. - No accounts, no telemetry, everything local. Deliberately out of scope: native window, tray, notifications, and multi-repo management · this is one repo per running instance. - README with install and usage. ## Required capabilities - Implement the core workflow described in the build brief. ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden. ===== .env.example ===== # Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
You are building a lean indie version of Uncircle. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== README.md ===== # Uncircle indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core Uncircle workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope A local web dashboard that starts and stops the processes defined in a repo's yml file and streams their logs into browser terminals. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - a real native app: tray, crash/finish notifications, auto-updates - reliable process-tree cleanup and auto-restart across macOS/Windows/Linux - agent presets (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, goose, Aider) and clickable localhost pills - the built-in file editor, diff view, and command palette If those capabilities are essential, use mprocs instead of pretending the gap is solved. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs". ===== BUILD_PLAN.md ===== # Build plan ## Original build brief Build me a local dev-stack dashboard like Uncircle. Requirements: - Node 20 + Express + ws, single process, started as `devstack` from any repo folder; opens http://localhost:4680. - Read a `stack.yml` in the repo root: list of processes with name, command, cwd (relative), and autostart flags. Include an example file. - Run each process in a real PTY via node-pty and stream output over WebSocket into xterm.js terminals in the browser, one tab per process. - Sidebar lists processes with green/red/grey status dots and buttons for start, stop, restart, plus Start all / Stop all. Stopping must kill the whole process tree · no orphaned children. - If a process exits nonzero, auto-restart with exponential backoff, max 5 tries, and show a "flapping" badge when it keeps dying. - Scan output for localhost URLs and render them as clickable pills above the terminal. - Add ad-hoc shell tabs (plain PTYs cwd'd at the repo root) so CLI coding agents like Claude Code can run inside the dashboard too. - No accounts, no telemetry, everything local. Deliberately out of scope: native window, tray, notifications, and multi-repo management · this is one repo per running instance. - README with install and usage. ## Required capabilities - Implement the core workflow described in the build brief. ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden. ===== .env.example ===== # Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
You are building a production product version of Uncircle. Create the following project files first, then implement the application by following them. Keep the files updated as decisions change. Do not collapse this into a single README or prompt. ===== PRODUCT.md ===== # Uncircle product brief ## Problem The core loop · read a yml of processes from the repo, run them, stream logs into terminals, show status dots · is a genuine one-sitting build with node-pty and xterm.js, and mprocs already gives you most of it in a TUI for free. What does not one-shot is everything around it: a native window with tray and notifications, killing whole process trees without orphans on three OSes, crash auto-restart that does not flap, and signed auto-updating builds. And since the paid tier is $19 once rather than a subscription, the usual death-list math barely applies. ## Product outcome A local web dashboard that starts and stops the processes defined in a repo's yml file and streams their logs into browser terminals. ## Target user A serious builder who needs a maintainable product foundation rather than a one-off demo. ## Required capabilities - Implement the core workflow described in the build brief. ## Explicit non-goals for v1 - a real native app: tray, crash/finish notifications, auto-updates - reliable process-tree cleanup and auto-restart across macOS/Windows/Linux - agent presets (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, goose, Aider) and clickable localhost pills - the built-in file editor, diff view, and command palette ## Success criteria - The primary workflow is measurable end to end. - Setup is reproducible in a clean environment. - Failure, recovery, and support paths are documented. - Product claims match what the implementation actually guarantees. ===== ARCHITECTURE.md ===== # Architecture ## Starting brief Build me a local dev-stack dashboard like Uncircle. Requirements: - Node 20 + Express + ws, single process, started as `devstack` from any repo folder; opens http://localhost:4680. - Read a `stack.yml` in the repo root: list of processes with name, command, cwd (relative), and autostart flags. Include an example file. - Run each process in a real PTY via node-pty and stream output over WebSocket into xterm.js terminals in the browser, one tab per process. - Sidebar lists processes with green/red/grey status dots and buttons for start, stop, restart, plus Start all / Stop all. Stopping must kill the whole process tree · no orphaned children. - If a process exits nonzero, auto-restart with exponential backoff, max 5 tries, and show a "flapping" badge when it keeps dying. - Scan output for localhost URLs and render them as clickable pills above the terminal. - Add ad-hoc shell tabs (plain PTYs cwd'd at the repo root) so CLI coding agents like Claude Code can run inside the dashboard too. - No accounts, no telemetry, everything local. Deliberately out of scope: native window, tray, notifications, and multi-repo management · this is one repo per running instance. - README with install and usage. ## Boundaries Separate the product into replaceable modules for interface, application logic, persistence, external integrations, and operational concerns. Keep domain logic independent from delivery frameworks and vendors. ## Production baseline - Configuration: validated at startup with safe local defaults where possible. - Security: least privilege, input validation, secret redaction, rate limits on abuse-prone paths, and no invented security primitives. - Data: explicit schema and migrations, transactional writes where integrity matters, backup and restore instructions. - Integrations: adapters around third-party providers, idempotent webhook or job processing, bounded retries, and timeouts. - Observability: structured logs with request or operation IDs, an error-tracking hook, and health/readiness checks where a server exists. - Quality: unit tests for domain rules, integration tests at module boundaries, and one end-to-end critical-path test. ## Decision records For each major dependency, document why it was chosen, its failure mode, and how it can be replaced. Do not introduce infrastructure until a requirement justifies it. ===== AGENTS.md ===== # Agent instructions - Read `PRODUCT.md` and `ARCHITECTURE.md` before changing code. - Implement milestone by milestone; keep each change reviewable and leave the application runnable. - Treat authentication, payments, encryption, imports, webhooks, and destructive actions as high-risk boundaries when present. - Never invent cryptography or silently weaken a requirement to make a test pass. - Use provider interfaces for external services and deterministic fakes in tests. - Add migrations and rollback or recovery notes for persistent data changes. - Log useful operational context without credentials, tokens, passwords, or personal data. - Update documentation and run all checks before completing a milestone. ===== MILESTONES.md ===== # Delivery milestones ## M0 — Decisions and scaffold - Confirm the runtime, persistence model, threat boundaries, and deployment target. - Create a reproducible local environment and continuous checks. ## M1 — Core workflow - Implement the smallest end-to-end product path with validation and tests. - Keep integrations behind interfaces. ## M2 — Trust layer - Add secure failure behavior, recovery paths, audit-relevant events, and data safeguards. - Test abuse cases and destructive operations. ## M3 — Operability - Add structured logs, error reporting hooks, health signals, backup/restore documentation, and deployment configuration. ## M4 — Release gate - Run a clean-install test, critical-path end-to-end test, dependency review, and documented rollback exercise. - Compare the shipped behavior with `PRODUCT.md` and publish remaining limitations. ===== OPERATIONS.md ===== # Operations ## Before release - Validate configuration and secrets at startup. - Define backup, restore, and rollback procedures and test them. - Document logs, error tracking, health signals, and alert ownership. - Set dependency update and vulnerability review expectations. ## Incident checklist 1. Contain the issue without destroying evidence or user data. 2. Record the timeline and affected scope. 3. Rotate exposed secrets and revoke compromised sessions or credentials. 4. Restore from a verified source when needed. 5. Document the root cause, remediation, and regression test. ## Launch constraint Do not market omitted Uncircle capabilities as implemented. The v1 non-goals in `PRODUCT.md` remain user-visible limitations until they are deliberately delivered.
# Uncircle indie build ## Goal Build the smallest trustworthy replacement for the core Uncircle workflow for one developer or a tiny team. ## Scope A local web dashboard that starts and stops the processes defined in a repo's yml file and streams their logs into browser terminals. ## Quick start 1. Install the documented dependencies. 2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env`. 3. Run the development command chosen during implementation. 4. Complete the acceptance checks in `BUILD_PLAN.md`. ## Honest limits This build deliberately does not replace: - a real native app: tray, crash/finish notifications, auto-updates - reliable process-tree cleanup and auto-restart across macOS/Windows/Linux - agent presets (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, goose, Aider) and clickable localhost pills - the built-in file editor, diff view, and command palette If those capabilities are essential, use mprocs instead of pretending the gap is solved.
# Agent instructions - Optimize for a working, understandable weekend build. - Prefer the fewest moving parts that satisfy the brief. - Do not invent cryptography, security guarantees, APIs, or compliance claims. - Keep secrets out of source control and logs. - Add focused tests for destructive, security-sensitive, and data-loss paths. - Run the project checks before declaring the build complete. - Record any deliberate shortcut in the README under "Tradeoffs".
# Build plan ## Original build brief Build me a local dev-stack dashboard like Uncircle. Requirements: - Node 20 + Express + ws, single process, started as `devstack` from any repo folder; opens http://localhost:4680. - Read a `stack.yml` in the repo root: list of processes with name, command, cwd (relative), and autostart flags. Include an example file. - Run each process in a real PTY via node-pty and stream output over WebSocket into xterm.js terminals in the browser, one tab per process. - Sidebar lists processes with green/red/grey status dots and buttons for start, stop, restart, plus Start all / Stop all. Stopping must kill the whole process tree · no orphaned children. - If a process exits nonzero, auto-restart with exponential backoff, max 5 tries, and show a "flapping" badge when it keeps dying. - Scan output for localhost URLs and render them as clickable pills above the terminal. - Add ad-hoc shell tabs (plain PTYs cwd'd at the repo root) so CLI coding agents like Claude Code can run inside the dashboard too. - No accounts, no telemetry, everything local. Deliberately out of scope: native window, tray, notifications, and multi-repo management · this is one repo per running instance. - README with install and usage. ## Required capabilities - Implement the core workflow described in the build brief. ## Delivery order 1. Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands. 2. Implement the primary data model and core workflow. 3. Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence. 4. Cover the critical path with automated tests. 5. Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step. ## Done when - A new user can go from clone to first successful workflow using only the README. - The core workflow works without paid infrastructure unless the brief requires it. - Tests cover the highest-risk behavior. - Known limitations are explicit rather than hidden.
# Copy to .env and document every variable when it is introduced. # Never put real credentials in this file. APP_ENV=development # Add only values required by the selected implementation.
# Uncircle product brief ## Problem The core loop · read a yml of processes from the repo, run them, stream logs into terminals, show status dots · is a genuine one-sitting build with node-pty and xterm.js, and mprocs already gives you most of it in a TUI for free. What does not one-shot is everything around it: a native window with tray and notifications, killing whole process trees without orphans on three OSes, crash auto-restart that does not flap, and signed auto-updating builds. And since the paid tier is $19 once rather than a subscription, the usual death-list math barely applies. ## Product outcome A local web dashboard that starts and stops the processes defined in a repo's yml file and streams their logs into browser terminals. ## Target user A serious builder who needs a maintainable product foundation rather than a one-off demo. ## Required capabilities - Implement the core workflow described in the build brief. ## Explicit non-goals for v1 - a real native app: tray, crash/finish notifications, auto-updates - reliable process-tree cleanup and auto-restart across macOS/Windows/Linux - agent presets (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, goose, Aider) and clickable localhost pills - the built-in file editor, diff view, and command palette ## Success criteria - The primary workflow is measurable end to end. - Setup is reproducible in a clean environment. - Failure, recovery, and support paths are documented. - Product claims match what the implementation actually guarantees.
# Architecture ## Starting brief Build me a local dev-stack dashboard like Uncircle. Requirements: - Node 20 + Express + ws, single process, started as `devstack` from any repo folder; opens http://localhost:4680. - Read a `stack.yml` in the repo root: list of processes with name, command, cwd (relative), and autostart flags. Include an example file. - Run each process in a real PTY via node-pty and stream output over WebSocket into xterm.js terminals in the browser, one tab per process. - Sidebar lists processes with green/red/grey status dots and buttons for start, stop, restart, plus Start all / Stop all. Stopping must kill the whole process tree · no orphaned children. - If a process exits nonzero, auto-restart with exponential backoff, max 5 tries, and show a "flapping" badge when it keeps dying. - Scan output for localhost URLs and render them as clickable pills above the terminal. - Add ad-hoc shell tabs (plain PTYs cwd'd at the repo root) so CLI coding agents like Claude Code can run inside the dashboard too. - No accounts, no telemetry, everything local. Deliberately out of scope: native window, tray, notifications, and multi-repo management · this is one repo per running instance. - README with install and usage. ## Boundaries Separate the product into replaceable modules for interface, application logic, persistence, external integrations, and operational concerns. Keep domain logic independent from delivery frameworks and vendors. ## Production baseline - Configuration: validated at startup with safe local defaults where possible. - Security: least privilege, input validation, secret redaction, rate limits on abuse-prone paths, and no invented security primitives. - Data: explicit schema and migrations, transactional writes where integrity matters, backup and restore instructions. - Integrations: adapters around third-party providers, idempotent webhook or job processing, bounded retries, and timeouts. - Observability: structured logs with request or operation IDs, an error-tracking hook, and health/readiness checks where a server exists. - Quality: unit tests for domain rules, integration tests at module boundaries, and one end-to-end critical-path test. ## Decision records For each major dependency, document why it was chosen, its failure mode, and how it can be replaced. Do not introduce infrastructure until a requirement justifies it.
# Agent instructions - Read `PRODUCT.md` and `ARCHITECTURE.md` before changing code. - Implement milestone by milestone; keep each change reviewable and leave the application runnable. - Treat authentication, payments, encryption, imports, webhooks, and destructive actions as high-risk boundaries when present. - Never invent cryptography or silently weaken a requirement to make a test pass. - Use provider interfaces for external services and deterministic fakes in tests. - Add migrations and rollback or recovery notes for persistent data changes. - Log useful operational context without credentials, tokens, passwords, or personal data. - Update documentation and run all checks before completing a milestone.
# Delivery milestones ## M0 — Decisions and scaffold - Confirm the runtime, persistence model, threat boundaries, and deployment target. - Create a reproducible local environment and continuous checks. ## M1 — Core workflow - Implement the smallest end-to-end product path with validation and tests. - Keep integrations behind interfaces. ## M2 — Trust layer - Add secure failure behavior, recovery paths, audit-relevant events, and data safeguards. - Test abuse cases and destructive operations. ## M3 — Operability - Add structured logs, error reporting hooks, health signals, backup/restore documentation, and deployment configuration. ## M4 — Release gate - Run a clean-install test, critical-path end-to-end test, dependency review, and documented rollback exercise. - Compare the shipped behavior with `PRODUCT.md` and publish remaining limitations.
# Operations ## Before release - Validate configuration and secrets at startup. - Define backup, restore, and rollback procedures and test them. - Document logs, error tracking, health signals, and alert ownership. - Set dependency update and vulnerability review expectations. ## Incident checklist 1. Contain the issue without destroying evidence or user data. 2. Record the timeline and affected scope. 3. Rotate exposed secrets and revoke compromised sessions or credentials. 4. Restore from a verified source when needed. 5. Document the root cause, remediation, and regression test. ## Launch constraint Do not market omitted Uncircle capabilities as implemented. The v1 non-goals in `PRODUCT.md` remain user-visible limitations until they are deliberately delivered.
$ choose a build depth, inspect the files, then open the complete pack in your agent
It is $19 once with a free tier that covers 3 projects, so the honest calculus is not subscription math · it is whether an evening of vibe coding beats a lifetime license. People pay for the parts that are tedious to get right: clean shutdown of whole process trees, restart backoff that does not flap, native notifications when an agent finishes or crashes, and updates they never think about.
xa real native app: tray, crash/finish notifications, auto-updates
xreliable process-tree cleanup and auto-restart across macOS/Windows/Linux
xagent presets (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, goose, Aider) and clickable localhost pills
xthe built-in file editor, diff view, and command palette
Don't feel like building it? These folks already made it free.
all 3 free alternatives to Uncircle →· no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real
Uncircle pricing
| plan | monthly | annual (per mo) | what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| free | $0/user | $0/user | 3 projects; unlimited agents, processes and terminals inside those projects. |
| lifetime | custom | — | Unlimited projects; use on 3 devices; all future updates. |
free tier3 projects; unlimited agents, processes and terminals within those projects
billingfree plus a one-time $49 lifetime license; no recurring monthly or annual plan
hidden costsClaude Code, Codex and other CLI-agent/model subscriptions are not included; the user supplies those separately.
verified 2026-08-14 · source ↗
Vibecode Uncircle
Kinda. The core of Uncircle is buildable in a weekend with the prompt on this page, but there are real gaps: a real native app: tray, crash/finish notifications, auto-updates, reliable process-tree cleanup and auto-restart across macOS/Windows/Linux. Read the honest list above before committing.
How much does Uncircle cost?
Uncircle's pricing is usage-based or varies by plan · One-time $19 launch price (list $49) unlocks unlimited projects on up to 3 devices; the free tier covers 3 projects with every feature and never expires..
What do I lose by replacing Uncircle?
Honestly: a real native app: tray, crash/finish notifications, auto-updates; reliable process-tree cleanup and auto-restart across macOS/Windows/Linux; agent presets (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, goose, Aider) and clickable localhost pills; the built-in file editor, diff view, and command palette. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Uncircle?
Yes: cmux (A native Mac workspace for terminals, browsers and agent notifications; repos remain folders.) Wave Terminal (Repos, terminals, previews and remote files in one window; agents are just commands.) Nimbalyst (A visual desktop for several coding agents; repos and terminals stay in the same room.) All 3 curated free alternatives are at vibecodeit.com/uncircle/alternatives. The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.