Sabin gives your AI agent a structured workflow system, right in your codebase. Sabin is composed of a CLI, a VS code extension, and a set of prompts that power a workflow for planning and managing agentic tasks.

Sabin manages work through simple markdown files with YAML frontmatter, organized in a .sabin directory:

.sabin/
  tasks/
    open/TASK-0001.md       # Initial requirements
    open/TASK-0002.md       # Ready for implementation
    completed/TASK-0003.md  # Done and committed
  plans/                    # Implementation plans
  research/                 # Context and research

Each task moves through a clear lifecycle:

• open → Initial requirements, needs planning
• ready → Planned and ready for implementation
• review → Implementation done, needs testing/review
• completed → Approved and committed

Because tasks are just markdown files in your repo:

• AI agents can read and write them directly - no API required
• Version controlled with your code - full history in git
• Edit in your local editor - VS Code, Vim, whatever you use
• No web UI context switching - everything stays in your workspace
• Works across all your projects - same simple structure everywhere

The Sabin CLI gives AI agents tools to manage the workflow:

sabin task create -t "Add authentication" -c "Implement JWT-based auth"
sabin task list --status ready
sabin task update TASK-0001 review

Your AI agent can use these commands to:

• Create tasks as it discovers work
• Track what it's currently implementing
• Mark tasks for your review
• Query its backlog

The VS Code extension visualizes your workflow without leaving the editor:

• Sidebar view showing tasks by status
• Zero configuration - activates when .sabin directory detected
• Create

Traditional project management tools were built for humans coordinating with humans. Sabin is built for the developer+AI workflow:

• Prompt files live with tasks - plans and research right in .sabin
• Agents track their own work - no manual status updates needed
• Simple file format - easy for AI to parse and generate

• Node.js v16 or higher
• npm v7 or higher
• VS Code (for the extension)

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/sabin.git
cd sabin

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Build all packages:

npm run build

1. Build the extension:

cd packages/vscode-extension
npm run compile
npx @vscode/vsce package

2. Install the generated VSIX file in VS Code:
   • Open VS Code
   • Press Cmd+Shift+P (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux)
   • Type "Extensions: Install from VSIX..."
   • Select the sabin-vscode-0.1.0.vsix file from packages/vscode-extension/

1. Open the project in VS Code:

code .

2. Navigate to the extension directory:

cd packages/vscode-extension

3. Press F5 to launch a new VS Code window with the extension loaded in development mode

code --uninstall-extension sabin.sabin-vscode

cd packages/cli
npm link

Now you can use the sabin command globally:

sabin --help

Sabin can be installed as a Claude Code plugin for seamless workflow integration.

1. Install the Sabin CLI:

   cd packages/cli
   npm link
   sabin --version  # Verify installation

2. Install Claude Code (if not already installed)

From Claude Code:

# Add the Sabin marketplace (use absolute path to your Sabin repo)
/plugin marketplace add /path/to/sabin

# Install the plugin
/plugin install sabin@sabin-local

• /sabin-create - Create a new task from requirements
• /sabin-plan - Create an implementation plan for a task
• /sabin-implement - Implement a task based on its plan
• /sabin-complete - Complete and commit a task

See .claude-plugin/README.md for detailed plugin documentation.

Note: The plugin, CLI, and VS Code extension are separate installations that work together.

Sabin uses a configuration file at .sabin/config.json to customize project settings.

You can configure a custom prefix for auto-generated task IDs:

# Initialize with custom prefix
sabin init --prefix MYPROJECT

# Or initialize with default prefix (TASK)
sabin init

The configuration file (.sabin/config.json) has the following structure:

{
  "projectPrefix": "TASK",
  "taskNumberPadding": 4
}

Examples:

• Default: TASK-0001, TASK-0002, etc.
• Custom: MYPROJECT-0001, MYPROJECT-0002, etc.

You can link tasks from external systems (JIRA, Linear, Notion, etc.) by providing custom task IDs:

# Create task with external JIRA ID
sabin task create -t "Fix authentication bug" -n JIRA-12345

# Create task with Notion ID
sabin task create -t "Architecture review" -n NTVARCH-23252

• View tasks organized by status in the sidebar
• Create new tasks with the "New Task" button
• Update task status by clicking on a task

The Sabin CLI provides file-based workflow commands that enable AI agents to manage their own task lifecycle. Agents can create tasks with sabin task create, track work across statuses (open → ready → review → completed) using sabin task update, and query current work with sabin task list. The file-based architecture using markdown with YAML frontmatter allows agents to both use structured CLI commands and directly read/write task files, giving them flexible programmatic access to the entire workflow state.

# Initialize project
sabin init                           # Default prefix (TASK)
sabin init --prefix MYPROJECT        # Custom prefix

# Create a new task
sabin task create -t "Title" -c "Content"
sabin task create -t "Title" -n JIRA-123    # With external ID
sabin task create                           # Interactive mode (prompts for input)

# List all tasks
sabin task list

# List tasks by status
sabin task list -s open

# Update task status
sabin task update TASK-0001 ready

MIT