Surfaces

A surface is a thin shim that calls the runtime with a manifest and inputs. The runtime is the same underneath each one. They are not peers: MCP is where you operate chit day to day; the rest are support tooling.

MCP (primary)

The primary surface. chit registers as a stdio MCP server and you drive it from a Claude Code conversation, so the human stays in the loop, the chat keeps context, and each handoff is a visible, cancellable tool call.

claude mcp add chit --scope local -- chit mcp

Three tool groups:

• Run tools start and drive any run, with one run_id as the handle: chit_start opens it, chit_next advances one unit (a one-shot wave or a loop iteration, each with a live heartbeat), chit_status / chit_trace inspect it, chit_wait blocks until a background run finishes (instead of polling), and chit_cancel stops it.
• Batch tools run several loop tasks in parallel, one git worktree each: chit_batch_start, chit_batch_status, chit_batch_advance, chit_batch_list, chit_batch_cancel, chit_batch_cleanup.
• Audit tools read recorded transcripts: chit_audit_list, chit_audit_show.

See the MCP reference.

CLI (support tooling)

The same binary, for debugging, inspection, audits, running the loop from a terminal, installs, and CI. Brand vocabulary stays out of the verbs; the CLI says what it does.

chit run        # execute a manifest
chit show       # render a manifest without running it
chit converge   # run the autonomous implement/check loop
chit audit      # read a recorded run transcript
chit doctor     # preflight: check first-time setup
chit loop-log   # read a convergence log
chit install    # install a chit as a skill
chit list       # list installed chits
chit uninstall  # remove an installed chit
chit studio     # open the local editor (source checkout)
chit mcp        # run the stdio MCP server

Claude Code skill (secondary)

Install a chit as a slash-invocable skill inside Claude Code. The skill surface declares its capabilities; install fails if the chit needs one the surface lacks. Generated skills currently run the CLI from a source checkout, so this surface is secondary to MCP for v0.

Studio (secondary, source checkout)

Studio is a local web editor: a graph view, an inspector, and a read-only Loops drawer that renders convergence-log runs and opens a run's audit transcript. Launch it from a source checkout with bun run studio:preview; the published CLI package does not include the Studio client bundle in this version. See the Studio reference.

Audit

An audited run records a full transcript (rendered prompts, outputs, and token usage as content-addressed blobs) under the local state dir. Read it over MCP with chit_audit_list / chit_audit_show, or from the terminal with chit audit list / chit audit show <runId>, or open it from a loop in Studio. See the audit log reference.