firstmate
Talk to one agent. Ship with a crew.
Firstmate is an AI agent distribution that enables running a coordinated crew of autonomous coding agents managed through a single interface. You interact with one primary agent (the "first mate") which spawns, supervises, and coordinates multiple worker agents in isolated environments, each handling parallel tasks like bug fixes, investigations, or feature development. Each crew member operates in its own tmux/zellij/cmux session with dedicated git worktrees to prevent conflicts. The system delivers finished pull requests, approved merges, or investigation reports without requiring you to juggle multiple agent sessions or copy context between terminals.
Key Features
Use Cases
- 01Running multiple parallel development tasks (bug fixes, feature additions, investigations) without tab-juggling
- 02Autonomous code review and testing with separate agents handling different aspects concurrently
- 03Managing fleet of coding agents across local and remote hosts for distributed development work
- 04Creating investigation reports and technical audits while simultaneously shipping code changes
- 05Handling public GitHub/Discord support requests through autonomous agent responses
- 06Coordinating multi-repository work with isolated environments and supervised merge workflows
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firstmate — FAQ
What is firstmate?+
Firstmate is an AI agent distribution (not a model or MCP server) that turns a general-purpose coding agent into a crew coordinator. You talk to one agent which spawns and supervises multiple autonomous worker agents, each in isolated git worktrees, delivering PRs and reports without manual session management.
How do I install firstmate?+
Clone the GitHub repository and launch a supported harness (Claude Code, Grok, Pi, Codex, OpenCode, or Cursor Agent CLI) from within the cloned directory. The repository itself is the distribution—AGENTS.md and bundled skills guide the agent's behavior.
Which AI clients work with firstmate?+
Firstmate works with Claude Code, Grok, Pi (including pi-signed), Codex, OpenCode, and Cursor Agent CLI as verified primary harnesses. Claude Code, Grok, and Pi are the co-primary recommendations with full turn-end guard support.
What are the prerequisites for running firstmate?+
You need Git, GitHub CLI authenticated via gh auth login, a supported runtime backend (tmux is the default), and a subscription to one of the verified harnesses like Claude Code, Grok, or Pi. The first mate will detect and offer to install missing supported tools.
Is firstmate free to use?+
Firstmate itself is MIT-licensed and free, but you need a subscription to one of the supported AI harnesses (Claude Code, Grok, Pi, etc.) to run it. Optional Relay features require separate X/Discord API setup.
What platforms does firstmate support?+
Firstmate supports macOS and Linux. It requires a session backend like tmux (default), herdr, zellij, Orca, or cmux, and works with local or SSH-reachable remote hosts for secondmate deployment.
How do I install firstmate?+
Open the source repository on GitHub and follow its README. firstmate is a agent — MCP Agents Market links you directly to the official repo.
Is firstmate free?+
firstmate is an open-source project hosted on GitHub. Check the repository for its license and any usage requirements.