prose
A new kind of language for a new kind of computer
OpenProse is a declarative language and agent skill for defining persistent AI responsibilities as structured Markdown contracts. Instead of scripting one-off sequences, developers declare desired world states that agents continuously maintain, using familiar reconciliation patterns from SQL, Terraform, and Kubernetes applied to AI work. The skill installs into Prose-Complete coding agents like Claude Code, enabling agents to compile and execute standing goals, subscriptions, and coordination topologies directly from `.prose.md` files with no separate runtime binary required.
Key Features
Use Cases
- 01Maintaining continuously updated data pipelines where AI agents keep downstream artifacts fresh as upstream sources change
- 02Defining standing monitoring responsibilities that agents reconcile on a cadence or in response to external events
- 03Building multi-agent coordination topologies where specialized responsibilities subscribe to each other's maintained facets
- 04Authoring reusable AI workflows as composable Markdown contracts that wire themselves via subscription semantics
- 05Creating self-healing system states where agents detect drift from declared goals and take corrective action automatically
- 06Prototyping agentic applications with declarative contracts before committing to a specific deployment harness
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prose — FAQ
What is OpenProse?+
OpenProse is a declarative language for standing AI work, delivered as a skill that coding agents execute directly. You write Markdown contracts declaring desired world states, and agents reconcile reality to match them using a model similar to Kubernetes or Terraform but for AI responsibilities.
How do I install the OpenProse skill?+
Run `npx skills add openprose/prose` to install the skill into any Prose-Complete coding agent such as Claude Code, Codex CLI, or OpenCode. The agent session itself becomes the execution environment with no separate binary needed.
Which AI agents and clients support OpenProse?+
OpenProse works with Prose-Complete coding agents including Claude Code, Codex CLI, and OpenCode. Any agent host that can spawn sessions, read/write files, and call tools can run OpenProse contracts.
Do I need API keys or external services to use OpenProse?+
You need access to a coding agent with model capabilities to execute the skill, but OpenProse itself is a language layer that doesn't require additional API keys. The agent executing the contracts needs whatever model access it normally uses.
Is OpenProse free and open source?+
Yes, OpenProse is MIT-licensed, free to use, and harness-agnostic with no vendor lock-in. Contracts are portable across any compliant agent host, and the source code is fully open.
What happened to OpenProse v0.14 and earlier versions?+
The runtime_contract 2 overhaul introduced breaking vocabulary changes: the judge loop was retired, kinds were renamed (service→function) or deleted (system), and old ledgers aren't migrated. Use `prose upgrade --dry-run` to preview migration before upgrading source files.
How do I install prose?+
Open the source repository on GitHub and follow its README. prose is a skill — MCP Agents Market links you directly to the official repo.
Is prose free?+
prose is an open-source project hosted on GitHub. Check the repository for its license and any usage requirements.