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Cairn 2.0 is an open-source work-management harness for AI coding agents: it keeps plans and memory in Git, treats a tracker or local files as the authority for work items, and uses server-side checks to make verification and lifecycle claims inspectable. It is implemented as a Claude Code plugin backed by a TypeScript MCP server, with documented installation surfaces for several other coding environments. In short, Cairn is designed to coordinate an agent’s work—not to replace the coding agent or the issue tracker.
What is Cairn for AI coding agents?
Cairn is a layer for managing the work around AI-assisted coding: planning, durable context, tracker synchronization, verification, and continuity between sessions. The official Cairn 2.0 repository describes it as “Converged work management for AI coding agents — one tool where deep planning, durable memory, tracker truth, and session continuity meet in a single deterministic engine.” That is the project’s positioning, not an independently measured claim about productivity or accuracy.
The key design choice is to give different kinds of information different owners. Plans and memory are prose stored in the Git repository, work-item status belongs to the selected tracker, and Cairn’s server implements mechanisms such as tracker mirroring, drift calculation, staleness checks, and verification. This separation is intended to make important facts inspectable instead of relying on an agent to remember a prompt or report its own progress accurately.
The Tool Desk
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How does Cairn keep plans in Git?
Cairn’s planning artifacts are files in the code repository, so their edits can be reviewed and versioned through normal Git workflows. The documented artifacts include a project overview, a roadmap, and per-phase context, research, plan, and verification documents.
| Artifact | Role in the planning model |
|---|---|
PROJECT.md |
Project-level context for the work. |
roadmap.md |
Project roadmap and phases. |
Per-phase CONTEXT.md |
Context associated with a phase. |
Per-phase RESEARCH.md |
Research associated with a phase. |
Per-phase PLAN.md |
The phase plan. |
Per-phase VERIFICATION.md |
Verification information for a phase. |
Keeping these documents beside the code makes it possible to review changes to the plan as repository changes, rather than treating the agent’s conversation as the only record. A teammate can inspect the plan’s history, see what changed, and discuss those edits using existing Git review habits. That is especially useful when work spans sessions or when an implementation needs to be compared with the intent that was recorded before coding began.
The repository also describes planning-depth options, model routing, tracker mirroring, and drift detection. Those capabilities let teams connect a plan to external work items and identify a plan that refers to an issue that is missing or reportedly closed. The specific options and commands depend on Cairn’s current implementation; consult the repository documentation for the current interface rather than assuming that every project uses one fixed planning sequence.
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Which system is the source of truth for work?
The selected tracker—or Cairn’s local-file backend—owns the authoritative work item. Cairn normalizes eight backends behind a common interface, but it aims to preserve differences in their capabilities rather than pretending every tracker supports identical concepts.
| Backend | What the repository establishes |
|---|---|
| GitHub | Supported tracker adapter. |
| GitLab | Supported tracker adapter. |
| Jira | Supported tracker adapter. |
| Asana | Supported tracker adapter. |
| Azure Boards | Supported tracker adapter. |
| ClickUp | Supported tracker adapter. |
| Linear | Supported tracker adapter. |
| Local files | Zero-credential backend that stores issues as plain files. |
Cairn can mirror a phase to a tracker concept such as a milestone, epic, or list, and a requirement to an issue. The exact mapping depends on what the chosen backend supports. The value of a common interface is that planning and work-management flows can use a consistent Cairn layer; the trade-off is that teams should not assume an operation or field available in one tracker will exist in another.
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Mirroring does not make the Git plan the canonical status record. The plan records intent and context; the tracker records the work item’s truth. That distinction matters when someone edits a ticket directly, closes an issue outside an agent session, or changes the plan without updating its related work item. Cairn’s drift detection is meant to expose that divergence rather than silently treating the two records as interchangeable.
What does “nothing done without evidence” mean?
It means that Cairn places some correctness checks in server-side mechanisms instead of relying only on an agent’s wording. The repository says plan-to-tracker drift is computed, verification gates work backward from a phase goal, and checkpoint markers are parsed by the server. These checks make a completion claim more inspectable, although they do not independently prove that every change is correct or useful.
Verification gates
A verification gate starts from the goal for a phase and works backward to the evidence needed to support completion. Cairn’s VERIFICATION.md provides a repository artifact for that phase’s verification information. The practical benefit is a record against which a reviewer can assess the claim; teams still need to define meaningful criteria and evaluate the resulting evidence.
Checkpoints and drift
Checkpoint markers are parsed by the server, according to the repository, and plan-to-tracker drift is calculated rather than left as an informal prompt instruction. This puts structure around two common failure modes: an agent claiming progress without a recorded checkpoint, or a plan becoming inconsistent with the tracker. The checks help identify mismatches; a team must still decide how to resolve them.
Memory with provenance
Cairn describes memory cards as Git-committed records that retain source commits. When the referenced code moves, a card can be marked STALE. That provenance gives a reader a way to understand what code a memory item was based on and warns that its context may no longer apply. A memory card is therefore not automatically current just because it remains in the repository.
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Peer claims checked against source
The project also describes source-checked peer claims: claims from peers are checked against source before they count. This is intended to make cross-vendor review more grounded in inspectable evidence than simply accepting an agent’s assertion. It should be understood as a checking mechanism, not a guarantee that all defects will be found or that review replaces human judgment.
How do Cairn’s components fit together?
The plugin supplies commands, skills, and hooks to the coding environment; the typed MCP tools expose Cairn’s operations; and the server implements the tracker, planning, memory, and core behavior. In the project’s model, the Git repository holds planning prose, the tracker API holds work-item truth, and the local cache is disposable. This is a deliberate split between durable records and operational state.
The README snapshot accessed in 2026 reports 39 live verbs and 87 typed MCP tools. Examples of verb areas include plan, work, verify, ship, audit, review, recall, trace, route, and peers. It also reports 2,124 passing tests. These are repository-reported figures, not independent benchmarks; the README notes that counts can move with each tier and that live-backend tests are gated on credentials. A test count does not establish real-world accuracy, adoption, productivity gains, or cost savings.
The project says it has no prompt glue, sync engine, or sidecar process. Read that as an architectural description of the repository’s intended design, not as a substitute for checking the current installation requirements and behavior for a particular environment. Since this is active software, interfaces, counts, and compatibility can change.
Which coding environments can use Cairn?
The repository documents installation surfaces for Claude Code, Grok Build, Copilot CLI, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor, OpenCode, and Zed. Documentation of an installation surface does not mean that every environment has identical integration depth or has been tested to the same degree.
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| Environment or capability | Qualification in the repository |
|---|---|
| Claude Code | Cairn is implemented as a Claude Code plugin; the server is TypeScript-based. |
| Grok Build | Hook compatibility is marked untested. |
| Cursor | Continuity and leak-guard support are described; cost tracking is Claude-only. |
| Copilot CLI, Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, and Zed | Installation surfaces are documented; the repository summary does not establish identical feature coverage across them. |
Documentation connectors are also listed for Confluence and a local Docusaurus checkout. These are documentation sources, not additional tracker backends. Before adopting Cairn in a specific environment, check the repository’s current installation and compatibility instructions for the exact host, version, and capability you need.
How should a team decide whether Cairn fits its workflow?
Cairn is most relevant when a team wants an agent’s plan to live with its code, but still needs a project tracker to remain authoritative and wants completion claims tied to evidence. It is less compelling if the team only needs an informal prompt, does not maintain structured work items, or expects an agent to work without any reviewable records.
| Workflow approach | Where the plan lives | Work-truth owner | What to consider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinary agent prompting | Typically in the prompt or conversation. | Depends on the team’s existing process. | Conversation context may be harder to review as durable project history; the actual limitations depend on the tools and workflow in use. |
| Ticket-only workflow | Primarily in tracker records. | The tracker. | Can keep work status centralized, but may not provide the same Git-versioned planning artifacts Cairn documents. |
| Cairn model | Planning and memory artifacts in Git. | A supported external tracker or local files. | Adds a structured layer for mirroring, drift, provenance, and verification; teams must understand backend and host-specific differences. |
This comparison describes the models, not a measured head-to-head evaluation. Cairn’s strongest distinction is the explicit separation of plan, work truth, and checking mechanisms. Whether that separation helps depends on whether the team is willing to maintain repository artifacts and keep its tracker connected to the work.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is Cairn open source, and what is its release status?
Cairn 2.0 is identified by its public repository as MIT-licensed open-source software. The repository roadmap marks the P0–P4 server core, Tier 0 through Tier F3 capabilities, and the 2.0.0 cutover as shipped. Those roadmap labels describe the repository’s stated project status; they should not be read as proof that every future integration or distribution channel is available.
The README also lists owner actions for a live dogfood pass and marketplace publication. Consequently, shipped code and marketplace availability are distinct questions. If you need a marketplace-based install, verify the current status in the repository instead of assuming publication has occurred.
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For current setup details, backend limitations, license text, and changing compatibility information, use the official Cairn 2.0 repository. The access snapshot used for the reported counts and release details is from 2026; repository state can change after that snapshot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cairn an AI coding model?
No. Cairn is a work-management layer that connects agent workflows with plans, memory, tracker records, and verification mechanisms. The coding environment and the model that performs code generation remain separate.
Do Cairn’s test counts show that it makes coding agents more accurate?
No. The repository-reported passing-test count describes the project’s test suite, not a controlled measure of agent accuracy or software quality. It should not be used as a productivity or reliability benchmark.
Can a team install Cairn from a marketplace today?
The repository lists marketplace publication among owner actions, so the available evidence does not establish marketplace availability. Check the official repository for the present distribution status and installation instructions.
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