get-bb/bb

bb – an “agentic” IDE that builds itself

What it is – bb is a full‑stack development environment that can be driven from a desktop GUI, a web UI, a command‑line interface, or an HTTP API. It is designed to let autonomous “agents” (scripts, bots, or AI‑driven helpers) control, customise, and automate the IDE itself, turning the environment into a kind of personal software factory.

Core ideas

• Self‑building – the IDE can modify its own configuration, install plugins, and even generate new code while it is running.
• Multiple surfaces – the same underlying system is exposed through:
  • a native desktop app (Electron‑based, macOS Apple‑Silicon stable, Linux/Windows in alpha),
  • a web app reachable at http://localhost:38886,
  • a bb CLI, and
  • a REST‑style HTTP API.
• Threaded work – tasks run in independent threads that you can watch live, intervene in, or hand off to another agent.
• Extensible plugin model – plugins can be published to the public bb‑community marketplace or loaded from local paths, private git repos, or npm packages.

Getting started

1. Desktop app – download the latest release from the GitHub desktop‑latest tag. macOS Apple‑Silicon is officially supported; Linux and Windows builds are experimental.
2. Run anywhere – with a single command you can spin up the server locally:

   npx bb-app@latest   # then open http://localhost:38886
   

   (use @nightly for the newest pre‑release). On npm 12+ you must allow the native‑addon install scripts, e.g.:

   npx --allow-scripts=better-sqlite3,node-pty,@parcel/watcher bb-app@latest
   

3. CLI access – enable the bb command from the Settings → General → Command line panel, then use bb … to drive the system from a terminal or other automation.

Development workflow

• pnpm dev – starts a Vite‑based hot‑reloading front‑end and proxies API/WebSocket traffic to a separate dev server.
• pnpm start – builds a production‑style bundle and runs it.
• Specialized scripts (pnpm dev:remote, pnpm start:worktree‑remote, etc.) let you expose the UI and API over a trusted network (e.g., via Tailscale) for multi‑device usage.
• The repo is a monorepo; see docs/repository-overview.md for the package map.

Telemetry

• Production runs (desktop app, npx bb-app, or a checked‑out build) send anonymous usage events (app start, thread creation count, message count, plugin installs). Events include version, install method, OS/CPU/Node details, and a random per‑install identifier. No project names, file paths, commit hashes, or message contents are transmitted.
• Development runs (pnpm dev, pnpm start:worktree, etc.) never send telemetry.
• Telemetry can be disabled with BB_TELEMETRY=false.

Current status

• The core architecture is stable, but the UI surfaces, workflows, and plugin ecosystem are still evolving (the README notes the project is in active development).
• Native add‑ons (better-sqlite3, node-pty, @parcel/watcher) are required; recent npm versions block install scripts by default, so the README provides explicit work‑arounds.

Who it’s for

• Developers who want an IDE that can be programmatically steered by scripts or AI agents.
• Teams building “software factories” where the tooling itself can be generated, extended, and automated.
• Users comfortable with Node.js, npm, and optional desktop‑app installation.

Where to learn more

• System and data‑model details: docs/system-overview.md
• Vision and roadmap: docs/VISION.md
• Configuration guide: docs/configuration.md
• Community Discord (link in the badge at the top of the README).

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All information above is taken directly from the repository’s README; no additional features have been inferred.