Sorrel

Agent-native version control for humans and parallel AI agents.

Get started · Status · Releases · Roadmap

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Sorrel is an agent-native version-control system — a new VCS core built for modern software work: parallel AI agents, cloud and in-memory workspaces, first-class permissions and secrets, portable workflows, and shareable slices of unfinished work. It is not "Git but nicer"; it is a layered system with a content-addressed object store, changes/lanes/slices, a Core-native identity/permission/policy spine, a bidirectional Git bridge, and a collaboration product on top.

Latest release: v0.1.0-alpha.2 is an installable developer preview with downloadable CLI artifacts and hostable server images. The Hub still requires production authentication and network controls before untrusted network exposure.

Doc	Purpose
GitHub Releases / CHANGELOG.md	Shipped progress and release history
docs/STATUS.md	What works / what is missing
docs/GETTING_STARTED.md	How to clone and run everything
docs/ARCHITECTURE.md	Current system boundaries and data flow
docs/DEVELOPMENT.md	Human and AI contributor workflow
docs/RELEASE.md	Version, validation, and tagging process
SECURITY.md	Security scope and vulnerability reporting
ROADMAP.md	Sequenced forward plan
AGENT_NATIVE_VERSION_CONTROL_REPORT.md	Full architecture

The public guides and changelog are mirrored onto the landing site (sorrel-web → Cloudflare) under /docs/.

Status at a glance (2026-09-01)

Working today

• Real engine + persistent CLI: init, status, change, diff, log, lanes, merge, push/pull
• Git import, export, and colocated bidirectional sync
• Policy/conformance spine across protocol, core, CLI, hub, runners, vault
• SecretSpec-backed secret resolution/injection under Core grants, devenv-aware local workflows, and structured redacted run logs
• Development Hub with FS-backed sync + metadata; writable Hub UI companion
• Native Sorrel Hub desktop companion for Windows, macOS, and Linux (x64/ARM64)
• Native Hub companion for iPhone, iPad, Android phones, and Android tablets
• Vault, runners, slices prototypes; public landing site live on Cloudflare
• Single monorepo — clone once, no submodule tokens

Still missing

• Production Hub authentication and signed client identity
• Stable embedding surface (C ABI / N-API / WASM / daemon)
• Complete devenv task mapping, run-log streaming, and a hosted/BYO secret backend
• Signed desktop distribution and on-device Core embedding for native apps

Details: docs/STATUS.md.

Quick start

Install the prebuilt CLI from a release that includes installer assets (replace <TAG> with its tag from the Releases page):

# Linux and macOS
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf \
  https://github.com/MGRAFF2006/sorrel/releases/download/<TAG>/sorrel-cli-installer.sh | sh

# Windows PowerShell
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -c "irm https://github.com/MGRAFF2006/sorrel/releases/download/<TAG>/sorrel-cli-installer.ps1 | iex"

Then start a repository—no source checkout, Rust, or Node.js installation is required:

mkdir /tmp/sorrel-demo && cd /tmp/sorrel-demo
sorrel init
echo hello > a.txt
sorrel status
sorrel change create -m "add a.txt"
sorrel log

Those releases also provide platform archives, desktop GUI installers, and SHA-256 checksum files for a manual, auditable installation. Windows ARM64 is a required target for both CLI and desktop artifacts. Older alpha releases remain source-only. See docs/GETTING_STARTED.md for platform details and source builds.

Release tags produced by the current pipeline also publish versioned Linux amd64/arm64 images for the Hub API and browser host. Download the attached sorrel-server.compose.yml, set SORREL_VERSION to the tag without its v, and start the stack without a source checkout or Node.js installation:

SORREL_VERSION=<VERSION> \
SORREL_HUB_AUTH=dev \
SORREL_HUB_ALLOW_INSECURE_DEV_AUTH=1 \
docker compose -f sorrel-server.compose.yml up -d

The release Compose file binds to 127.0.0.1 by default and does not enable broad bootstrap grants. Development auth remains suitable only for a trusted, isolated environment; see the deployment guide before changing the bind address or auth mode.

To run the development Hub stack from a source checkout instead:

git clone https://github.com/MGRAFF2006/sorrel.git
cd sorrel
docker compose up --build
# API http://localhost:3000  ·  UI http://localhost:5180

Full instructions: docs/GETTING_STARTED.md.

Repository layout

Everything lives in this repository as normal packages:

Package	Role	Maturity
sorrel-protocol	Schemas, examples, policy conformance	Active
sorrel-core	Rust engine	Active
sorrel-cli	Persistent local VCS CLI	Active
sorrel-vault	Secrets / env	Active
sorrel-runners	Workflow runners + YAML parser	Active
sorrel-slices	TS/JS slice manifests	Active (prototype)
sorrel-hub	Collaboration API server	Active (dev-only)
sorrel-hub-ui	Shared SolidJS Hub product UI	Active (dev-only)
sorrel-hub-desktop	Native Tauri host for Hub UI	Active (local-Hub companion)
sorrel-hub-web	Thin browser host for Hub UI	Active (dev-only)
sorrel-hub-mobile	Native phone/tablet Hub companion	Active (dev-only)
sorrel-web	Public landing (Cloudflare)	Live
sorrel-agents	Agent control plane (minimal)	Active
sorrel-sdk-js	Hub HTTP client SDK	Active
sorrel-sdk-rust	Rust SDK over sorrel-core	Active

Hub is split across sorrel-hub (API), sorrel-hub-ui (shared product UI), sorrel-hub-desktop (native host), sorrel-hub-web (browser host), and sorrel-hub-mobile (native phone/tablet companion); sorrel-web is the marketing landing — not the Hub UI.

Rust crates form one Cargo workspace (Cargo.toml at the root). Brand assets used by this README live under assets/.

Toolchains

• Rust 1.85+ with clippy + rustfmt
• Node 22+ for Hub / hub-web; 20+ for protocol / vault / slices

rustup toolchain install stable --profile minimal -c clippy -c rustfmt
rustup default stable

Common checks

# Fresh checkout
npm run setup

# Fast consistency checks / full repository gate
npm run check:quick
npm run check

# Full-stack E2E (no mocks) — from repo root
npm test
npm run test:modules

# Focused package suite
npm run test:module -- sorrel-hub

# Rust workspace
cargo test --workspace
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings
cargo fmt --all -- --check