Repo-native coordination for AI-assisted research and engineering. A WonderForge project for the upcoming CapstanAI ecosystem.
Most AI work starts in a blank room.
A fresh chat does not know what happened before. A coding agent may follow a task too narrowly. A browser AI may lose the thread. A local model may need the same context rebuilt by hand. Ordinary context files can help, but they often become instruction blobs: useful in small doses, brittle when they grow.
LabNote gives your AI a room with labels on the drawers.
It is a lightweight repo-based notebook and coordination layer for humans working with AI assistants, coding agents, local models, and browser-based AI sessions. It gives each AI a deterministic lobby to enter, clear rules to read, fixed places to write, tagging conventions to follow, and stop-points where it must ask the human what to do next.
LabNote is not a heavyweight local agent stack.
No daemon. No database. No repo-resident agent. No model API keys. No custom model training. No shared-memory theatre.
Just ordinary repo files, structured so AI contributors can preserve the research signal across fresh sessions, model switches, agent handoffs, critiques, reviews, and long-running projects.
Once LabNote is set up, you can ask an AI or agent to do things like:
Put this document in my LabNote repo and cross-reference it with [document name].
Leave a critique for [AI/Agent name] about [document name].
Register this report, tag it properly, and leave a short completion note.
LabNote gives the AI enough structure to act, and enough constraint to stop guessing.
The basic pattern is:
Human or AI creates a packet
↓
Packet goes into the right inbox
↓
A receiving AI session reads only what it needs
↓
The receiving session writes a response
↓
The response is reviewed
↓
The decision is recorded
Each handoff leaves a clear trail:
packet → response → review → decision
A good handoff carries: source, status, tags, linked references, contributor identity, signoff, and a next action or stop condition.
- Click Use this template to create your own private or controlled LabNote workspace.
- Open
AI_ENTRYPOINT.mdand hand it to your AI session as the starting point. - Follow the lobby —
lobby/README_FIRST.md→lobby/VISITOR_CHECKLIST.md→lobby/ROUTINE_DEPOSIT_QUICKSTART.md.
See docs/quickstart.md for a full walkthrough.
- Preserve research signal across AI sessions, tools, models, and handoffs.
- Reduce task tunnel vision by giving agents fixed routes, not vague vibes.
- Control completion pressure with ask-gates, stop-points, signoffs, and human review.
- Keep handoffs auditable through packets, responses, reviews, decisions, and signoffs.
- Use tag hygiene from the start with clear conventions and a proposal path for new tags.
- Stay repo-native and low-bloat: LabNote stores ordinary text records, not hidden runtime machinery.
- Avoid local-agent overhead: no daemon, database, API server, or background automation required.
- Work across tools: any AI or agent that can read and write repo files can participate.
- Keep the human in control: the operator remains the decision-maker.
AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, and similar context files are useful. LabNote can work alongside them.
But LabNote is solving a different problem.
A normal agent context file usually tells an AI about a repository: how to run tests, where key files live, what style to follow, and what commands to use. That can help, but it can also turn into a long instruction blob. As the file grows, the agent may spend more time exploring, rereading, testing, and satisfying extra requirements instead of cleanly completing the task.
LabNote is not just a bigger context file.
LabNote gives the AI a structured workflow:
- where to enter
- what to read first
- where to deposit work
- how to tag it
- how to leave a signoff
- how to hand work to another AI
- when to stop and ask the human
The difference is simple:
| Ordinary agent context file | LabNote |
|---|---|
| Tells the AI about the repo | Gives the AI a route through the work |
| Can become a large instruction blob | Uses nested, role-specific instructions |
| Often focuses on task execution | Also handles handoffs, review, provenance, and stop-points |
| May increase exploration and context load | Keeps work bounded through packet routes and ask-gates |
| Usually lives as one file | Uses a small repo structure, templates, registry records, and signoffs |
| Helps one agent orient itself | Helps many AI sessions coordinate over time |
AGENTS.md can tell an AI what kind of project it is in.
LabNote tells the AI how to behave inside the project.
-
Human-held authority LabNote supports the human-in-the-loop. It does not replace them.
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Deterministic entry Every AI enters through the lobby, reads the same rules, and follows the same route.
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Bounded action The AI gets fixed targets, allowed paths, stop conditions, and ask-gates.
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Traceable work Documents, critiques, tags, decisions, handoffs, and signoffs leave a clear trail.
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Growth without bloat LabNote can grow into richer workflows without requiring a local daemon, database, model install, or repo-resident agent.
- Lobby system for AI and human contributors.
- Noticeboard for contributor messages and review requests.
- Contributor lookup and visit records.
- Packet, response, review, and signoff templates.
- JSON-per-record activity and packet registry.
- Dynamic tagging conventions with hygiene rules.
- Proposal path for new tags.
- Cross-reference-friendly document storage.
- Growth paths for future CapstanAI modules.
CapstanAI LabNote is not:
- an autonomous agent framework
- a background runner
- a shared-memory system
- a replacement for human judgement
- a secret automation layer
- a place to store credentials, private keys, tokens, or sensitive raw dumps
The human remains the decision-maker.
AI assistants may contribute, review, critique, and respond. The operator steers the ship.
CapstanAI LabNote is a public template and reference scaffold.
Do not store private runtime deposits, transcripts, credentials, private visitor records, or project-specific corpora in this public template repo.
For live use, create or use your own private or controlled LabNote workspace.
In a controlled live workspace, routine deposits may write directly to the default branch.
Branches and pull requests are reserved for:
- procedure changes
- policy changes
- code changes
- structural changes
- cleanup
- risky or bulky imports
- many existing-file edits
- explicit review
Canonical registry records are JSON-per-record under registry/.
CSV registries, if present, are legacy or optional rollups.
AI_ENTRYPOINT.md
Canonical AI visitor start point.
bridge_config.json
Machine-readable public-template policy.
bridge_protocol/
Packet and response formats.
lobby/
Visitor registration, check-in rules, and routine deposit quickstart.
messages/
Directed messages between AI sessions.
notifications/
Relay notes for the human operator.
registry/
JSON-per-record registry files; CSV files, if present, are legacy/optional rollups.
templates/
Copy-ready packet, response, visitor, message, and review templates.
examples/
Fictional example packets and handoffs.
docs/
Plain-English guides including docs/quickstart.md and docs/REGISTRY_RECORDS.md.
archive/
Superseded or closed material.
CapstanAI LabNote is the ledger, not the warehouse.
Use this repository for small, inspectable text artifacts:
- packets
- responses
- templates
- registries
- protocols
- review notes
- signoffs
Do not use this repository for:
- large raw data
- private files
- credentials
- logs
- bulky archives
- long private transcripts
- unreviewed sensitive dumps
For live work, use a private or controlled LabNote workspace. Keep bulky or private material outside this public template repo.
Current release: v0.2.0 - CapstanAI Identity Migration
Current focus:
- manual handoffs
- traceable AI session coordination
- visitor/session identity
- message routing
- human review
- clean provenance
- tag hygiene
- bounded workflow routes
CapstanAI may later grow a richer deterministic layer, along with relay, vault, and protocol modules. LabNote begins as the simplest useful ledger.
packets, provenance, replies, and decisions
Mind the gap. Mark the crossing.
Apache License 2.0.