What Nightshift is

What it actually is

Nightshift is a single compiled binary with no runtime dependencies. You put it on your PATH and run it from inside a project. It reads a file called nightshift.yaml that describes a fleet of roles, and then it runs those roles on their schedules.

Nightshift is the harness, not the intelligence. It supplies structure: schedules, verification, memory, policy, budgets and isolation. Your agent CLI supplies the judgement, and your own MCP connectors supply reach into anything outside the repository.

It is not only a coding tool

A fleet covers the work that moves a goal, which is rarely only code. Five roles work purely on local files and need nothing but a signed-in agent CLI:

• orchestrator: reads what happened and decides what matters next
• engineer: implements the highest-value unfinished task
• planner: compares what shipped against the goal and cuts what is not working
• content: writes blog posts, landing copy and changelog entries as files
• research: tracks competitors and the market, appending dated findings

Five more reach outside the repository through connectors you configure yourself:

• social: drafts posts through your own social connector
• outreach: finds prospects and drafts one message each
• support: reads unanswered messages and drafts replies
• ads: reviews performance and reports what to change
• finance: reads revenue data and writes a report, read-only always

Requirements

• Claude Code or Codex installed and signed in. Both work, and one fleet can use both.
• git, for worktree isolation and safe merges.
• Optionally, MCP connectors for anything outside your repository.

Check everything at once before you start. Doctor reports which CLIs it found and their versions, whether you are in a git repository, which connectors are configured, and which features each provider will not honour.

nightshift doctor

Install and first run

1. 1

   Download the binary for your platform

   Get it from the Nightshift page in your dashboard. Builds exist for macOS on Apple silicon and Intel, Linux on x86_64 and arm64, and Windows.

2. 2

   Put it on your PATH

   Make it executable and move it somewhere on your PATH. Verify the download against the published SHA256SUMS file first if you want.

3. 3

   Run doctor from inside your project

   This confirms your agent CLI is installed and signed in, and tells you what will and will not work.

4. 4

   Design the fleet

   One command spends a single agent call producing nightshift.yaml for your project.

5. 5

   Read the file before running anything

   nightshift.yaml is the complete description of what will happen on your machine. It is meant to be edited.

chmod +x nightshift-darwin-arm64
sudo mv nightshift-darwin-arm64 /usr/local/bin/nightshift

cd /path/to/your/project
nightshift doctor
nightshift init "grow this SaaS to 50 paying customers"
nightshift validate
nightshift run engineer      # try a single role
nightshift serve             # run everything on its cadence

Every command

nightshift init "<goal>"      Design a fleet for this project
nightshift init --template    Scaffold the default fleet, no planning call
nightshift validate           Check nightshift.yaml, show the schedule
nightshift run <role>         Run one role now, verified by its gates
nightshift run --all          Run every enabled role once
nightshift serve              Run roles on their cadences until interrupted
nightshift serve --once       Run whatever is due now, then exit
nightshift serve --dry-run    Show what would run, run nothing
nightshift status             What each role last did, and what is next
nightshift doctor             Check CLIs, git and connectors
nightshift import --csv FILE  Convert a legacy prompts.csv

Ctrl-C shuts down cleanly, terminating the agent and everything it spawned.

What it writes to your project

nightshift.yaml           the fleet, yours to edit
CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md     recent history, bounded, inside markers
.nightshift/
  state.ndjson            the run log: every attempt, gate and outcome
  briefs/ strategy.md     orchestrator and planner output
  content/ research/      drafts and findings
  reports/ outbox/        reports and unsent drafts
  worktrees/              isolated checkouts, transient

The .nightshift directory is git-ignored and holds no credentials. In your memory files, everything outside the nightshift:begin and nightshift:end markers is left alone, so your own notes survive.