Agent skill

Tessera CLI

by horang-labs in horang-labs/tessera

Operate Tessera-managed Projects, Worktrees, and Sessions through the injected version-matched control CLI.

AGPL-3.0Auto-check passedDevelopment

Install Tessera CLI

skills CLI
$ npx skills add horang-labs/tessera --skill tessera-cli -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install horang-labs/tessera tessera-cli --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/horang-labs/tessera.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/tessera-cli .claude/skills/tessera-cli && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
tessera-cli
GitHub stars
311
Token cost
~1.6k tokens
SKILL.md length
799 words
Files
2
Skills in repo
1
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
AGPL-3.0

At a glance

Operate Tessera-managed Projects, Worktrees, and Sessions through the injected version-matched control CLI.

  • Works in 3 steps: Check that both TESSERA_ENV=1 and a… → Treat TESSERA_CLI_COMMAND as one… → Confirm the exact runtime and caller…
  • An agent running inside Tessera needs to inspect its caller context
  • SKILL.md covers Establish the managed context, Select resources safely, Launch and observe a Session and Archive a Session
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Tessera CLI is an agent skill from horang-labs/tessera. Operate Tessera-managed Projects, Worktrees, and Sessions through the injected version-matched control CLI. Use when an agent running inside Tessera needs to inspect its caller context, create an isolated Worktree, launch or observe a Session, send a follow-up at a known input boundary, or stop a live runtime.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.6k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 2 other files (for example `agents/openai.yaml`).

It sits in Development, covering Git worktrees. The repository describes itself as: Tessera — a workspace for organizing AI coding sessions across projects, collections, tabs, panes, and Git worktrees. The licence is AGPL-3.0.

When your agent uses it

  • An agent running inside Tessera needs to inspect its caller context
  • Create an isolated Worktree
  • Observe a Session
  • Send a follow-up at a known input boundary

Example prompts

  • “/tessera-cli”

Workflow steps

3 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Check that both TESSERA_ENV=1 and a non-empty TESSERA_CLI_COMMAND are present. If either check fails, stop and explain that this is not a…
  2. Treat TESSERA_CLI_COMMAND as one executable path. Quote it for every invocation and never pass it through eval or split it into shell words.
  3. Confirm the exact runtime and caller context before changing resources

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 0ccaf51. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are bash).

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Tessera CLI loads about 1.6k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 81 tokens; SKILL.md has 799 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~81
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.6k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from horang-labs/tessera at commit 0ccaf51, republished under its AGPL-3.0 licence (© horang-labs). 799 words, ~1,644 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/tessera-cli/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 1 other file; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
tessera-cli
description
Operate Tessera-managed Projects, Worktrees, and Sessions through the injected version-matched control CLI. Use when an agent running inside Tessera needs to inspect its caller context, create an isolated Worktree, launch or observe a Session, send a follow-up at a known input boundary, or stop a live runtime.

Tessera CLI

Use Tessera's injected CLI only as a low-level resource-control interface. Keep the user's purpose and success criteria outside Tessera's resource model.

Establish the managed context

  1. Check that both TESSERA_ENV=1 and a non-empty TESSERA_CLI_COMMAND are present. If either check fails, stop and explain that this is not a Tessera-managed Session.
  2. Treat TESSERA_CLI_COMMAND as one executable path. Quote it for every invocation and never pass it through eval or split it into shell words.
  3. Confirm the exact runtime and caller context before changing resources:
sh
"$TESSERA_CLI_COMMAND" status --json

Use structured data and error objects instead of scraping human-readable output. Use the bridge's version-matched --help at the relevant command level when syntax is unclear; do not infer unsupported flags or rely on this skill as an exhaustive command reference. Never search for runtime descriptors, endpoints, ports, or credentials.

Select resources safely

  • Use --current only when TESSERA_PROJECT_ID was injected and status --json confirms that Project in the caller context.
  • Otherwise select an existing Project by its exact ID. Display names and filesystem paths are not selectors.
  • Create a Worktree only with an explicit new branch name and explicit start point. Never infer either value from the current shell, Project defaults, or UI state.
  • Save the returned worktreeId and use that exact opaque ID for every later Worktree or Session operation.
  • Save the returned sessionId and use that exact opaque ID for every later Session operation.
  • Do not prompt, send keys to, stop, or otherwise change a pre-existing Worktree or Session unless the user explicitly directs that change.

Create an isolated Worktree with explicit Git inputs:

sh
"$TESSERA_CLI_COMMAND" worktree create --current \
  -b "$new_branch" "$start_point" --json

If --current is unavailable, use --project "$project_id" with an exact observed Project ID. If preparation fails, preserve the returned resource information, stop the autonomous recipe, and report the structured error. Continue past preparation failure only when the user explicitly requests recovery.

Launch and observe a Session

Choose an explicit provider ID; do not silently inherit the caller's provider. When the user explicitly chooses a Claude Code or Codex model or effort, pass it with --model and --effort; otherwise omit both options so the provider's own defaults remain in effect. For Codex, pass --fast or --no-fast only when the user explicitly chooses that service tier. Do not invent a model, effort, or service tier on the user's behalf. For a multiline initial prompt, prefer stdin so shell quoting cannot alter the content:

sh
"$TESSERA_CLI_COMMAND" session launch \
  --worktree "$worktree_id" \
  --provider "$provider_id" \
  --model "$model_id" \
  --effort "$effort" \
  --prompt-file - \
  --json <<'TESSERA_PROMPT'
<initial instructions>
TESSERA_PROMPT

When the user explicitly selects a Codex service tier, add exactly one of --fast or --no-fast to that command.

The same --model, --effort, --fast, and --no-fast options are accepted by session create; the stored selection is applied later by session start and reapplied when the provider conversation resumes. Model and effort selection currently apply only to claude-code and codex. Fast selection applies only to codex; --no-fast is an explicit opt-out and is not equivalent to omitting both flags.

Use --no-prompt only when an intentionally empty interactive Session is required. Use --allow-preparation-failure only for the explicit recovery case described above.

Show full SKILL.md (307 more words)Show less

Wait for an observable lifecycle boundary and then read the current screen:

sh
"$TESSERA_CLI_COMMAND" session wait "$session_id" \
  --for turn-complete --json
"$TESSERA_CLI_COMMAND" session read "$session_id" --json

turn-complete means only that the provider ended its current response. It is not proof that the requested work succeeded. Inspect the returned output and the Worktree repository state, including relevant diffs and verification results, before deciding what to report or whether another prompt is needed.

Send follow-up text through the Session prompt operation, preferably from stdin when multiline:

sh
"$TESSERA_CLI_COMMAND" session prompt "$session_id" --file - --json <<'TESSERA_PROMPT'
<follow-up instructions>
TESSERA_PROMPT

Use session send-keys only after session read or session wait shows a specific input or permission boundary. A visible permission prompt is not authorization: obtain user approval before sending a key that grants authority beyond the user's existing request. Send only documented named keys such as enter, escape, or ctrl-c; never use it as a general terminal-input channel.

Stop a live runtime only when the user requests it or the user-approved operation requires cancellation:

sh
"$TESSERA_CLI_COMMAND" session stop "$session_id" --json

After any non-zero response, read the structured error code and details, consult version-matched help if needed, and avoid speculative recovery that would change existing resources.

Archive a Session

Archive an exact Session ID when the user requests it or the authorized work includes retiring that Session:

sh
"$TESSERA_CLI_COMMAND" session archive "$session_id" --json

Archive stops the Session's backing runtimes and preserves its conversation and Worktree, including when it is the Worktree's last Session. Siblings remain active. session stop only stops a runtime; it does not archive the Session.

An archived Session leaves the normal CLI list and cannot be shown, started, read, or prompted through that active Session interface. Repeating archive on the known ID is supported while its parent Worktree remains active; the existing app UI handles restore. A child of an archived Worktree cannot be archived independently.

Have the parent archive a worker after inspecting its result. Self-archive can terminate the invoking runtime before it receives the response. Never archive a pre-existing Session outside the user's authorized scope.

© horang-labs, AGPL-3.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 1 other file in skills/tessera-cli of horang-labs/tessera.

  • SKILL.md
  • agents/openai.yaml

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 0ccaf51

Compare with similar skills

Tessera CLI next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Tessera CLI compared with similar skills
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Migrate Core Code to Submodulestinyhumansai/openhuman42k—~2.6kAutomated safety check: PassGPL-3.0
Finishing A Development Branchfarm-fe/farm5.6k34 repos~1.8kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Git Worktree Cleanuplobehub/lobehub83k—~2.8kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence
Keep Codex Fastvibeforge1111/keep-codex-fast1.6k—~3.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Categories

Questions about Tessera CLI

What does Tessera CLI do?

Operate Tessera-managed Projects, Worktrees, and Sessions through the injected version-matched control CLI. Tessera CLI is an agent skill from horang-labs/tessera. Operate Tessera-managed Projects, Worktrees, and Sessions through the injected version-matched control CLI.

When should I use Tessera CLI?

Tessera CLI fits situations like: an agent running inside Tessera needs to inspect its caller context; create an isolated Worktree; observe a Session; send a follow-up at a known input boundary.

How do I install Tessera CLI in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add horang-labs/tessera --skill tessera-cli -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/tessera-cli in horang-labs/tessera) into .claude/skills/tessera-cli in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Tessera CLI in Codex?

Run `npx skills add horang-labs/tessera --skill tessera-cli -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/tessera-cli in horang-labs/tessera) into .agents/skills/tessera-cli in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Tessera CLI in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add horang-labs/tessera --skill tessera-cli -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/tessera-cli, .gemini/skills/tessera-cli, .github/skills/tessera-cli and .opencode/skills/tessera-cli in your project.

What does Tessera CLI need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Tessera CLI is instructions for the agent only.

Does Tessera CLI access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Tessera CLI safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Tessera CLI use?

Tessera CLI is published under the AGPL-3.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Tessera CLI use?

About 1.6k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 6.6k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Tessera CLI?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Tessera CLI: Finishing a Development Branch (obra/superpowers, 297k stars), Migrate Core Code to Submodules (tinyhumansai/openhuman, 42k stars), Finishing A Development Branch (farm-fe/farm, 5.6k stars) and Git Worktree Cleanup (lobehub/lobehub, 83k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Tessera CLI?

horang-labs (a GitHub organization) maintains it in horang-labs/tessera, which has 311 GitHub stars. The repository was last updated on October 9, 2026.

Source: horang-labs/tessera on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.