🧠 Cortex: The Multi-Agent Operating System

Cortex is a high-performance, local-first multi-agent orchestration framework built in C++20. It's not just a wrapper; it's an environment where agents live, think, and collaborate via a low-latency messaging bus.

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⚡ Quick Start (One-Line Install)

Get up and running on Linux in seconds:

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Sriyush/CortexCLI/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

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🚀 Key Features

🎙️ Advanced Orchestration

• Orchestration Agent: A "Manager" agent that breaks down tasks and delegates them to specialized workers.
• Dynamic Delegation: Agents can assign sub-tasks to each other, forming a hierarchy of intelligence.
• Robust Tool Detection: Intelligent parsing of agent responses, handling strict JSON fences or raw output.

🛠️ Native Tool Execution

• File I/O: read_file and write_file (with automatic parent directory creation).
• Shell Power: run_shell allows agents to execute bash commands directly.
• Structured JSON: All tool calls follow a strict schema for reliability.

🕵️ Centralized Intelligence Logging

• Thread-Safe Logging: Real-time activity tracking to logs.txt from all agents.
• System Redirection: Captures ALL console output (stdout/stderr) into the log file for full auditability.
• cortex logs: Dedicated command to view/monitor agent activities and tool results.

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📖 Command Reference

Cortex provides a rich CLI for managing agents, models, and workflows.

1. Global Flags

Flag	Description
-d, --dashboard	Launches the real-time TUI dashboard.
--version	Shows the current version of Cortex CLI.
-m, --model <name>	Selects the LLM model for the specific command.
--provider <name>	Sets the provider (ollama, openai, gemini, claude).
--ollama-url <url>	Sets the Ollama API endpoint (default: http://localhost:11434).

2. Task Execution

# Run a single task with an agent
cortex run "Create a new folder 'scaffold' and add a main.cpp" -a qween

# Optional: Save the agent's response to an output file
cortex run "Explain quantum computing" -o quantum.md

3. Agent Management (cortex agent)

Command	Description
create <name> <type>	Creates a new agent (Types: researcher, coder, critic, generic).
list	Lists all agents and their types.
start <name>	Boots up an agent process.
stop <name>	Safely shuts down an agent.
delete <name>	Removes an agent from the environment.

4. Intel & Monitoring

# View last 50 lines of system logs
cortex logs

# Filter logs for a specific agent
cortex logs qween

# Clearing the audit trail
cortex logs --clear

5. Multi-Agent Workflows

Coordinate multiple agents on complex topics or goals.

# Start a live debate between agents
cortex debate start --topic "C++ vs Rust" -p Alice -p Bob

# End all active debates
cortex debate stop

# Team-based goal execution
cortex work -g "Design a high-performance ZMQ bus" -a Alice,Bob

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🏗 Architecture

Cortex uses a Hub-and-Spoke messaging architecture powered by ZeroMQ.

graph TD
    CLI[Cortex CLI] <--> Bus[ZMQ Message Bus]
    Bus <--> Orchestrator[Orchestrator Agent]
    Orchestrator -- delegates --> Coder[Coder Agent]
    Orchestrator -- delegates --> Researcher[Researcher Agent]
    
    subgraph "Agent Core"
        Coder --> Tools[Tools: Shell/File]
        Coder --> Memory[(SQLite Memory)]
        Coder --> LLM[LLM: Ollama/OpenAI]
    end

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🛠 Build from Source

Prerequisites

• CMake (>= 3.20)
• GCC (>= 11)
• ZeroMQ, SQLite3, OpenSSL

Build

mkdir -p build && cd build
cmake ..
make -j$(nproc)

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🗑️ Uninstallation

To completely remove Cortex CLI and its configuration:

bash ~/.cortex/CortexCLI/scripts/uninstall.sh

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🔄 Updating

To update Cortex CLI to the latest version, simply re-run the installation command:

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Sriyush/CortexCLI/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

The script will detect your existing installation and perform a git pull followed by a fresh build.

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📡 Roadmap

• Phase 1: ZeroMQ Bus & Ollama Core Integration
• Phase 2: Persistent Memory & Per-Agent LLM Config
• Phase 3: Structured JSON Message Schemas
• Phase 4: Advanced Logging & Shell/File Tool Execution
• Phase 5: Multi-Agent Task Orchestration & Delegation
• Phase 6: Agent Memory (SQLite + Vector Embeddings)
• Phase 7: PID-based Process Management & Cluster Control
• Phase 8: Extension SDK (Python) & Plugin Ecosystem

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📄 License

MIT © 2026 Cortex CLI Team