agent-lease

Standards-enforcing validation gates for AI agents. Scans your codebase, learns your patterns, and blocks commits until validation passes. Not a replacement for lint/build/test. Those are deterministic — run them in CI. agent-lease catches everything else: the patterns linters miss, the standards PR reviewers enforce manually.

Installation

skills.sh (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor):

npx skills add chidev/agent-lease

ClawdHub (OpenClaw):

npx clawhub@latest install agent-lease

Then invoke:

"Use agent-lease to add standards-enforcing validation gates to this repo"

Workflow

Step 1: Scan

Read the project to understand what exists before configuring anything.

1. package.json — Read scripts (build, lint, test, typecheck), devDependencies, detect package manager (npm/pnpm/bun via lockfile)
2. Existing hooks — Check .husky/, lefthook.yml, .git/hooks/* for active hook systems
3. Configuration — Check for .agent-lease.json (already configured? skip to Step 4)
4. Standards — Read CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md for existing agent instructions and project standards
5. PR history — Run gh pr list --limit 5 --json title,url and check recent review comments for recurring feedback patterns

Step 2: Present Findings

Show the user what was discovered:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  AGENT-LEASE DISCOVERY                                       ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  Project: {name}          Package Manager: {pm}              ║
╠──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╣
║  EXISTING HOOKS                                              ║
║    {list hooks found, or "None detected"}                    ║
╠──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╣
║  DETERMINISTIC CHECKS (from package.json scripts)            ║
║    {list: lint, build, test, typecheck — mark found/missing} ║
╠──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╣
║  NON-DETERMINISTIC PATTERNS                                  ║
║    {from PR comments: "update changelog", "add tests", etc}  ║
║    {from CLAUDE.md: project standards found}                 ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Ask the user:

• Which standards should agent-lease enforce?
• Which deterministic checks to include as runners?
• Hook system preference? (use existing if found, husky by default, lefthook as option)

Step 3: Configure

1. Run npx agent-lease init — installs hooks (detects husky automatically, falls back to .git/hooks/)
2. Edit .agent-lease.json with runners based on user input:
   • Add deterministic runners (lint, build, test) with their actual commands from package.json
   • Add pattern runners (LLM review) if requested
3. Create .agent-lease/commit.md — template with standards the user chose, injected into LLM review prompts via {{standards}}
4. Create .agent-lease/push.md — template for push-phase review standards (if push runners configured)

Step 4: Show Dashboard

Display what was configured:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  AGENT-LEASE CONFIGURED                                      ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  Hook System: {husky | lefthook | .git/hooks}                ║
╠──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╣
║  COMMIT PHASE                                                ║
║    [deterministic] lint       {command}                       ║
║    [deterministic] typecheck  {command}                       ║
║    [pattern]       review     claude -p '...'                ║
╠──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╣
║  PUSH PHASE                                                  ║
║    [deterministic] test       {command}                       ║
╠──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╣
║  Templates: .agent-lease/commit.md, .agent-lease/push.md     ║
║  Config:    .agent-lease.json                                ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

CLI Reference

For AI Agents

When an agent attempts git commit:

1. Hook calls npx agent-lease commit → DENY: shows gate template with ⛔ --no-verify is FORBIDDEN header
2. Template shows configured runners and callback format
3. Agent runs each runner, captures output
4. Agent submits proof: npx agent-lease commit --audit-proof='## Validation Report\nRunner: lint\nStatus: PASS\nOutput: clean\n\nSummary: All passed.'
5. Lock releases, agent runs git commit again → hook calls agent-lease commit → sees proof → exit 0 → commit succeeds

The key: agents cannot skip validation. The lock persists until proof is submitted.

Template Variables

Available in runner command strings:

Adding Runners

Runners are defined in .agent-lease.json under "runners":

Deterministic (binary pass/fail):

{ "name": "lint", "command": "pnpm run lint", "on": "commit" }
{ "name": "test", "command": "pnpm test", "on": "push" }

Pattern (LLM review):

{
  "name": "haiku-review",
  "command": "claude -p 'Review against standards:\n{{diff}}'",
  "on": "commit",
  "llm": true
}

Each runner needs name, command, and on (which phase: "commit" or "push").