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Foreman (GitHub Repo)

Foreman (GitHub Repo)

Tech devopsai GitHub
Foreman is a new software factory template that automates the development lifecycle using specialized AI agents at each stage.
What: Developed by Vercel-labs, Foreman uses agents to classify, analyze, implement, and review code from GitHub or Linear tasks. Each agent operates independently with its own instructions and sandbox, producing draft PRs for human developers to review and merge.
Why it matters: Foreman exemplifies the transition of 'AI agents' from chat interfaces into structured, multi-step engineering pipelines that prioritize human judgment for final verification while automating the grunt work of development.
Takeaway: Deploy Foreman to your Vercel project to experiment with automated PR generation for GitHub issues.
Deep dive
  • Pipeline includes four stations: Classifier, Analyst, Implementer, and Reviewer.
  • Implements a 'factory brain' to maintain repository context across multiple runs.
  • Supports GitHub and Linear integration.
  • Implements security by keeping local development runs in an untrusted state until authorized.
  • Reviewer agent provides independent verification against actual diffs.
Decoder
  • Software factory: A metaphor for an automated CI/CD pipeline where AI agents perform discrete, repeatable steps in the software development lifecycle.
Original article

eve Software Factory Template

Meet Foreman, an eve software factory that puts AI agents on every stage of the development loop and keeps people on the judgment calls.

Foreman takes tasks from GitHub and Linear, moves each one through four stations, and delivers a reviewed draft pull request on your repository. You review, mark ready, and merge.

How it works

  • Classifier triages the task: type, priority, complexity, actionable or not. When the task isn't actionable, Foreman asks the requester instead of building the wrong thing.
  • Analyst turns it into a plan with acceptance criteria, working from a live checkout of your repository.
  • Implementer executes the plan in its own sandbox, verifies with your repo's own checks, and pushes a branch.
  • Reviewer independently judges everything against the real diff, with evidence for each verdict.

Each station is its own agent with its own instructions, sandbox, and tools. The Reviewer sees only the pushed branch, never the Implementer's reasoning. Between runs, Foreman keeps a factory brain: notes about your repository that every run starts from. See the pipeline and factory memory for the full picture.

How work arrives

  • Label an issue factory. The pipeline runs on its own, posts progress as stations complete, and ends with a draft PR linked to the issue.
  • @mention it on an issue or PR. Mentions from repo owners, members, and collaborators start an interactive session.
  • Delegate in Linear. Linear Agent Sessions run the same pipeline and report progress back in Linear.
  • The dev TUI. Hand it a task locally. Changes to GitHub wait for your approval.
  • Red CI on a factory PR. Foreman diagnoses the failure and pushes a fix to its own branches, never yours.
  • Someone opens a pull request. Foreman posts one orienting comment for reviewers: a summary, not a review.

Deploy

The Vercel deploy flow sets up everything: the GitHub connector, Linear connector, Vercel Blob store, and a prompt for the FACTORY_REPO and FACTORY_LABEL environment variables.

Configuration (see .env.example):

Variable Required Default What it does
FACTORY_REPO Yes — The owner/repo the factory works on (the build fails without it)
FACTORY_SETUP_COMMAND No — Runs once inside the sandbox checkout at build time (e.g. pnpm install), so every run starts with dependencies already installed
FACTORY_LABEL No factory The issue label that hands an issue to the factory
FACTORY_BRANCH_PREFIX No factory/ Branch prefix marking the factory's own PRs, which are the only branches automated CI fixes touch
FACTORY_BOT_NAME No the GitHub App's slug The @mention name, resolved from the connector automatically when unset
GITHUB_CONNECTOR / LINEAR_CONNECTOR Yes — Set automatically from Vercel Connect connector UIDs

Local development

Link the project you deployed (or a fresh one), pull its environment, and start the TUI:

vercel link
vercel env pull
pnpm dev

Hand the agent a task ("users report the password reset email arrives twice, fix it") and watch the four stations fire in order, ending in a draft PR on FACTORY_REPO. Local runs are treated as untrusted, so changes to GitHub wait for your approval in the TUI.

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