Project
Raid
An open-source command-line tool that orchestrates distributed application development — managing repositories, environments, dependencies, and testing across multi-repo codebases from a single configurable YAML system.
- Type
- Developer Tooling
- Status
- Approaching v1.0
- Years
- -
- CLI
- Go
- Open-Source
- DevOps
- MCP
Raid is a configurable command-line application that orchestrates common development tasks, environments, and dependencies across distributed code repositories.
The Problem
Modern software development often spans multiple repositories, each with its own environments, dependencies, and configurations. Keeping everything aligned — especially across a team — relies on manual processes, tribal knowledge, and scattered scripts that are easy to miss and hard to maintain.
The Solution
Raid brings it all together under one tool. Define your repositories, environments, and dependencies once in a YAML Profile, and Raid handles the rest: cloning repos, spinning up environments, running tests in parallel, and executing custom commands — anywhere, anytime.
Key Features
- Repository Management — automates cloning, syncing, and dependency tracking across repos
- Environment Management — consistent local environments via
.envfiles and Docker support - Parallel Test Execution — runs tests across all repos concurrently and aggregates results
- Custom Commands — typed task primitives (Shell, Script, HTTP, Wait, Group, Git, Prompt, Confirm, Set, Print, Template) so workflows compose without becoming a scripting language
- Agent-native via MCP — every command and resource is exposed to AI agents (Claude, Cursor, etc.) through a Model Context Protocol server, so agents work inside a Raid workspace as naturally as a human does
- Opt-in telemetry, transparent — no events leave the user's machine without explicit consent;
raid telemetry previewshows the exact JSON payload before you agree to anything - Declarative YAML config — portable, self-documenting profiles that travel with the project
- Single binary, cross-platform — macOS, Linux, Windows; same YAML, same behavior, no daemon
Built With
Go, Cobra CLI, MCP server (mark3labs/mcp-go), GoReleaser for cross-platform release builds, distributed via a Homebrew tap (8bitalex/tap).
Read More
- Building Raid: A Technical Deep Dive — the full retrospective: architecture, key design decisions (including agent-native MCP integration), what I'd do differently, and the path to v1.0
- Raid: A Tool for Orchestrating Distributed Application Development — the original design proposal that kicked off the open-source rewrite