Intendant

Multi-stack project governance framework — handbook + auditor + scaffolder + portfolio report.

Intendant materializes project management standards (workflows, CI, releases, quality, security, architecture) in a form that is both human-readable (handbook + ADRs) and machine-executable (CLI). A single .intendant.toml at a repo root tells the auditor which stack applies and which rules are exempted; the scaffolder bootstraps a fully compliant repo from scratch.

Status

Stable (see CHANGELOG). 83 rules across 7 stacks (python, claude-skill, node, rust, go, swift, dotnet), 795 tests. Multi-language sub-projects supported via [[subprojects]] in .intendant.toml (see Multi-stack repositories). The intendant CLI ships init, audit, explain, new, report, doctor, and mcp (optional MCP server for agents).

Installation

# PyPI / uv tool (recommended)
uv tool install intendant

# Editable from source
uv tool install --editable <path-to-clone>

Quickstart

Adopt intendant on an existing repo

cd <your-repo>
intendant init           # writes .intendant.toml and docs skeleton
intendant audit .        # human report

Audit a single repo

intendant audit .                          # full report, human-readable
intendant audit . --severity=required      # exit 1 on required failures
intendant audit . --format=json            # for CI or scripting
intendant audit . --format=md              # for PR comments
intendant audit . --fix --dry-run          # preview auto-fixes
intendant audit . --fix                    # apply auto-fixes

Bootstrap a new project

# Python package
intendant new my-lib --stack=python --description="..." --author="..."

# Claude Code skill
intendant new my-skill --stack=claude-skill --description="..."

# Node package
intendant new my-pkg --stack=node --description="..."

# Rust crate
intendant new my-crate --stack=rust --description="..."

# Go module
intendant new my-svc --stack=go --description="..."

# Swift (SwiftPM library, package + Sources + Tests + swiftlint + CI)
intendant new my-pkg --stack=swift --description="..."

# .NET (C# library, csproj + xunit test project + .editorconfig + CI)
intendant new my-lib --stack=dotnet --description="..."

# After scaffolding
cd my-lib
uv sync && uv run pre-commit install
intendant audit . --severity=required      # should exit 0

Multi-stack repositories

A repo can host several sub-projects in different languages. Declare each one via [[subprojects]] in .intendant.toml:

[intendant]
version = "1"
enforcement = "strict"

[[subprojects]]
name = "backend"
path = "services/api"
stack = "python"

[[subprojects]]
name = "frontend"
path = "apps/web"
stack = "node"
role = "frontend"   # presentation-only: test-presence rules auto-skip

[[subprojects]]
name = "agent-skill"
path = "skills/triage"
stack = "claude-skill"

Each sub-project is audited independently — only transverse rules and its own stack's rules apply. Exemptions can be scoped to a single sub-project with [exemptions.<name>]:

[exemptions.backend]
PYTHON_QU002 = "Ruff config inherited from monorepo root, not duplicated here"

For single-stack repos, prefer auto-detection (omit stack) or pin once with [intendant] stack = "<name>". See the Multi-stack handbook page for the resolution model, field constraints, and scoped-exemption semantics.

Cross-repo portfolio report

intendant report <portfolio-root>               # human table
intendant report <portfolio-root> --format=json # machine-readable
intendant report <portfolio-root> --save-snapshot
intendant report <portfolio-root> --diff        # compare to last snapshot
intendant report <portfolio-root> --against snapshots/2026-04-01.json

Inspect a rule

intendant explain PYTHON_LO001       # handbook entry + linked ADR
intendant explain --all              # table of all 83 rules

Health check

intendant doctor     # verify install integrity

Coverage

83 rules total. Transverse rules apply to every stack; adapter rules apply only to the declared stack.

Transverse (24 rules)

Family	Prefix	Count	Examples
Docs & governance	DG	5	README, CLAUDE.md, ADRs, LICENSE, specs local-only
Layout	LO	2	docs/ directory, orphan nested stack roots
Releases	RL	6	CHANGELOG, conventional commits, release-please, SemVer, branch protection, App-token release
CI	CI	4	workflow present, commit-msg check, caching, SHA-pinned actions
Quality	QU	1	configured tools actually run in CI
Sanitizing	SA	5	pre-commit baseline, gitleaks, .env.example, .gitignore, update automation
Tests	TS	1	regression_tests/ (when applicable)

Python adapter (14 rules — prefix PYTHON_)

Covers layout (PYTHON_LO), packaging (PYTHON_PK), quality (PYTHON_QU), and tests (PYTHON_TS).

Claude Skill adapter (8 rules — prefix CLAUDE_SKILL_)

Covers SKILL.md presence and frontmatter, evals/, referenced directories, and README install path.

Node adapter (8 rules — prefix NODE_)

Covers packaging (NODE_PK), quality (NODE_QU), tests (NODE_TS), CI (NODE_CI), and sanitizing (NODE_SA).

Rust adapter (8 rules — prefix RUST_)

Covers packaging (RUST_PK: Cargo.toml/lock, edition), quality (RUST_QU: toolchain pin), tests (RUST_TS: #[test] annotations), CI (RUST_CI: cargo fmt/clippy/test), and sanitizing (RUST_SA: target/ in .gitignore, cargo-deny/cargo-audit scanning).

Go adapter (7 rules — prefix GO_)

Covers packaging (GO_PK: go.mod/go.sum, go directive), quality (GO_QU: golangci-lint config), tests (GO_TS: *_test.go with func Test*), CI (GO_CI: vet/build + test + lint), and sanitizing (GO_SA: *.test in .gitignore).

Swift adapter (7 rules — prefix SWIFT_)

Covers packaging (SWIFT_PK: Package.swift/.resolved, swift-tools-version), quality (SWIFT_QU: swiftlint/swiftformat config), tests (SWIFT_TS: Tests/**/*.swift with func test*/XCTestCase/@Test), CI (SWIFT_CI: swift build/test + lint), and sanitizing (SWIFT_SA: .build/ and xcuserdata/ in .gitignore).

.NET adapter (7 rules — prefix DOTNET_)

Covers packaging (DOTNET_PK: .csproj with TargetFramework, packages.lock.json), quality (DOTNET_QU: nullable reference types, .editorconfig), tests (DOTNET_TS: xunit/NUnit/MSTest test project), CI (DOTNET_CI: dotnet format/build/test), and sanitizing (DOTNET_SA: bin/ and obj/ in .gitignore).

Rule IDs were renamed in v0.2.0 (e.g. LO001 → PYTHON_LO001). See docs/migrations/0.2.0-rule-prefix-rename.md to update .intendant.toml exemptions.

MCP server

Intendant ships an optional MCP server so any MCP-compatible agent (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, …) can query governance state directly.

Install with the extra:

uv tool install 'intendant[mcp]'

Then register the server in your MCP client. Example for Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "intendant": {
      "command": "intendant",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Five tools are exposed: audit_repo, explain_rule, list_rules, report_portfolio, diff_portfolio. All return JSON-serializable payloads matching the schemas of the corresponding CLI commands.

Documentation

• Handbook — charter + all 83 rules with rationale.
• Multi-stack repositories — [[subprojects]] syntax and scoped exemptions.
• ADRs — justified architecture decisions.
• Migrations — upgrade guides between major versions.

Roadmap

Future paliers: portfolio polish, additional adapters as needed.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.