# Build brief — a focused alternative to Uncircle

> **Verdict:** Partly, if you narrow it · **Buildability:** 72/100 · **Category:** Dev Tools
> **Source:** https://www.canitbevibecoded.com/uncircle
> Independent editorial assessment from Can It Be Vibe Coded? Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or derived from Uncircle. Verify current pricing and capabilities before acting.

## Context

**Uncircle** — Native workspace that keeps repos, terminals, and CLI agents in one window. It currently costs Variable pricing.

The core loop · read a yml of processes from the repo, run them, stream logs into terminals, show status dots · is a genuine one-sitting build with node-pty and xterm.js, and mprocs already gives you most of it in a TUI for free. What does not one-shot is everything around it: a native window with tray and notifications, killing whole process trees without orphans on three OSes, crash auto-restart that does not flap, and signed auto-updating builds. And since the paid tier is $19 once rather than a subscription, the usual death-list math barely applies.

This brief describes a focused, single-operator replacement for the part of Uncircle that is genuinely reproducible. It is deliberately narrower than the product it replaces, and it says so in writing. Build the useful core; do not pretend to have rebuilt the rest.

## What you are building

A local web dashboard that starts and stops the processes defined in a repo's yml file and streams their logs into browser terminals.

- Build the focused developer workflow you use repeatedly, with local configuration.
- A responsive interface with real empty, loading, success, and error states.

## Requirements

### Non-functional

- Accessibility: semantic markup, labelled controls, visible focus, and reduced-motion support.
- Security: server-side secrets, validated input, and no credentials in the client bundle.
- Reliability: retries with backoff on external calls, and a clear failure state when a provider is down.
- Portability: the operator can export their data and leave without losing it.

## Implementation brief

Build me a local dev-stack dashboard like Uncircle. Requirements:

- Node 20 + Express + ws, single process, started as `devstack` from any repo
  folder; opens http://localhost:4680.
- Read a `stack.yml` in the repo root: list of processes with name, command,
  cwd (relative), and autostart flags. Include an example file.
- Run each process in a real PTY via node-pty and stream output over WebSocket
  into xterm.js terminals in the browser, one tab per process.
- Sidebar lists processes with green/red/grey status dots and buttons for
  start, stop, restart, plus Start all / Stop all. Stopping must kill the
  whole process tree · no orphaned children.
- If a process exits nonzero, auto-restart with exponential backoff, max 5
  tries, and show a "flapping" badge when it keeps dying.
- Scan output for localhost URLs and render them as clickable pills above the
  terminal.
- Add ad-hoc shell tabs (plain PTYs cwd'd at the repo root) so CLI coding
  agents like Claude Code can run inside the dashboard too.
- No accounts, no telemetry, everything local. Deliberately out of scope:
  native window, tray, notifications, and multi-repo management · this is one
  repo per running instance.
- README with install and usage.

## Delivery standard

- Inspect the repository first, then write a short implementation plan before writing code.
- Deliver the smallest complete end-to-end workflow first; every primary control must work against persisted data.
- Use real validation and storage; never substitute fake dashboards, decorative controls, hard-coded success states, or mock integrations.
- Include responsive layouts plus genuine empty, loading, success, validation, and failure states.
- Keep secrets server-side in environment variables, provide .env.example, and never commit credentials or user data.
- Add structured logs around every external call and return actionable errors without leaking sensitive details.
- Write unit tests for the core logic and one automated test of the main user journey.
- Finish with a README covering setup, architecture, data location, backups, tests, deployment, and known limitations.

## Acceptance criteria

- [ ] A clean install starts the app using only the README and .env.example.
- [ ] The primary journey works from first visit through saved result, reload, edit, export, and deletion where applicable.
- [ ] Invalid input, missing configuration, provider failure, and an empty database each have a usable state.
- [ ] The interface works at 390px and 1440px, is keyboard navigable, and shows visible focus on every control.
- [ ] Tests, type checking, linting, and a production build all pass with no ignored failures.
- [ ] No part of the interface implies a live integration, security guarantee, or scale capability that was not actually built and verified.

## Non-goals

Do not build these, and do not claim to have replaced them:

- A real native app: tray, crash/finish notifications, auto-updates.
- Reliable process-tree cleanup and auto-restart across macOS/Windows/Linux.
- Agent presets (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, goose, Aider) and clickable localhost pills.
- The built-in file editor, diff view, and command palette.
- The last 20 percent is sync, migration fidelity, speed, and edge cases.

## What you still own after launch

- Run migrations, backups, restores, and dependency updates.
- Test the critical journey after every model, API, or hosting change.
- Monitor failures and fix the edge cases a first prompt will miss.

## Risk

**Manageable.** A personal version is realistic if you test the critical journey and keep reliable backups.

Editorial confidence in this assessment: high. No independent one-shot implementation is linked yet.

## Prior art

Working open-source software you can read, fork, or borrow from before starting:

- [mprocs](https://github.com/pvolok/mprocs) — open-source TUI for running multiple commands with per-process panes
- [process-compose](https://github.com/F1bonacc1/process-compose) — scheduler for non-containerized apps from a compose-style yml

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