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wtf is lanius?

tkellogg/lanius — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

14RustAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · moderate

TL;DR

A local Rust tool that coordinates multiple AI coding assistants and workers, letting you delegate tasks while staying in control of decisions.

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Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Run multiple AI coding tools like Claude Code or Codex on the same project with shared visibility.

REASON 2

Delegate a narrow coding task to a headless AI worker without opening an interactive session.

REASON 3

Let one AI worker plan a task and hand it off to another worker to implement and a third to verify.

REASON 4

Keep a message inbox where scripts, webhooks, and AI agents can ask for your approval on decisions.

What's in the stack?

RustSQLiteCargo

How it stacks up

tkellogg/laniusaloxaf/leetcode_preludebadbread/crumbvms
Stars141414
LanguageRustRustRust
Last pushed2023-11-11
MaintenanceDormant
Setup difficultymoderateeasyhard
Complexity3/52/54/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperops devops

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires Rust 1.88+ and a working C compiler since it builds SQLite from source during install.

Wtf does this do

Lanius is a local control plane for AI work, built in Rust. The idea behind it is that a human should stay in charge of attention, budget, and intent, while different AI models, scripts, coding tools, and background workers each handle the part of the job they are suited for. Instead of building one giant assistant that tries to do everything, Lanius makes it easy to send cheap tasks to a cheap model, quick interactions to a fast model, and important decisions to a stronger model, all coordinated through one system running on your own machine. You install it with Cargo, Rust's package manager, then run a couple of commands to set up a local root folder and start the service. Once running, it opens a web interface where you can chat with AI profiles, configure model providers such as Anthropic, inspect coding sessions, manage installed packages, and answer questions the system is waiting on you to decide. Everything you can do from the web interface can also be done from the command line, since the interface itself uses the same underlying commands. A central feature is running coding tools like Claude Code, Codex, or opencode through Lanius so their work becomes visible, addressable, and something you can come back to later. You can launch these tools directly on a project, run a task headlessly without opening an interactive window, watch a session live, or pull up a full report of what a session did, including which files changed. Workers can also start other workers or send each other messages, so one AI can plan a task while another implements it and a third checks the result, with a human only stepping in for decisions that actually need a human. Lanius uses a mailbox model for communication: any part of the system, including scripts and webhooks, can send messages if it has permission to do so, and you can inspect your inbox and answer pending questions. The system can be extended through packages, which may bundle instructions, memory, background processes, scheduled jobs, and new tools. The project is licensed under Apache 2.0, a permissive license that allows free use, modification, and distribution, including commercial use.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Help me install lanius with Cargo and run `lanius init` and `lanius serve` for the first time.
Prompt 2
Show me how to add an Anthropic model provider to lanius and set it as the default profile.
Prompt 3
Explain how to run a headless lanius coding worker to fix a failing test.
Prompt 4
Walk me through how one lanius worker can spawn and message another worker.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is lanius?

A local Rust tool that coordinates multiple AI coding assistants and workers, letting you delegate tasks while staying in control of decisions.

What language is lanius written in?

Mainly Rust. The stack also includes Rust, SQLite, Cargo.

How hard is lanius to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is lanius for?

Mainly developer.

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