Lembic
Build notes
Lembic 0.1 · Core foundation in development

Lembic turns a machine
into an Agent Server.
A workforce you own.

Lembic is a local-first, resident system designed around the Alchemist: a main agent that authors reusable agents, composes them into Magnum Opuses, and runs each bounded execution as a Distill on hardware you own.

Private development · first-party source is proprietary
lembic · 0.1 target flowillustrative · not shipped
$ lembic ask "summarize the incident and prepare a review"
Illustrative product target · Alchemist and Magnum Opus are not yet built
alchemiststructured plan proposedtargetagentincident-reader@2reusedagentreview-writer@1proposed
Cconsistencychain · causality · authorityin developmentBadjudicationfresh-context judgmentnot yet builtAassaydeclared mechanical checknot yet built
Magnum Opusincident-review@1proposedDistillbounded executiontarget
Illustrative future flow only · no shipped execution is represented
[ 02 — The problem ]02 / 10

Useful agents need bounded authority

An always-on Agent Server may need filesystem, process, network, and tool access to do useful work.

Lembic 0.1 is designed so that authority only narrows, while every Distill leaves durable evidence of what happened and why it was allowed.

ShellFilesystemCredentialsNetwork
01

Authority must be monotone.

Effective grants are the intersection of every layer above an action. A model, agent, or approval can never widen them.

02

Practice should accumulate.

Agents and Magnum Opuses are versioned definitions. The Alchemist target reuses what exists before authoring something new.

[ 03 — The Alchemist · designed, not yet built ]03 / 10

Take work, not tickets.

The Alchemist is Lembic's designed resident main agent: primary interface, author, operator, and memory of practice.

The target is to take plain-language work, show a structured plan, author reusable agents, compose a Magnum Opus, and supervise its Distills within the user's grants.

Illustrative product target · not a shipped workflow
You ask
“Turn last week's support tickets into a digest my team will actually read.”
Alchemist
designs · delegates
Magnum Opusweekly-digest@1
ticket-reader@4reused
theme-cluster@2reused
digest-writer@1built
Runs as one thing · yours to keep

Agents are artifacts, not sessions.

In the target design, every agent definition persists — named, versioned, reusable. The Alchemist searches what exists before authoring something new.

A composition of them is a Magnum Opus.

Your workflows become things you own, not prompts you retype.

AlchemistThe resident main agent you talk to. It authors, operates, and reuses.
AgentA reusable, content-addressed definition and the security subject of execution.
Magnum OpusA workflow definition: a DAG of agent-bound nodes and policies.
DistillOne bounded execution with its own lifecycle and append-only evidence chain.
[ 04 — Proof ]04 / 10

Three stages. Three different claims.

Proof applies to Distills by policy. C — Consistency checks the recorded evidence; B — Adjudication judges the outcome in fresh context; A — Assay reproduces and checks a declared contract mechanically.

Consistency verification is in development. Adjudication and Assay are designed, but not yet built. `lembic verify` targets C; `lembic prove` targets the fail-fast C→B→A pipeline according to policy and applicability.

Read the proof specification →
Click a stage to inspect an illustrative finding
CConsistencyexample clear

Is the evidence internally consistent — chain intact, causality sound, and every action inside recorded authority?

BAdjudicationexample clear

Does the outcome satisfy the task when judged in a fresh, isolated context?

AAssayexample clear

Does the result hold when reproduced and checked mechanically against a declared contract?

Illustrative proof result
Example only. A proof policy may require C alone, C+B, or C+B+A; applicability, limitations, and evidence class remain visible in the verdict.
[ 05 — Architecture · in development ]05 / 10

Rust is authority. TypeScript is interaction.

The 0.1 architecture centers one resident server per machine. Rust decides, executes, and records; CLI, TUI, Code, and ADE request, observe, and render through one semantic protocol.

TypeScriptneverruns a shell.
neverreads raw secrets.
neverwrites evidence.
neverissues proof verdicts.

Four rules enforced by architecture, not by discipline.

[ 06 — Development status ]06 / 10

What is in progress, and what comes next

KernelResident server, native tools, grants, recovery, evidence, and stage C verificationIn development
AlchemistConversation, reusable agents, Magnum Opus orchestration, approvals, and schedulesDesigned, not yet built
Ultimate DashboardDistill Activity, Agent Status, Approval Inbox, Opuses & Schedules, and Alchemist lineDesigned, not yet built
Protected autonomyOS containment, action-level enforcement, notifications, and unattended routingDesigned, not yet built
Lembic CodeNative and delegated coding sessions as one surface of the Agent ServerDesigned, not yet built
Lembic ADE + ProofDesktop supervision plus proof stages B — Adjudication and A — AssayDesigned, not yet built
[ 07 — Surfaces ]07 / 10

Four surfaces. One semantic protocol.

The Ultimate Dashboard, Lembic Code, and Lembic ADE are designed product surfaces that are not yet built. Proof is kernel-level: Consistency is in development, while Adjudication and Assay are not yet built. Client surfaces share identifiers but hold no execution authority.

Ultimate Dashboard · not yet builtLembic Code · not yet builtLembic ADE · not yet builtProof · in development
0.1 command grammar
lembicUltimate Dashboard in a TTYlembic ask "<request>"Alchemist conversationlembic code [path]Lembic Codelembic <noun> <verb>agent · opus · distill · approval · schedule · workspace · proof · service · config · doctorlembic verify|prove <id>Proof entry points
[ 08 — What Lembic is not ]08 / 10
01

Not a coding CLI with extras.

Lembic Code is one surface of the operating system. It is not the product frame.

02

Not a model.

Lembic operates provider models and external agents. It never pretends to be them.

03

Not a cloud platform.

0.1 is local-first: one machine, one Agent Server, one human owner.

[ 09 — Product laws ]09 / 10

Honest claims are part of the product

Lembic 0.1 is in private development. All first-party source is currently private and proprietary; there is no operative open-core or public-source split.

The product laws are equally direct: the OS is the product, authority only narrows, evidence precedes convenience, and every guarantee must say exactly what it can prove.

Development updates
The OSThe product
AuthorityMeet-only
EvidencePer Distill
First-party sourcePrivate · Proprietary
[ 10 — Closing ]

Your machine. Your workforce.
Evidence you can inspect.

Read the 0.1 specDocumentationFollow development