Attacca

attacca (Italian, musical direction) — "proceed to the next movement without pause."

Multi-agent AI coding orchestrator for VS Code.

One command. Full agent system. Manager plans, Engineer builds, Security audits, then you push — each movement flowing into the next without pause. That's Attacca.

What It Does

AI-assisted development is most effective when specialized personas handle different responsibilities in sequence: one plans, one implements, one audits. Attacca sets up that entire system in any project and gives you a live control panel to conduct it.

The handoff is the core mechanic — when one agent finishes, it writes a structured handoff prompt, and the next agent picks it up immediately. Attacca. Proceed without pause.

Features

One-Command Initialization

Run Attacca: Initialize Project → 4-step wizard:

1. AI Tool — Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cline, Windsurf, Gemini, or Antigravity
2. LLM Mode — Cloud, Local (Ollama/LM Studio), or Hybrid
3. Agent Complexity — Full ensemble (7 agents) or Simplified trio (Manager + Engineer + Security)
4. Skill Packs — Engineering, Marketing, or both

Writes every config file your chosen tool needs: agent instructions, prompt templates, state tracking, handoff protocol, workspace map, and .gitignore — all pre-wired.

Live Dashboard

A sidebar panel reads .agents/state.json in real time:

• Active agent and current phase
• Current task and assignment
• Blocked status with reason (amber warning)
• Handoff banner when approval is pending
• Security clearance status
• One-click agent buttons: Manager, Engineer, Security, Designer, Researcher, Consultant, Medic
• Quick actions: View State, Open Handoff, Pick Skill, Check Updates

Status Bar

Two always-visible items at the bottom of VS Code:

• Main — active agent + phase (e.g., Engineer · Phase 3). Click → dashboard.
• Blocked — yellow background when blocked_on is set. Click → state.json.

Agent Handoffs

Click any agent button in the dashboard. Copilot Chat opens pre-seeded with the correct handoff prompt — the next movement begins immediately. Falls back to clipboard if Copilot Chat isn't available.

Skill Picker

Attacca: Pick a Skill — searchable list of every skill in .github/skills/. Select one to open its SKILL.md in the editor.

Updater

Attacca: Check for Updates — compares your local version against GitHub, shows the changelog, patches only template files. Your .agents/ state is never touched.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.87.0+
• GitHub Copilot (recommended) or any AI chat panel

Getting Started

Install

1. Download attacca-x.x.x.vsix
2. Open VS Code → Extensions sidebar (Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. ··· menu → Install from VSIX... → select the file

Or:

code --install-extension attacca-x.x.x.vsix

Initialize

1. Open any project folder
2. Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) → Attacca: Initialize Project
3. Follow the 4-step wizard

Copilot Chat opens automatically with a quickstart prompt when done.

Commands

How It Works

User → Manager (plans) → Engineer (builds) → Security (audits) → push
         │                    │                    │
         └── handoff.md ──────┘── handoff.md ──────┘

Each agent has a role-specific instruction file (.github/agents/*.agent.md), prompt shortcuts (.github/prompts/*.prompt.md), and shared state. Handoffs flow through .agents/handoff.md — the outgoing agent writes it, the next agent reads it, and the movement continues.

State files:

• .agents/state.json — machine-readable project state (the dashboard reads this)
• .agents/state.md — human-readable summary
• .agents/workspace-map.md — file map so agents orient instantly
• .agents/handoff.md — current inter-agent handoff

Supported Tools

The Name

In a musical score, attacca is the instruction written between movements: proceed immediately to the next section without stopping. That's exactly what this system does — one agent finishes, writes the handoff, and the next begins. No pause. No context loss. The work flows forward.

License

MIT