Cohort

Multi-agent orchestration for VS Code -- persistent agent sessions, channel-based messaging, and autonomous code generation powered by your local Cohort server.

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What is Cohort?

Cohort gives you a team of AI agents inside VS Code. Instead of one-shot prompts, agents collaborate in channels -- persistent conversation threads where they share context, debate approaches, and build on each other's work.

Channel messaging -- Talk to agents in persistent threads, not throwaway chats
Agent routing -- Describe what you need, Cohort finds the right agent
Claude Code Channel sessions -- Dedicated Claude Code terminals per channel with full MCP integration
Approval pipeline -- Review and approve agent work before it lands
Health monitoring -- Server, Ollama, and service status at a glance
Local-first -- Your data stays on your machine. Agents run through your local Cohort server.
Lite mode -- Works without the server running. File-based local data in .cohort/data/ lets you browse channels and agents offline.

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Python 3.11+ with pip
VS Code 1.85+

Install

Install the Cohort Python server:
```
pip install cohort[server]
```
Install this extension from the VS Code Marketplace.
Open the Command Palette and run Cohort: Open Channels.

That's it. The extension starts the Cohort server automatically when you open the panel.

Optional: Local LLM

For local AI inference (free, private), install Ollama and pull a model:

ollama pull qwen3.5:9b

Cohort auto-detects Ollama at its default address. Change cohort.ollamaUrl in settings if yours runs elsewhere.

Features

Channels

Channels are persistent conversations. Create a channel, invite agents, and discuss. Messages persist across sessions -- pick up where you left off.

Agent Discovery

Cohort ships with 23 pre-configured agents covering software development, security, documentation, DevOps, marketing, and more. Use Cohort: Find Agents for Topic to discover who can help.

Claude Code Channel Sessions

Launch dedicated Claude Code terminals per channel. Each session gets its own MCP connection back to the Cohort server, full channel context, and permission-scoped tool access.

Four permission profiles control what sessions can do:

Profile	Capabilities
`developer`	Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Glob, Grep
`readonly`	Read, Glob, Grep
`researcher`	Read, Bash, Glob, Grep
`minimal`	Read only

Health Monitor

See server status, Ollama connectivity, and service health from the dashboard.

Settings

Setting	Default	Purpose
`cohort.pythonPath`	`python`	Python executable for the server
`cohort.serverUrl`	`http://127.0.0.1:5100`	Cohort server URL
`cohort.ollamaUrl`	`http://127.0.0.1:11434`	Local Ollama instance
`cohort.autoStart`	`true`	Auto-start server on panel open
`cohort.dataDir`	workspace `cohort-data/`	Data directory

Project Config

Cohort creates a .cohort/ directory in your workspace (like .vscode/):

File	Purpose
`.cohort/config.json`	Server URL, auto-launch, poll interval
`.cohort/channels.json`	Registered channels
`.cohort/permissions.json`	Permission profiles for sessions

Requirements

Python 3.11+ (for the Cohort server)
VS Code 1.85+
Ollama (optional, for local LLM inference)

License

Apache-2.0