CLI Duo

Orchestrates two AI CLIs working on the same repository. Supports safe subordinate worktrees and engineer/judge review loops.

When to Use

• Two CLIs need to edit the same repo without clobbering each other's state
• You want a create → judge loop with explicit role swaps
• You need a temporary subordinate worktree for experiments

Core Concepts

• CLI Registry: Store known CLIs with names, commands, and default repos.
• Sessions: Pair two registered CLIs in either mode:
  • subordinate: Primary stays on the main repo; secondary gets a git worktree sandbox.
  • engineer-judge: Assigns engineer/judge roles and lets you swap them per round.

Commands

# Register CLIs
duo cli register -n claude -c "claude" -d "Claude Code CLI"
duo cli register -n cursor -c "cursor" -d "Cursor CLI"
duo cli list

# Subordinate mode (creates secondary worktree)
duo pair create -s landing-refactor -p claude -b cursor -m subordinate -r ~/projects/app --confirm
duo pair info -s landing-refactor
duo pair end -s landing-refactor --confirm  # removes worktree + session

# Engineer/Judge mode
duo pair create -s review-loop -p claude -b cursor -m engineer-judge -R 2
duo pair swap -s review-loop  # swap roles after a round
duo pair info -s review-loop

Outputs

• Session summaries include the working directories each CLI should use.
• For subordinate sessions, the secondary path is a git worktree under ~/.local/share/cli-duo/worktrees/<session>/secondary.

Cleanup

• duo pair end -s <session> --confirm tears down the worktree (if created) and deletes the session.