Kestrel is for work that must remain understandable after the first model call: a person needs to continue it, inspect what happened, recover it, authorize a consequential action, or prove which system produced the result.
Product surfaces
- Desktop is the complete local project application.
- Kestrel One is the versioned shared product for Projects, Threads, Knowledge, Apps, Environments, and managed execution. Its source is public; Lumi hosting is invitation-only.
- CLI/TUI brings the same project and conversation model to supported terminals.
- SDK packages embed the runtime, protocol, memory, adapters, and observability in an application you own.
Runtime and protocol
Every surface uses the same 0.8 execution and result contracts. The runtime keeps conversation identity, profile/provider selection, tools, memory, waits, recovery, approvals, budgets, evaluation, and terminal outcomes explicit instead of hiding them behind one text response.
Control and proof
Mission Control records project work and review. Operator control steers running or waiting work. Action-bound approvals constrain external effects. Trace, replay, artifact provenance, and release identity show what happened and which code, model, tools, and decisions shaped it.
Use only what you need
Start with one surface and add others as the work grows. A local project does not require Kestrel One; a compatible HTTP client does not require every SDK package. Installed Kestrel packages and connected clients must follow the exact dependency contracts declared by their owning packages; compatible packages do not need equal semantic versions.
Choose a path in the Quickstart, or follow the agent loop before designing an integration.