Documentation Concepts
Workstreams & handoff
Cella is designed to carry a repository change from a first run through testing, interruption, handoff, and final review.
Product design · implementation in progress
On this page
Start with a private copy
Choose a project, an agent, and a task. Repository ingress creates a reviewed private copy for the agent. Your live host worktree is not the agent’s writable workspace.
In the planned CLI, a quick run composes creation, import, and admission through the same governed path as explicit setup.
cella init
cella run codex .The full flow is still in development; this is the CLI design, not an installation guide.
Test against the app
The Agent Cell edits code. A Service Cell runs an immutable app revision with its own approved runtime and Project Secrets.
The agent can use approved checks and narrowly scoped Channels to interact with the app. Updating source does not silently replace a running, secret-bearing service: Cella seals an exact revision and applies the required policy and approvals first.
Agent and Service CellsPause, resume, or change agents
A Workstream represents the intended change. Each Run is one immutable attempt within it. A checkpoint preserves declared repository and task state so a later run has a known place to continue.
Files, decisions, command history, and structured handoff notes can travel with the task. Hidden model reasoning and opaque provider state cannot be promised as portable context.
Review and deliver the exact change
Select a candidate and inspect its patch, checks, policy, approvals, and evidence gaps. Cella’s planned Change Capsule seals those together so the reviewer knows which result each claim refers to.
Delivery is a governed external action. Approval binds to the exact operation, target, parameters, and candidate. The open verifier is designed to reject a stale, altered, incomplete, or unapproved result at the merge gate.
How approvals workChoose what stays
Disposable work can end with runtime and workspace cleanup. If you want to continue later, explicitly retain a checkpoint. Workspace retention and evidence retention are separate decisions.
Failures and interrupted actions need visible recovery state. A disconnect must not trigger a blind retry of an external effect.
Read the lifecycle requirements