Become the creator.

A framework for agent-driven development. You command the agents that build;
the shell turns each folder into a live, multi-tenant app — and stays the only boundary you trust.

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Atelier is an app shell + module runner. Point your agent at a folder — a frontend.jsx and/or a backend.js — and it becomes a routed, hot-reloading, real-time module. The shell handles routing, bundling, a shared real-time WebSocket, workspaces, and (optional) auth, so a module stays a file or two of React and a handful of route handlers.

myinstance/
  atelier/            the shell — four files, ~3k lines
  notes/              →  /global/notes      a module (a folder with a frontend.jsx)
  $acme/board/        →  /acme/board         a workspace module

The whole shell is four files (~3k lines), and your modules ship zero dependencies of their own — no React, no bundler, no WebSocket client to vendor. It ships zero pixels and zero assumptions: no default theme, no install step, no dev/prod notion. An instance is a folder you run.

Platform. Atelier runs anywhere Node 24+ does — there is no OS-specific install layer (you run it; your process manager / PaaS / reverse proxy is your concern).

Quickstart

npm install
npm run dev          # http://localhost:1844 (override with PORT=…), hot reload, discovers sibling modules

The folder you run from is the instance. Its atelier.config.json is the source of truth (which modules run, which chrome, port, auth, …); environment variables override it at startup. Want a second instance? Run a second folder — or the same folder with different startup config (e.g. a different PORT and auth).

You'll see an "add a chrome" screen until you install a chrome module — the shell has no built-in theme. Point your config's chrome at one (a folder exporting meta = { chrome: true } and a chrome function); catalyst-chrome and gruvbox-chrome are two you can copy.

Write a module

Scaffold one — paste this next to atelier/ (or anywhere your config path-mounts):

mkdir -p hello && cat > hello/frontend.jsx <<'EOF'
export const meta = { name: 'Hello', icon: 'sparkles' }   // icon: any lucide name
export default function Module() {
  return <div className="p-8 text-xl">hello from a module</div>
}
EOF

Reload — it appears in the rail. A folder with a frontend.jsx is the whole requirement. Add a backend.js for an API:

// hello/backend.js — routes mount at /api/<workspace>/hello
export default {
  mountRoutes(router, ctx) {
    router.get('/ping', (req, res) => res.json({ ok: true, from: ctx.qualifiedId }))
  },
}

The full contract — ctx, the real-time WebSocket, ctx.module(id) slots, hot-reload teardown, the chrome slot, @atelier/kit, workspaces, and atelier.config.json — is in the documentation.

Documentation

Four pages (also browsable in-app via the chrome's Documentation viewer, in this order):

• docs/README.md — Atelier: running an instance, what lives in atelier/, and atelier.config.json.
• docs/MODULES.md — Modules: module shape, ctx, real-time (self/broadcast), hot-reload, cross-module slots, sidecar servers — plus the special modules (the chrome + @atelier/kit).
• docs/WORKSPACES.md — Workspaces: the multi-tenant model (global + $<ws>/), the qualifiedId, rail and picker.
• docs/AUTH.md — Auth: the auth-module slot, the user/defaultUser contract, request + WebSocket gating, takeover render.
• CHANGELOG.md — version history and migration notes.

Tests

npm test             # node:test characterization suite (zero extra deps)

Run it after any change to the shell (server.js, build.js, discovery.js, client.jsx).

Contributing

The shell (server.js, client.jsx, build.js, discovery.js) is cross-cutting — changes there are their own task, separate from any single module. If a module needs something the shell doesn't provide, the convention is to name the gap and propose extending the shell rather than reaching around it. Keep the surface small.

The name

An atelier is a painter's studio. The name comes from an old idea — God is the painter, we are the painting; the creator stands outside what's created. Atelier is where that inverts: you step into the painter's role, and the agents become your servants, the way we are to a creator we can't fully know. The studio is where the created learns to create.

License

MIT © 2026 pa1nd.