overture

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/eeb9c4cb-c80d-42da-bf63-c0c4ecb1e5d6

---

🔥 The Problem

Every AI coding agent today — Cursor, Claude Code, Cline, Copilot — works the same way:

What Happens Now

1. You type a prompt
2. Agent immediately starts writing code
3. You have zero visibility into what it's doing
4. You realize it misunderstood your request
5. Hundreds of lines of code need to be discarded
6. You've wasted tokens, time, and patience

Text Plans Don't Help

Some agents show plans as text in chat. But text fails to show:

• Dependencies — which tasks depend on what?
• Branch points — what alternative approaches exist?
• Context requirements — which files, APIs, or secrets are needed?
• Complexity — which steps are risky?
• Progress — what's done, what's next?

---

✨ The Solution

Overture intercepts your AI agent's planning phase and renders it as an interactive visual flowchart — before any code is written.

The agent doesn't write a single line of code until you approve the plan.

---

🚀 Installation

Overture is an MCP server that works with any MCP-compatible AI coding agent. One command to install.

Claude Code

claude mcp add overture-mcp -- npx overture-mcp

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "overture": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["overture-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Cline (VS Code Extension)

Open VS Code settings → search "Cline MCP" → add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "overture": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["overture-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

GitHub Copilot

Create .vscode/mcp.json in your project root:

{
  "servers": {
    "overture": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["overture-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Note: GitHub Copilot MCP requires VS Code 1.99+ and uses servers instead of mcpServers.

Sixth AI (VS Code Extension)

Add to your Sixth AI MCP settings file:

Platform	Path
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/sixth.sixth-ai/settings/sixth-mcp-settings.json
Windows	%APPDATA%\Code\User\globalStorage\sixth.sixth-ai\settings\sixth-mcp-settings.json
Linux	~/.config/Code/User/globalStorage/sixth.sixth-ai/settings/sixth-mcp-settings.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "overture": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["overture-mcp"],
      "disabled": false
    }
  }
}

Global Installation (Optional)

npm install -g overture-mcp

Verify It Works

Give your agent any task. Overture automatically opens at http://localhost:3031 with your plan ready for approval.

---

🎯 How It Works

The Flow:

Step	What Happens
1. Prompt	You give your agent a task: "Build a REST API with auth"
2. Plan	Agent generates a detailed plan with steps, branches, and requirements
3. Visualize	Overture renders the plan as an interactive graph
4. Enrich	You click nodes, attach files, select branches, fill in API keys
5. Approve	You click "Approve & Execute" (or press Enter)
6. Execute	Watch real-time as nodes pulse, complete, or fail
7. Control	Pause (Spacebar), resume, re-run nodes, or modify the plan mid-flight

---

🛠 Features

Interactive Plan Canvas

Feature	Description
React Flow Canvas	Full pan, zoom, drag with smooth animations
Streaming Parser	Plan nodes appear in real-time as the agent generates them
Dagre Auto-Layout	Intelligent automatic positioning of nodes
Visual Status	Pending (gray) → Active (pulsing yellow) → Completed (green) / Failed (red)
Next Node Indicator	Blue pulse shows which node executes next
Complexity Badges	Low (green), Medium (yellow), High (red) at a glance
Glow Effects	Shadow glows highlight active and upcoming nodes
Insertable Edges	Hover over edges to insert new nodes mid-plan

---

Node Details Panel

Click any node to reveal its full details:

Info	What You See
Title & Description	Full context for what this step does
Complexity Level	Low / Medium / High with visual indicator
Expected Output	What the step should produce
Risks & Edge Cases	Potential issues to watch for
Pros & Cons	For branch options, compare trade-offs

---

Dynamic Fields (User Inputs)

Nodes can request input from you before execution:

Field Type	Use Case
String	Project names, URLs, custom values
Number	Port numbers, limits, counts
Boolean	Yes/No toggles for options
Select	Dropdown with predefined choices
Secret	API keys, tokens (masked input)
File	File paths to attach context

Each field includes:

• Required/optional indicator
• Default values
• Help text & descriptions
• Setup instructions ("How to get an API key")

---

File Attachments

Attach context files to specific nodes:

• Automatic type detection — Image, code, document, or other
• Visual icons per file type
• Descriptions — add notes about why this file matters
• Delete — remove unwanted attachments

---

Meta Instructions

Add custom LLM instructions to any node:

"Pay special attention to error handling here" "Use the existing auth pattern from src/auth.ts" "Make sure to add tests for edge cases"

Instructions are sent to the agent right before that node executes.

---

Branch Detection & Selection

When the agent proposes multiple approaches:

Feature	Description
Auto-Detection	Branches detected from graph structure (no special markup)
Branch Points	Nodes with multiple outgoing edges become decision points
Selection Modal	Side-by-side comparison with pros/cons
Complexity Comparison	See difficulty level for each option
Visual Indicator	Selected branch highlighted on canvas
Skip Unselected	Only your chosen path executes

---

Requirements Checklist

Before you can approve, Overture shows what's needed:

• Empty required fields — counted per node
• Branch selections — which decisions are pending
• Progress indicator — visual completion tracking
• Expandable items — click to see details
• Color coding — Green (done) / Orange (pending)

The Approve button stays disabled until all requirements are met.

---

Execution Controls

Control	How
Approve	Click button or press Enter
Pause	Press Spacebar mid-execution
Resume	Press Spacebar again
Re-run Node	Click failed node → "Re-run"
Re-run From Here	Re-execute from any node to the end

The approval button is smart:

• 🟢 "Approve & Execute" — plan ready, requirements met
• 🟠 "Complete Requirements" — conditions unmet
• 🔵 "Executing..." — running with spinner
• 🟢 "Completed" — all done
• 🔴 "Failed" — error occurred

---

Structured Output

After each node executes, see rich structured output:

Category	What It Shows
Overview	Summary of what was accomplished
Files Changed	Paths, lines added/removed, diffs
Files Created	New files with line counts
Files Deleted	Removed files
Packages Installed	npm packages with versions
MCP Servers Setup	Installation status (installed/configured/failed)
Web Searches	Queries performed, results used
Tool Calls	Which tools were used and how often
Preview URLs	Links to deployed sites or previews
Notes	Info, warnings, errors

Each category is expandable — drill in without visual overload.

---

Output Modal

Click any completed node to see full output:

• Scrollable for long outputs
• Syntax highlighted code snippets
• Close with Escape or click outside

---

🏪 MCP Marketplace

Browse and attach MCP servers directly from the Overture UI.

Feature	Description
Built-in Marketplace	Search and discover MCP servers
Server Details	Descriptions, authors, GitHub links, stars
Category Browsing	Filter by use case
Per-Node Attachment	Attach specific tools to specific steps
Setup Instructions	See how to configure each server
Recommended Servers	Curated list for common tasks

When you attach an MCP server to a node, the agent gains access to those tools only for that step.

---

📂 Multi-Project Support

Work on multiple projects simultaneously:

Feature	Description
Tab Navigation	Switch between projects instantly
Auto Registration	Projects register on first agent contact
Isolated State	Each project has separate plans, nodes, configs
Unread Badges	Know when other projects have updates
Project Context	See project name, path, and agent type

Single project? Tab bar hides automatically for a cleaner UI.

---

📜 Plan History & Persistence

Never lose your work:

Feature	Description
Auto-Save	Plans saved every 3 seconds
Local Storage	Stored in ~/.overture/history.json
History Browser	Slide-in panel with all past plans
Status Icons	Completed, failed, executing, paused
Progress Bars	Visual completion percentage
One-Click Resume	Load and continue any past plan
Full Context	All field values, branch selections, attachments preserved

Resume Information

When resuming, you get complete context:

• Current node — where execution stopped
• Completed nodes — with their outputs
• Pending nodes — what's left to do
• Failed nodes — with error messages
• All configurations — field values, branches, attachments
• Timestamps — when created, when paused

---

✏️ Dynamic Plan Modification

Modify plans even during execution:

Operation	Description
Insert Nodes	Add new steps mid-execution
Remove Nodes	Delete steps (edges auto-reconnect)
Replace Content	Update node title/description in-place
Batch Operations	Multiple changes in one request

Plan Diff View

When a plan changes, see exactly what's different:

• Added nodes — highlighted green
• Removed nodes — highlighted red
• Modified nodes — yellow with before/after comparison
• Edge changes — added/removed connections

---

🔌 MCP Tools (For Agent Developers)

Overture exposes 11 MCP tools for agents to interact with:

Tool	Purpose
submit_plan	Submit complete plan as XML
get_approval	Wait for user approval (blocks until approved)
update_node_status	Update node status + output during execution
plan_completed	Mark plan as successfully completed
plan_failed	Mark plan as failed with error message
check_rerun	Check if user requested a node re-run
check_pause	Check if user paused execution
get_resume_info	Get full context for resuming a paused plan
request_plan_update	Request incremental plan modifications
create_new_plan	Signal creation of a new plan
get_usage_instructions	Get agent-specific instructions

---

🔄 Real-time WebSocket Communication

19 server-to-client message types:

connected • plan_started • node_added • edge_added • plan_ready • plan_approved • node_status_updated • plan_completed • plan_failed • plan_paused • plan_resumed • nodes_inserted • node_removed • project_registered • projects_list • history_entries • plan_loaded • resume_plan_info • plan_updated

16 client-to-server message types:

approve_plan • cancel_plan • rerun_request • pause_execution • resume_execution • insert_nodes • remove_node • register_project • subscribe_project • unsubscribe_project • get_history • load_plan • get_resume_info • save_plan • request_plan_update • create_new_plan

Relay Mode

When the WebSocket port is already in use, Overture automatically operates as a relay client, forwarding messages through the existing server. Multiple agent instances can share a single UI.

---

⚙️ Configuration

Variable	Default	Description
OVERTURE_HTTP_PORT	3031	Port for the web UI
OVERTURE_WS_PORT	3030	Port for WebSocket
OVERTURE_AUTO_OPEN	true	Auto-open browser on start

Setting Environment Variables

claude mcp add overture-mcp -e OVERTURE_HTTP_PORT=4000 -e OVERTURE_AUTO_OPEN=false -- npx overture-mcp

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "overture": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["overture-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OVERTURE_HTTP_PORT": "4000",
        "OVERTURE_WS_PORT": "4001",
        "OVERTURE_AUTO_OPEN": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "servers": {
    "overture": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["overture-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OVERTURE_HTTP_PORT": "4000",
        "OVERTURE_WS_PORT": "4001",
        "OVERTURE_AUTO_OPEN": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

---

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
Enter	Approve plan (when ready)
Space	Pause / Resume execution
Escape	Deselect current node / Close modal

---

🤝 Supported Agents

Agent	Status	Notes
Claude Code	✅ Full	Native MCP support
Cursor	✅ Full	Via mcp.json config
Cline	✅ Full	Via VS Code settings
GitHub Copilot	✅ Full	VS Code 1.99+ required
Sixth AI	✅ Full	Built-in, zero config

Each agent has custom-tailored prompts for optimal plan generation.

---

💪 Why Overture?

For Users

• Transparency — See exactly what happens before code is written
• Control — Approve, reject, or modify any plan
• Context — Attach files and instructions to the right steps
• Choice — Compare approaches and pick your path
• Visibility — Real-time progress with rich output
• Safety — Pause, resume, or re-run at any time
• History — Resume any past plan instantly
• Efficiency — No wasted tokens on rejected approaches

For AI Coding

• Trust — Makes agents predictable and controllable
• Interpretability — See AI reasoning before execution
• Universal — Works with any MCP-compatible agent
• Extensible — MCP Marketplace for tool discovery
• Open Source — MIT licensed, community-driven
• Self-Contained — No cloud dependencies
• Works Offline — Fully local execution
• Multi-Project — Manage multiple workspaces

---

🧑‍💻 Development

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/SixHq/Overture.git
cd Overture

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build all packages
npm run build

# Start MCP server (in one terminal)
cd packages/mcp-server && npm start

# Start UI dev server (in another terminal)
cd packages/ui && npm run dev

Tech Stack

Layer	Technologies
MCP Server	Node.js, TypeScript, Express, WebSocket (ws), SAX XML Parser
UI	React 18, React Flow, Zustand, Framer Motion, Tailwind CSS, Vite
Layout	Dagre (automatic graph positioning)

---

🤝 Contributing

Overture is open source and we welcome contributions!

• 🐛 Report bugs at GitHub Issues
• 💡 Suggest features at GitHub Discussions
• 📖 Improve docs — PRs welcome
• 🔧 Contribute code — see CONTRIBUTING.md

All contributions are appreciated, no matter how small.

---

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

---

Star History