What is ARC?

ARC (Agent Runtime Control) is a unified control plane for AI coding agents. One binary, one config directory (~/.arc/), every agent runtime — Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, or anything that speaks MCP, HTTP, or stdio.

ARC gives you profiles (isolated identities with credentials, settings, and hooks), a supervision pipeline (risk detection, enforcement, audit), and multi-agent orchestration (roundtable discussions, task delegation, Dark Factory) — all from the CLI, a terminal dashboard, or a web UI.

The Problem

If you work with multiple AI coding agents, you end up with:

• Scattered configs — separate directories per tool, no way to switch accounts without juggling env vars
• No shared context — agents working on the same project can't see each other's memory, skills, or task state
• No safety rails — different runtimes have different permission models, none of them coordinated
• No visibility — no unified view of what your agents are doing, which sessions are active, or what risks they're taking

How ARC Solves This

One profile = one agent identity. A profile bundles a tool (Claude, Gemini, Codex, etc.), credentials (OAuth, API key, Bedrock, Vertex), enforcement settings, and hook config. Switch profiles to switch everything — credentials, adapter, hooks, environment.

arc profile create work --tool claude --auth-type oauth
arc profile create review --tool gemini --auth-type api-key
arc use work && arc launch     # Claude Code with 'work' credentials
arc use review && arc launch   # Gemini CLI with 'review' credentials

Three interfaces, same capabilities:

	CLI	TUI	Web
Profile management	Full CRUD	Full CRUD	Switch + delete
Task management	Full CRUD	Full CRUD	Full CRUD
Memory	Search, prune	Search, browse, delete	Add, search, filter, delete
Skills	Load, info	Reload, detail	Reload, remove
Sessions	Full lifecycle	Interactive shell	Complete, suspend
Remote agents	Full CRUD + health	Full CRUD + health	Full CRUD + health
Supervision	Per-profile config	--	Live hook pipeline monitor
Dark Factory	Start, status, abort	--	Status, abort, wave viz
Plugins	Full CRUD	--	Enable/disable
Sync	Full	Pull/push	Pull/push
Telemetry	Traces, logs	Auto-refresh viewer	Traces view
Credentials	5 auth types + secrets	Swap overlay	--

Supervision runs everywhere. Every message — whether from a terminal session, a Telegram channel via OpenClaw, or a cron-triggered factory wave — passes through the same hook pipeline: source classification, risk detection, interagent routing, audit scoring, and enforcement gating.

Core Concepts

Profiles

A profile is an isolated agent identity. It points to a tool, holds credentials, and carries its own settings. Profiles can inherit from other profiles, share a sync layer, and participate in multi-agent orchestration.

~/.arc/profiles/work/        # Claude Code, OAuth, enforce mode
~/.arc/profiles/review/      # Gemini CLI, API key, advise mode
~/.arc/profiles/factory/     # Codex CLI, API key, worker tier

Hook Pipeline

Eight hooks run in priority order on every message. Four enforcement modes (off, log, advise, enforce) control whether violations are ignored, recorded, flagged, or blocked. A circuit breaker auto-downgrades enforcement after repeated failures.

Adapters

Each tool gets an adapter that handles launch, teardown, and supervision integration. Claude Code gets the deepest integration (SDK + plugin + HTTP hooks). OpenClaw runs as a native plugin inside the Gateway. Hermes bridges via MCP. Generic adapters handle anything else.

Orchestration

Roundtable discussions let multiple agents debate a topic with assigned roles (advocate, critic, neutral) across configurable rounds. Task delegation hands work from one profile to another with status tracking. Dark Factory chains waves of autonomous tasks with consensus gates.

Quick Tour

# Install and open the TUI dashboard
arc

# Create profiles for different tools
arc profile create work --tool claude --auth-type oauth
arc profile create gemini-dev --tool gemini --auth-type api-key

# Switch and launch
arc use work
arc launch

# Open the web dashboard
arc web

# Check system health
arc doctor

# Start a multi-agent discussion
# (from within any agent session)
roundtable: Should we use REST or GraphQL? agents: work, gemini-dev rounds: 2

Next Steps

• Getting Started — install ARC and create your first profile
• Profiles — manage accounts and credentials across tools
• Features — explore tasks, memory, skills, sessions, and more
• Architecture — understand the adapter and hook pipeline design
• OpenClaw / Hermes — integrate additional agent runtimes