Bernstein is an open-source multi-agent orchestration harness maintained by sipyourdrink-ltd (led by chernistry). Designed for unattended and pipeline-driven software engineering workflows, it breaks down complex software development lifecycles into discrete, coordinated agent roles such as QA, backend implementation, and review. Operationally, Bernstein executes declarative scenario recipes defined in YAML files (located under `.bernstein/`). Workflows define strict dependency gating and artifact contracts between agents. For example, a QA agent can be mandated to verify a bug at HEAD and generate a failing test before a backend agent is spawned to write implementation code against that test. Unlike ad-hoc interactive coding assistants, Bernstein specializes in structured, repeatable scenario execution with formal agent handoffs and CI/CD integration via GitHub Actions. It focuses on deterministic progression—enforcing red-green testing requirements and automated review passes—rather than single-turn conversational code generation. Bernstein is an open-source project hosted on GitHub and available through the GitHub Actions Marketplace for automated repository workflows.
Scenario-based orchestration — Executes structured multi-step workflows defined in version-controlled YAML scenario files. - Role-based agent separation — Spawns specialized agents for discrete tasks including defect confirmation, test creation, code implementation, and pull request reviews. - Gated execution pipelines — Blocks subsequent implementation stages until explicit prerequisites are satisfied, such as verifying failing test cases. - Explicit artifact contracts — Enforces clear input/output data schemas between spawning agents and downstream workers. - GitHub Actions integration — Operates seamlessly inside CI/CD workflows via the official Marketplace action for unattended automation. - Automated intake review recipes — Provides specialized pre-built workflows to review incoming PRs for security, scope creep, and changelog hygiene without human intervention.
Use cases
Use Case: Automated Issue-to-PR Resolution A developer assigns a bug ticket to an unattended Bernstein pipeline. The harness executes an issue-to-pr.yaml scenario that validates the defect at HEAD, writes a failing reproduction test, implements the fix to turn the test green, and packages the verified change into a pull request.
Use Case: Automated PR Intake and Security Audits A repository runs Bernstein on newly opened pull requests to perform an automated intake review. The harness checks test evidence, reviews scope against linked issues, conducts a security pass, and records a structured verdict.
Use Case: Red-Green Test-Driven Development Workflows Teams enforce strict TDD requirements in CI by orchestrating separate QA and developer agent instances where code modifications cannot proceed without prior failing unit tests generated by the harness.
Who it is for
Bernstein is built for engineering teams and DevOps practitioners seeking automated, multi-agent CI/CD pipelines that can resolve GitHub issues and perform pull request audits without continuous human prompting. It is not intended for developers seeking a real-time, interactive IDE autocomplete or conversational single-agent chat assistant.
Install guide
Installation Bernstein can be integrated into your repository workflows via GitHub Actions. Add the action to your workflow configuration file: yaml # .github/workflows/bernstein.yml name: Bernstein Orchestration on: issues: types: [opened, labeled] jobs: orchestrate: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4 - uses: sipyourdrink-ltd/bernstein@main with: scenario: '.bernstein/scenarios/software/issue-to-pr.yaml' env: GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
First Run Configure your repository with a .bernstein/ configuration directory and define your scenario recipes: yaml # .bernstein/scenarios/software/issue-to-pr.yaml name: Issue to PR tasks: - name: confirm-defect role: qa - name: write-failing-test role: qa - name: implement-fix role: backend - name: prepare-pr role: reviewer
Example Session To trigger an automated issue resolution scenario via GitHub Actions, label an issue or invoke the workflow: bash # Trigger workflow run via GitHub CLI gh workflow run bernstein.yml -f scenario=software/issue-to-pr.yaml -f issue_number=42
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