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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ironbee.ai/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Project

A project maps to a codebase. When you run ironbee install in a directory, that directory is associated with a project in the console. All sessions, verifications, and analysis for that codebase are grouped under its project.

Session

A session is a single continuous working period for an AI agent — from when it starts editing to when it completes (or is interrupted). Every agent task creates a session. Sessions record:
  • All activities performed by the agent
  • Every verification cycle attempted
  • Total coding time, fix time, and idle time
  • Pass/fail outcomes and retry counts

Activity

An activity is a discrete action within a session. Activities include:
TypeDescription
code_changeThe agent edits one or more files
verificationThe agent runs a verification cycle
fixThe agent makes corrections after a failed verification
tool_callA single tool invocation (browser navigation, screenshot, etc.)

Verification cycle

A verification cycle (or just “cycle”) is one complete pass of testing. IronBee supports three cycle types that can run in parallel:

Browser cycle

The agent uses browser devtools to:
  1. Navigate to affected pages
  2. Take screenshots
  3. Check browser console for errors
  4. Test functionality (clicks, forms, navigation)
  5. Submit a verdict
The browser cycle is on by default for code changes matching browser.verifyPatterns (most code file types). Disable it with ironbee browser disable.

Node cycle

The agent connects to a running Node.js process and:
  1. Sets V8 tracepoints or logpoints at changed code paths
  2. Exercises those paths
  3. Reads back execution snapshots or runtime logs
  4. Submits verdict with backend evidence
The Node cycle is opt-in — enable it with ironbee node enable. Only applies to Node.js backends.

Backend cycle

The agent drives real HTTP, gRPC, GraphQL, or WebSocket calls against a running backend service and verifies the responses. Works with any backend runtime (Node, Java, Python, Go, Rust, and more). The backend cycle is opt-in — enable it with ironbee backend enable. A single task can require multiple cycles in parallel — the agent must provide evidence for each active cycle before completing.

Verdict

A verdict is the agent’s signed assessment of whether its changes work. It includes:
  • status: pass or fail
  • Evidence fields: pages tested, console errors, network failures, backend probes (for Node cycle)
IronBee validates the verdict against the evidence. If the evidence does not support a pass, the gate overrides to fail and the agent must retry.

Fix

A fix is a code change made by the agent in response to a failed verification. After a fix, the agent re-verifies. All fixes are tracked separately so you can see exactly what the agent changed to resolve an issue.

Trace & span

IronBee records traces for each verification cycle — a structured log of every tool call, with timing. Within a trace, each individual tool invocation is a span. The span chart in the console visualizes these as a waterfall diagram, making it easy to see what the agent tested, in what order, and how long each step took.

Analysis

After a session completes, IronBee runs analysis — an LLM-powered pass over the session data. Analysis produces:
  • Findings — specific problems identified (errors, failures, inconsistencies)
  • Recommendations — concrete suggestions for improving code quality or the verification setup

Monitoring-only mode

When verification is disabled (ironbee disable-verification), IronBee runs in monitoring-only mode. The enforcement hook, verification skill, and MCP servers are not installed. Sessions still record tool calls and timing data — you get full observability without slowing the agent down. This is useful for measuring baseline agent behavior before enabling enforcement.

Projects inventory

ironbee install records every project it touches in ~/.ironbee/projects.json. This inventory powers batch operations like ironbee install --all (re-install across every registered project) and ironbee uninstall --all (wipe IronBee from every project). Use ironbee register / ironbee unregister for manual inventory management.

Config files

IronBee reads config from two locations, deep-merged (project takes precedence):
FileScope
~/.ironbee/config.jsonGlobal — applies to all projects
<project>/.ironbee/config.jsonProject-level — overrides global
See Configuration for all available options.