Ruflo

What it is

Ruflo is a free, MIT-licensed layer that sits around Claude Code or Codex. The README splits the job in two. The model writes, and Ruflo gives it tools, memory, loops, sandboxes and controls. It lists more than a hundred specialized agents, swarms that coordinate them, memory that carries across sessions, a console, and federation between machines. The README says Reuven Cohen (rUv) built it, first as Claude Flow.

1. You give Claude Code or Codex a goal
2. Ruflo’s router and hooks pick the agents for the task
3. A swarm of specialized agents splits the work
4. Memory keeps what worked for the next task
5. The console shows the run, its cost and its results

Who it suits

People who already work in Claude Code or Codex, or another MCP client, and want several agents on one job with shared memory and a view of cost. Skip it for small edits. The maker’s own guide says a single agent is often better for a small, straightforward change.

Where to use it

Ruflo works in many tools, and the setup notes have a page for each. The plugins, the console and the mods are Claude Code integrations. Everywhere else Ruflo arrives as an MCP server, and the README says hook support depends on the client.

• Claude Code: plugins from the maker’s marketplace, the npx command line, or a bare MCP entry
• Codex: init --codex, which writes AGENTS.md and registers the MCP server, plus a dual mode that runs Claude Code and Codex together
• Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code and JetBrains: one MCP entry in each tool’s own file or settings
• Claude Desktop: an MCP entry in its config file
• ChatGPT: a hosted plugin named RuFlo Federation, or your own remote server over HTTP
• Grok Build: init --grok, which writes a project folder of Grok settings and a team bus
• A plain terminal: the optional console, started with npx ruflo tui

How to set it up

Get it saves a zip of Mindket’s setup notes in your downloads folder, with a page for each tool from the maker’s README and docs. Pick one route. The README’s table says the plugins put no files in your workspace, and the command line writes a full setup into it. The console and mods still keep their own state under .claude-flow/.

1. Install Node.js 20 or newer, then your agent.
2. In Claude Code, add the marketplace and install the plugins, or run the setup wizard in your project folder.
3. In any other client, add the MCP server entry from its page in the notes.
4. Restart the client, then ask it to list the connected tools and run one read-only call.

/plugin marketplace add ruvnet/ruflo
/plugin install ruflo-core@ruflo
/plugin install ruflo-console@ruflo
/plugin install ruflo-mods@ruflo
/reload-plugins
/ruflo

Type those inside Claude Code. For Codex and other MCP clients, the README runs the setup wizard in your project terminal.

npx ruflo@latest init wizard

The MCP server alone is one line, and the User Guide’s Cursor, Windsurf and VS Code files hold the same entry in JSON.

npx -y ruflo@latest mcp start

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ruflo": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["ruflo@latest", "mcp", "start"]
    }
  }
}

How to use it

After init, the README says to use Claude Code as you always do. Its hooks route tasks and coordinate agents in the background. You can also start agents yourself. These three lines are the User Guide’s basic usage.

npx ruflo@latest agent spawn -t coder --name my-coder
npx ruflo@latest hive-mind spawn "Implement user authentication"
npx ruflo@latest agent list

In Claude Code, /ruflo opens the console. Its Claude control setting has four levels, read, write, manage and full, each with ask or auto approval. The README says the default is read plus ask.

Example

The README walks through one task, creating a mission with Claude. Install the console, open /ruflo and set Settings, then Claude control, to write plus ask. Then send the README’s own prompt.

Create a mission to add a dark mode toggle. Show me the mission and its status.

Claude opens Missions and sets the goal, and you confirm the create action in the console. Check that Missions holds the goal and Overview records the action. The README adds that creating a mission does not mean the feature has been built. Take back control pauses Claude’s console tools.

For newcomers and experts

If you are new. A coding agent is a model plus the tools around it, and Ruflo is the second part. A swarm is a group of agents that coordinate through a lead and shared memory. MCP is how a client such as Cursor calls Ruflo’s tools. The maker’s guide starts smaller than any of that, with one skill.

npx skills add ruvnet/ruflo --skill ruflo

The command is skills, plural. The guide says the skill gives an agent instructions for working with Ruflo, and does not start a server or grant access to your files. Its first prompt to the agent is this.

Use the RuFlo skill to explain what is installed and what is not. Do not change files or connect services yet. Propose the smallest setup for a read only review of this project.

For experts. The README names hierarchical, mesh and adaptive swarm topologies with consensus, and vector memory in an HNSW-indexed AgentDB. It says the learning loop depends on the configured memory and the quality of feedback. The speed comparisons are the maker’s own, in a gist the README links, and these notes did not rerun them.

Tool groups cut the number of MCP tools a client loads, which the User Guide says reduces latency and token use. Command line arguments beat environment variables, and those beat the config file.

export CLAUDE_FLOW_TOOL_GROUPS=implement,test,fix,memory
export CLAUDE_FLOW_TOOL_MODE=develop

The ruflo-core launcher reads RUFLO_MCP_SKIP_NPX=1 to refuse the unpinned npx fallback, and RUFLO_MCP_CLI_OVERRIDE to point at a built CLI. RuFlo Explained pins the release it checked in its examples, so a later version can change a command.

Good to know

The maker’s docs flag most of this themselves.

• Names: Ruflo was Claude Flow. The README’s star and issue links still point to the claude-flow repository, and the MCP key, several package names and some commands still say claude-flow
• Docs drift: RuFlo Explained says some documentation describes different release snapshots, so check the installed CLI help when commands differ. The tool count differs by page, so npx @claude-flow/cli@latest mcp tools gives the live list
• Files in your project: the command line route writes .claude/, .claude-flow/, CLAUDE.md, helpers and settings. RuFlo Explained says to review the changes and to try it in a disposable project first
• Permissions: mods run with your account’s permissions and are not sandboxed, so read their code first. In the console, network, spending and destructive actions need confirmation even in auto
• Keys: the User Guide says never hardcode API keys in config files checked into version control
• Cost: RuFlo Explained says more agents are not automatically cheaper. Parallel work can cut waiting and still raise token use
• Remote servers: for ChatGPT over HTTP, RuFlo Explained says not to expose a local command server to the internet without authentication, tool restrictions and an owner

• Proof: a connected server is not a working one. Run one read-only call and keep the result before you add more. In the release RuFlo Explained checked, doctor --fix printed suggested commands, and the guide says not to describe it as automatically repairing everything
• Other repositories: the marketplace lists agentic-qe-fleet (maintained by Agentic QE), and agentdb and agentic-flow (maintained in ruvnet’s own agentdb and agentic-flow repositories). The README says to install each from one marketplace only
• Cloud agents: the optional ruflo-agent feature can run an agent in Anthropic’s cloud. It needs ANTHROPIC_API_KEY and beta access, and its results come back marked unverified
• Not tested here: the federation security claims, the learning loop and the speed comparisons are the maker’s statements. Mindket did not run them
• Removal: the docs give no uninstall steps, so Mindket’s notes list what to remove by hand
• License: MIT. The LICENSE file reads Copyright (c) 2024-2026 ruvnet. Mindket wrote the notes, and ruvnet did not write or endorse them