kane-claude-plugin

kane-qe is a Claude Code plugin (a mod) that watches kane-cli (KaneAI) and shows what it is doing, without being asked.

Claude runs kane-cli; the mod reads what kane-cli leaves on disk and draws it: a band of three rows above the prompt with the kane mascot, and a pane for runs, assurance and history. When Claude changes code and nothing has tested it, the band says so and offers a test.

Read more: the Field Guide (every band state, the pane, flows, use cases, guidelines, and a chaptered walkthrough video recorded with real runs: docs/kane-qe-v2-tour.mp4) and Explained simply. Both are standalone pages: open them from a clone. How v2 meets its design lists every designed feature and screen and how it was checked.

Install

Requirements: Claude Code with mods (function-hook plugins), and kane-cli: npm install -g @testmuai/kane-cli, then ! kane-cli login --oauth from the Claude prompt.

In Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add LambdaTest/kane-claude-plugin
/plugin install kane-qe@lambdatest

From a terminal: claude plugin marketplace add LambdaTest/kane-claude-plugin, then claude plugin install kane-qe@lambdatest.

• Pin a release or branch by adding #ref: LambdaTest/kane-claude-plugin#kane-qe--v2.0.0.
• Updates: claude plugin update kane-qe@lambdatest, then /reload-plugins in a running session. Background auto-update is off by default for this marketplace; turn it on in /plugin → Marketplaces, or with "autoUpdate": true below.
• Without the marketplace, from a clone: claude --plugin-dir kane-claude-plugin/kane-qe, or name that folder in env.CLAUDE_CODE_PLUGIN_DIRS in ~/.claude/settings.json.

Roll it out to a team

Commit this to a project's .claude/settings.json; everyone who opens the project and trusts it gets the marketplace and the plugin:

{
  "extraKnownMarketplaces": {
    "lambdatest": {
      "source": { "source": "github", "repo": "LambdaTest/kane-claude-plugin" },
      "autoUpdate": true
    }
  },
  "enabledPlugins": {
    "kane-qe@lambdatest": true
  }
}

The same block works in ~/.claude/settings.json (every project on one machine) and in organization managed settings (claude.ai → Admin settings → Claude Code → Managed settings, or managed settings on each machine).

How to use it

Nothing to start. Open Claude Code in a project and the band is there.

1. Ask Claude to test something: "run kane-cli run "Search for iPod and assert 4 products are listed" --url https://ecommerce-playground.lambdatest.io --agent --headless", or "run the login test with kane-cli". Within two seconds the band shows the run, its time and the step it is on. A run started in a terminal in the same folder shows up the same way.
2. Read the card: each test Claude runs leaves a card in the conversation with its result, and View evidence opens the evidence in the browser.
3. Open the pane with /kane or [ Open ]. Press a run for its steps; the current or failing step opens to what the agent thinks, does and checks.
4. When a test fails, the band names it and the step; the run's detail gives kane's own verdict (why, what kind, how sure, where) and Open evidence.
5. Several runs or a suite: one coloured cell per run or test, with counts; a failure takes row 2 while the rest keep going. A suite on the remote grid (--remote) shows how many tests are on the grid and since when; the pane gives the job and its link, and the tests are counted when the job ends.
6. After Claude changes code, the band warns ⚠ 1 file changed, untested with Test this change: saved tests that cover the change (with their last result), or an objective Claude drafts from the diff. /kane auto makes Claude test before it finishes; /kane off turns it off.
7. Assurance: row 3 is requirement coverage from kane-cli cover gaps --json; the Assurance tab breaks it down per use case, or offers to set it up. Press a use case to see what it still owes and kane-cli's next command for each; Close these gaps with Claude hands it over.
8. History: the History tab lists the last 30 finished runs in this project, with where each failed.

Command
/kane	Open the pane
/kane assurance	Open the Assurance tab
/kane history	Open the History tab
/kane auto · /kane ask · /kane off	What happens after Claude changes code, for this session

/config → kane-qe: After Claude changes code (offer by default, auto, off) and kane-cli command (default kane-cli, used only for the read-only cover gaps). Colours follow Claude Code's theme.

What it never does: it never starts a kane-cli test, and never shows what kane-cli did not report. The commands it runs are kane-cli cover gaps --json, kill -0, ps, git check-ignore and git diff, and, only when you press View evidence, kane-cli evidence serve <pack> and open. It reads kane-cli's structured output only, with one exception: the viewer link that evidence serve prints.

How to publish it on Claude

1. Check it

claude plugin validate kane-qe --strict     # the plugin: manifest, hooks, state contract
claude plugin validate . --strict           # the marketplace manifest
claude plugin test kane-qe                  # 127 tests

CI (.github/workflows/ci.yml) runs the same on every push to main and on pull requests.

2. Release a version

1. Raise version in kane-qe/.claude-plugin/plugin.json and in the plugin's entry in .claude-plugin/marketplace.json (claude plugin tag checks they agree).
2. Commit and push to main.
3. Tag the release: claude plugin tag kane-qe --push creates and pushes kane-qe--v<version>, which people can pin with #kane-qe--v<version>.

People get it with claude plugin update kane-qe@lambdatest (or by auto-update), then /reload-plugins.

3. Distribute it

• This repository as a marketplace (above): anyone adds it once.
• A team or the whole organization: the settings block above, in a project's .claude/settings.json or in managed settings. Managed settings can also restrict hooks to organization-approved mods (allowManagedModsOnly).

4. Submit it to Anthropic's plugin directory

To list kane-qe in the plugin directory on claude.ai, so anyone can find and enable it:

1. Make sure claude plugin validate kane-qe --strict passes, plugin.json has name, version, description, author, homepage and repository, and the plugin folder has a README.md (all true today).
2. Open claude.ai/directory/manage (a paid plan; for an organization, the Owner role) and follow Submit a plugin. The steps are in Submit a plugin.
3. Anthropic reviews it. Once published, people who enable it on claude.ai get it in Claude Code as kane-qe@synced.
4. For an update: raise version, push, and submit the new version in the same portal.

References: install plugins, publish, host a marketplace, organization settings, mods reference.

Develop

Path	What
kane-qe/hooks/adapter.ts	One kane-cli wire line → a small internal event: the only place raw field names appear
kane-qe/hooks/model.ts	Pure: events → runs, runs → the band's rows and the pane's text, cover gaps, change helpers
kane-qe/hooks/sources.ts	The live-run pointer and byte offsets into event files
kane-qe/hooks/register.tsx	Polling, hooks (edits, end of turn, /kane, theme) and the drawing
kane-qe/hooks/mascot.ts	The mascot: a cell grid in terminals, an image elsewhere
kane-qe/tests/	Adapter table, band states at 60/80/120 columns, recorded kane-cli streams replayed, band and pane on terminal and desktop, change tracking, stale pointers, assurance and use-case detail, remote suites, history, the card in the chat, theme
.claude-plugin/marketplace.json	The lambdatest marketplace: this repository installs with /plugin marketplace add
docs/	The Field Guide and the explainer as standalone HTML, with the walkthrough video and screenshots (guide/build_docs.sh rebuilds them)
guide/	The page sources, screenshots, design coverage, and the scripts that record a walkthrough with real runs (KANE_DEMO_DIR=<project> guide/run_tour_v2.sh; run_tour_v3.sh for a demo shop project, covering the chat card, auto mode, use-case detail and History) and cut a short captioned promo from one (python3 guide/make_promo.py guide/promo.json)

Edit kane-qe/ and a session that loads it with --plugin-dir or CLAUDE_CODE_PLUGIN_DIRS reloads it on save. After recording a new kane-cli stream into kane-qe/tests/fixtures/, run node kane-qe/tests/fixtures/build.mjs.

License

MIT