Documentation

Tick Documentation

Tick is a protocol and toolkit for autonomous AI agents and humans to coordinate work through structured Markdown files. Every task ticked. Every agent in sync. Every action logged.

Guide

Getting Started

Set up a Tick project in under 5 minutes. Initialize, create tasks, and coordinate agents.

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Reference

Protocol Spec

The complete data layer and coordination protocol specification. File format, schema, state transitions.

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Reference

CLI Reference

Every command in the tick CLI. Task management, querying, agent registration, and git integration.

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Core Principles

Principle	Description
Markdown-Native	The Markdown file IS the database. No compilation, no build step, no server required.
Git-Native	Git IS the sync engine, audit log, and conflict resolver. Every change is a commit.
Schema-Enforced	YAML frontmatter provides structured, machine-parseable fields with strict validation.
Protocol-First	Tick defines a coordination protocol (claim, release, update, transition), not just a file format.
Agent-Agnostic	Any system that can read and write text files can participate. No SDK required.
Zero Infrastructure	Works with just a filesystem. Optional enhancements add capabilities but are never required.

Architecture

Tick is composed of five independent layers:

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  LAYER 5: GUI DASHBOARD (React Web App)               │
│ Kanban board, agent monitor, activity feed            │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  LAYER 4: INTEGRATION (MCP Server / Skill / Plugin)   │
│ Exposes Tick to agent frameworks                      │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  LAYER 3: COORDINATION PROTOCOL                       │
│ Claim/release, locking, transitions, roles            │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  LAYER 2: CLI & VALIDATION ENGINE                     │
│ tick create/claim/update/query/validate               │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  LAYER 1: DATA LAYER (Markdown + YAML + Git)          │
│ Master task file + optional detail files              │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Only Layer 1 (the Data Layer) is required. All other layers are optional enhancements. This means you can start with just a TICK.md file and a text editor.