Agent orchestrator · Orchestrator (IDE)

HumanLayer

HumanLayer is an Orchestrator (IDE) in the 2026 agents.dancingteeth catalog. Team QRSPI workflows orchestrating BYOK Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, or Fireworks with tasks and artifacts — installable desktop, no waitlist.

Last updated

Best for

Team QRSPI workflows orchestrating BYOK Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, or Fireworks with tasks and artifacts — installable desktop, no waitlist.

Skip if

You only need quick single-file edits — Pro is $100/user/mo and the workflow is heavy.

Who it fits

  • Team QRSPI workflows orchestrating BYOK Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, or Fireworks with tasks and artifacts — installable desktop, no waitlist.
  • People who prefer a dedicated desktop coding surface

Pros

Installable desktop — brew install humanlayer/humanlayer/humanlayer, no waitlist; BYOK — plug in existing Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, Fireworks, and other subs without HumanLayer token markup; Opinionated QRSPI — Questions, Research, Design, Structure, Plan, Implement; Parallel sessions — run multiple agent instances at once; Free Starter for teams of three or less on the full IDE; Keyboard-first context engineering — session forking and QRSPI artifacts.

Cons

Early stability issues — WSL users report daemon flush timeouts; QRSPI is heavyweight — six phases add overhead for small edits.

Facts

Locality:
Hybrid (local + cloud)
Surfaces:
Desktop
Maturity:
General availability
BYOK:
Bring your own API key
Open source:
Source available

Agent standards & memory

AGENTS.md: SupportedSKILL.md: PartialRules / memory: Task-scoped artifacts (research.md, design.md, plan.md); QRSPI phase checkpoints; OSS RPI slash commands in humanlayer/humanlayer.Free Starter (≤3 members, 200 sessions/mo); Pro $100/user/mo; BYOK.

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Alternatives

Frequently asked questions

What is HumanLayer?

HumanLayer is an Orchestrator (IDE) covered in the agents.dancingteeth 2026 catalog. Installable desktop — brew install humanlayer/humanlayer/humanlayer, no waitlist; BYOK — plug in existing Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, Fireworks, and other subs without HumanLayer token markup; Opinionated QRSPI — Questions, Research, Design, Structure, Plan, Implement; Parallel sessions — run multiple agent instances at once; Free Starter for teams of three or less on the full IDE; Keyboard-first context engineering — session forking and QRSPI artifacts.

Who is HumanLayer best for?

Team QRSPI workflows orchestrating BYOK Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, or Fireworks with tasks and artifacts — installable desktop, no waitlist.

When should I skip HumanLayer?

You only need quick single-file edits — Pro is $100/user/mo and the workflow is heavy.

What are the main trade-offs of HumanLayer?

Pros: Installable desktop — brew install humanlayer/humanlayer/humanlayer, no waitlist; BYOK — plug in existing Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, Fireworks, and other subs without HumanLayer token markup; Opinionated QRSPI — Questions, Research, Design, Structure, Plan, Implement; Parallel sessions — run multiple agent instances at once; Free Starter for teams of three or less on the full IDE; Keyboard-first context engineering — session forking and QRSPI artifacts. Cons: Early stability issues — WSL users report daemon flush timeouts; QRSPI is heavyweight — six phases add overhead for small edits.

Does HumanLayer support AGENTS.md, SKILL.md, or MCP?

This card lists AGENTS.md as Supported, SKILL.md as Partial, and rules/memory as Task-scoped artifacts (research.md, design.md, plan.md); QRSPI phase checkpoints; OSS RPI slash commands in humanlayer/humanlayer.. Free options: Free Starter (≤3 members, 200 sessions/mo); Pro $100/user/mo; BYOK..

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