Improve README features section and add CONTRIBUTING.md

Add emoji to feature bullets, update tagline, add human-in-the-loop
feature, highlight traceability in git checkpointing, remove system
requirements section, and link to new CONTRIBUTING.md instead of
CLAUDE.md.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Bryan Helmkamp 2026-03-10 15:16:03 -04:00
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# Contributing to Arc
Thanks for your interest in contributing to Arc!
## Getting started
### Prerequisites
- [Rust](https://rustup.rs/) (latest stable)
- [Bun](https://bun.sh/) (for the web frontend)
- Git
### Build and test
```bash
# Build all Rust crates
cargo build --workspace
# Run all tests
cargo test --workspace
# Check formatting and lint
cargo fmt --check --all
cargo clippy --workspace -- -D warnings
```
### Web frontend (arc-web)
```bash
cd apps/arc-web
bun install
bun run dev # start dev server
bun test # run tests
bun run typecheck # type check
```
## Development workflow
1. Fork the repository and create a branch from `main`
2. Make your changes
3. Ensure `cargo test --workspace`, `cargo fmt --check --all`, and `cargo clippy --workspace -- -D warnings` pass
4. Open a pull request
## Reporting bugs
Open an issue on [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/brynary/arc/issues) with steps to reproduce the problem.
## License
By contributing, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the [MIT License](LICENSE.md).

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<a href="https://arc.dev"><img alt="Arc" src="docs/logo/dark.svg" height="75"></a>
</div>
## The software factory for small teams of expert engineers
## The open source software factory for expert engineers
AI coding agents are powerful but unpredictable. You either babysit every step or review a 50-file diff you don't trust. Arc gives you a middle path: define the process as a graph, let agents execute it, and intervene only where it matters.
@ -13,16 +13,16 @@ AI coding agents are powerful but unpredictable. You either babysit every step o
## Key Features
- **Deterministic workflow graphs** -- Define pipelines in Graphviz DOT with branching, loops, parallelism, and human gates. Diffable, reviewable, version-controlled.
- **Human-in-the-loop** -- Approval gates pause for human decisions. Steer running agents mid-turn. Interview steps collect structured input. You stay in control without babysitting.
- **Multi-model routing** -- Route each node to the right model and provider with CSS-like stylesheets. Cheap models for boilerplate, frontier models for hard reasoning, with automatic provider fallback.
- **Cloud sandboxes** -- Run agents in isolated Daytona cloud VMs with snapshot-based setup, network controls, and automatic cleanup.
- **SSH access and preview links** -- Shell into running sandboxes with `arc ssh` and expose ports with `arc preview` for live debugging while workflows run.
- **Git checkpointing** -- Every stage commits to a branch. Inspect changes, revert mistakes, or resume interrupted runs exactly where they left off.
- **Automatic retros** -- Each run generates a retrospective with cost, duration, files touched, and an LLM-written narrative rating smoothness and flagging friction points.
- **Comprehensive API** -- `arc serve` exposes a full REST API with SSE event streaming and a React web UI. Run workflows programmatically, build integrations, or operate Arc as a service.
- **Single binary, no runtime** -- One compiled Rust executable with zero dependencies. No Python, no Node, no Docker required to get started.
- **Open source (MIT)** -- Full source code, no vendor lock-in. Self-host, fork, or extend to fit your workflow.
- 🔀 **Deterministic workflow graphs** -- Define pipelines in Graphviz DOT with branching, loops, parallelism, and human gates. Diffable, reviewable, version-controlled.
- 🙋 **Human-in-the-loop** -- Approval gates pause for human decisions. Steer running agents mid-turn. Interview steps collect structured input. You stay in control without babysitting.
- 🎨 **Multi-model routing** -- Route each node to the right model and provider with CSS-like stylesheets. Cheap models for boilerplate, frontier models for hard reasoning, with automatic provider fallback.
- ☁️ **Cloud sandboxes** -- Run agents in isolated Daytona cloud VMs with snapshot-based setup, network controls, and automatic cleanup.
- 🔌 **SSH access and preview links** -- Shell into running sandboxes with `arc ssh` and expose ports with `arc preview` for live debugging while workflows run.
- 🌲 **Git checkpointing** -- Every stage commits code changes and execution metadata to Git branches. Inspect diffs, revert mistakes, resume interrupted runs, or trace exactly how and why each change was made.
- 📊 **Automatic retros** -- Each run generates a retrospective with cost, duration, files touched, and an LLM-written narrative rating smoothness and flagging friction points.
- ⚡ **Comprehensive API** -- `arc serve` exposes a full REST API with SSE event streaming and a React web UI. Run workflows programmatically, build integrations, or operate Arc as a service.
- 🦀 **Single binary, no runtime** -- One compiled Rust executable with zero dependencies. No Python, no Node, no Docker required to get started.
- ⚖️ **Open source (MIT)** -- Full source code, no vendor lock-in. Self-host, fork, or extend to fit your workflow.
Read the full [documentation](https://arc.dev) for details.
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---
## System Requirements
- **macOS** (Apple Silicon) or **Linux** (x86_64)
- **At least one LLM provider API key** (Anthropic, OpenAI, or Gemini)
- **Git** (for checkpoint and resume)
- **Rust** (only if building from source)
---
## Help or Feedback
- Read the [documentation](https://arc.dev)
@ -134,7 +125,7 @@ Agents run as multi-turn LLM sessions with tool access. Human gates (`hexagon`)
## Contributing
See [CLAUDE.md](CLAUDE.md) for build commands, architecture overview, and development conventions.
See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for build instructions and development workflow.
---