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.

Documentation: Kane CLI Plugin for Claude Code on the TestMu AI docs: install, the band, the card in the chat, the pane, testing what Claude changed, assurance, evidence, commands, what it runs and sends, limits and troubleshooting. It is the page the plugin's listing links as its documentation.

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, repository, documentationUrl, privacyPolicyUrl and termsOfServiceUrl (the portal shows the last three on the listing), the plugin folder has a README.md, and .claude-plugin/icon.png is the square icon you want (all true today). The portal takes the icon only the first time the plugin is saved or submitted; changing it later does not change the listing.
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. The portal holds a mod that starts programs, sends data out or submits prompts for a person to clear; the plugin's README says what kane-qe runs and sends (What this mod runs and sends). Once published, people who enable it on claude.ai get it in Claude Code as kane-qe@synced.
4. For an update: raise version and merge to the branch or tag the submission tracks. The directory picks up the commit, checks it, and publishes it by the plugin's publish setting; nothing is resubmitted.

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 (runs, and the theme every two seconds), hooks (edits, end of turn, /kane) and the drawing
kane-qe/hooks/mascot.ts	The mascot's 8×6 pixel poses: a cell grid in terminals, an SVG of the same pixels 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