What do I need installed and signed in before a crew can work in a Node/TypeScript app?

Tares needs Claude Code signed in on a plan that allows background sessions, gh signed in with write access to your repos, and git, jq and curl. The Codex CLI is optional, for a second model that checks every commit. The same list applies to a Node/TypeScript app as to any other repo, and the stations use your Claude Code login, so you add no separate model API key.

How it works

The software factory for Claude Code runs a crew of Claude Code sessions in the background on your machine: an orchestrator, a reviewer and builders. Each piece of the checklist maps to something the crew does.

• Claude Code, signed in, on a plan that allows background sessions. Every station is a Claude Code session that runs in the background and uses your Claude Code login.
• gh, signed in with write access. Builders push branches and open pull requests with your gh login, so it needs write access to every repo the crew works in. If a project keeps its tickets in GitHub Issues, sign in to gh with the repo scope on the machine that runs the sessions.
• git, jq and curl. These three tools must be installed on the machine.
• Codex CLI, optional. Install it if you want a second model to check every commit. tares factory crew up asks whether to turn that on.

Tares also needs its own access to GitHub. It reads the pull request, CI and merge state of every ticket itself. On Tares Cloud you choose Connect GitHub in your workspace settings and pick the repos. On a local Tares you add a GitHub token or App under Settings > GitHub.

For a Node/TypeScript app, tares factory doctor also looks at language servers. It finds TypeScript through tsconfig.json and JavaScript through package.json, and checks that Claude Code has a server for each. Builders and the reviewer search less when Claude Code can find definitions, references and callers through a language server. If one is missing, doctor prints what to run, and tares factory crew up offers the same install and runs it only when you say yes.

Set it up

Work through these steps in order. Steps marked local apply to a local Tares, and the step marked cloud applies to Tares Cloud.

1. Check that Claude Code is signed in on a plan that allows background sessions, and that git, jq and curl are installed. Sign in to gh with an account that has write access to the repos the crew works in:

   gh auth login

2. Install the CLI:

   uv tool install tares     # or: brew install glassflow/tap/tares

3. Local: start Tares.

   tares up

4. Local: in a second terminal, start the MCP endpoint every crew session shares. On a local Tares the stations reach Tares only through this endpoint.

   tares mcp --transport streamable-http

5. Cloud: sign in and pick your workspace in the browser. There is no MCP endpoint to start.

   tares login

6. Give Tares access to GitHub: Settings > GitHub for a local Tares, or Connect GitHub on Tares Cloud.

7. Bring up the crew. The first run asks how far the crew may go, including whether a second model checks every commit.

   tares factory crew up

8. Check everything the crew needs, including the language servers for your Node/TypeScript repo:

   tares factory doctor

The tares package includes the Tares plugin the crew uses, so you install nothing in Claude Code. Once the checks pass, plan your first project with tares factory spec. The Get started page walks through the full quickstart.

What you get

• A crew that starts cleanly, because every tool and login it uses is in place before tares factory crew up.
• Builders that can push branches and open pull requests in your Node/TypeScript repo, and a Tares that can read each ticket’s pull request, CI and merge state.
• One login to manage, because the stations use your Claude Code login and need no model API key.
• A single check, tares factory doctor, that prints a line for each thing the crew needs and the command that fixes each problem. For your repo it covers the TypeScript or JavaScript language server.
• An optional second model that checks every commit, if you install the Codex CLI and say yes when crew up asks.

When something else fits

• If you do not have a Claude Code plan that allows background sessions, the crew cannot run, so work in your own session with tares factory session instead, which still needs Claude Code.
• If you only want to plan or build one small project, tares factory session skips the crew. See Get started for both paths.

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