How do I limit what a Claude Code crew can touch while it does small features in a Node/TypeScript app?

Tares gives you five levers over its software factory for Claude Code: the repos your gh login can write to, the merge setting, the reviewer bar, halting the crew and leaving the releaser off. You set most of them once, when you first run tares factory crew up. You can pause merges, pushes and new sessions at any time with tares factory crew halt. The same levers apply to small features in a Node/TypeScript app.

How it works

The crew is a set of Claude Code sessions on your machine: an orchestrator, a reviewer, builders and, only if you ask, a releaser. Each lever limits one part of that crew.

• The repos your gh login can write to. Builders push and open pull requests with your gh login. The access that login holds is the access the crew works with. The crew needs write access to the repos it works in, so grant your login write access to the repos you want it in.
• The merge setting. On the first run, Tares asks whether the crew merges on its own after review and green CI (the recommended choice) or waits for your yes. A single project can also wait for your yes before every merge while the rest of the crew merges on its own.
• The reviewer bar. The reviewer reviews every pull request to a fixed bar and posts its verdict on the pull request. A builder merges only after the reviewer passes the change and CI is green. You can also have a second model check every commit, if you have the Codex CLI.
• Halting the crew. tares factory crew halt stops merges, pushes and new sessions until you run tares factory crew resume. It is different from tares factory crew down, which stops every station.
• Leaving the releaser off. The releaser tags and deploys, and only exists if you ask for one. Without it, tickets end at merged on main.

The first-run questions also cover how many builders run at once and anything you always allow. Tares keeps your answers.

Set it up

1. Check which repos your gh login can write to. Sign in with gh auth login, using a login that has write access to the repos you want the crew to work in.

2. Run tares factory doctor to check everything the crew needs.

3. Bring up the crew and answer the first-run questions. See Build a software factory with Claude Code for the full quickstart.

   tares factory crew up

4. Set the merge setting. Choose whether the crew merges on its own after review and green CI, or waits for your yes. Keep the builder count low if you want fewer changes in flight at once.

5. Say no when it asks whether the crew releases. Tickets then end at merged on main, and nothing is tagged or deployed.

6. Plan the work as small tickets for your Node/TypeScript app. Each builder takes one ticket, works on its own branch and opens a pull request.

   tares factory spec "what you want to build"

7. Keep the halt command ready. It stops merges, pushes and new sessions until you resume.

   tares factory crew halt "<reason>"
   tares factory crew resume

8. Check on the crew with tares factory crew status, which shows the stations, the questions for you and a line per project. Run tares factory projects to see each project’s progress, builders and repos.

What you get

• Pushes and pull requests go through your gh login, on the repos you have chosen to give it write access to.
• Every pull request is reviewed to a fixed bar before it merges, and CI must be green.
• You decide whether merges are automatic or wait for your yes, for the whole crew or for a single project.
• One command pauses merges, pushes and new sessions, and one command resumes them. Tares keeps the plan, the tickets, the reviews and your answers, so the record is still there when you resume.
• With no releaser, work stops at merged on main, so you keep tagging and deploying in your own hands.
• Every choice the crew made on its own is written down, so you can check it at the end of each milestone.

When something else fits

• If you want to read every change before it lands, set the crew to wait for your yes before merging, or wait for your yes on a single project. This keeps the crew and puts you in the loop.
• If a task is small enough that you want to drive it yourself, use tares factory session to work in your own Claude Code session, still on Tares. If the crew already has the project, the session asks whether to take it over, and the crew stops if you say yes.
• If you need to stop the crew completely, use tares factory crew down. It stops every station, and Tares keeps the projects, tickets and answers.
• If you want the crew to tag and deploy, ask for the releaser. Add it only when you are ready for that step.

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