Can a crew of Claude Code sessions handle dependency upgrades in a Python backend?

Yes, Tares runs a crew of Claude Code sessions that takes a project such as dependency upgrades in a Python backend from plan to pull requests merged on main. The orchestrator hands out the work, builders open the pull requests, and a reviewer holds each one to a fixed bar. A pull request merges only after the reviewer passes it and CI is green. The Get started page has the full setup.

How it works

You describe the upgrades you want, and tares factory spec turns them into a Tares project: a spec, milestones with acceptance checks, tickets with a working doc each, and an AGENTS.md. The orchestrator then hands out the work.

How builders are assigned. The orchestrator starts one builder per milestone and repo of the project, up to the number of builders you allow. For a Python backend in a single repo, each milestone gets its own builder. If the upgrades also touch a second repo, such as a shared library, that repo gets its own builder too. Each builder takes a ticket, works on its own branch and opens a pull request.

What a pull request has to pass.

• The reviewer reviews every pull request to a fixed bar and posts its verdict on the pull request.
• CI on the pull request must be green. Tares reads the pull request, CI and merge state of every ticket itself, so the checks your repo already runs are the gate.
• Only then does the builder merge.

You can also let a single project wait for your yes before every merge, even when the rest of the crew merges on its own. If you turn on the optional Codex CLI, a second model checks every commit.

The plan, tickets, reviews and the assumptions the crew made stay on Tares, so a crew that restarts carries on where it stopped.

Set it up

1. Check that Claude Code is signed in on a plan that allows background sessions. Make sure gh is signed in with write access to the repos the crew works in, and that git, jq and curl are installed.
2. Install the CLI and start Tares locally. In a second terminal, start the MCP endpoint every crew session shares. On Tares Cloud, run tares login instead and skip the local start and the MCP endpoint.
3. Give Tares access to GitHub so it can read pull requests and CI. On a local Tares, add a token or App under Settings > GitHub. On Tares Cloud, choose Connect GitHub.
4. Bring up the crew. The first run asks how far the crew may go: whether it merges on its own after review and green CI or waits for your yes, whether it releases, whether a second model checks every commit, and how many builders run at once.
5. In the Python repo, plan the upgrade project and answer the interview questions.
6. Run tares factory doctor to check everything the crew needs.

uv tool install tares     # or: brew install glassflow/tap/tares
tares up
tares mcp --transport streamable-http
tares factory crew up
tares factory spec "what you want to build"

Run tares up and tares mcp in separate terminals and leave them running. Replace the text in quotes with your own words, for example the packages and versions you want upgraded.

For a Python repo, doctor reads pyproject.toml, setup.py, setup.cfg, Pipfile or requirements.txt and checks whether Claude Code has a Python language server. With one, builders and the reviewer can find a definition, its references and its callers instead of searching text. If it is missing, doctor prints what to run, and crew up offers the same install and runs it only when you say yes.

After the spec, say yes when it asks whether to hand the project to the crew. Then use tares factory crew attach orchestrator to answer its questions.

What you get

• Upgrade work split into milestones and tickets, with each milestone and repo worked by its own builder on its own branch.
• One pull request per ticket, reviewed to a fixed bar, with the verdict posted on the pull request.
• Merges only when the reviewer passes and CI is green, with an optional yes from you before every merge.
• A record of every review, assumption and question on Tares, so you check the crew’s own choices at the end of each milestone instead of during every step.
• A Crew page in the Tares console showing each project’s progress, its builders and the pull requests waiting for review.
• Several projects at once. The same crew can work your upgrade project and others at the same time.

When something else fits

• For a small upgrade, use tares factory session to work in your own Claude Code session, still recorded on the project, instead of a crew.
• The software factory is built for solo developers and very small teams on one machine with their own Claude Code login and GitHub repos. A larger team needs a different setup.

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