KaimonSlate.jl

Appearance

Installation ​

KaimonSlate runs best as a Kaimon extension — that's the full experience: each notebook evaluates in its own gate worker (clean namespace, package management, a tailable log) and the AI agent can drive the notebook through the slate.* tools. A lighter standalone mode works without Kaimon for a quick look.

Either way, you drive it with the slate app — a small launcher, installed with Julia's app system, that starts (or attaches to) the notebook hub and shows a status TUI.

Requirements ​

  • Julia 1.12 or newer — the slate app uses Julia's app system.

  • A browser (any modern Chromium/Firefox/Safari).

  • Kaimon (recommended) — for the gate workers and the AI agent. For the agent's models: a logged-in claude CLI (Claude models) and/or a running Ollama (local models).

1. Install Kaimon ​

Install Kaimon and make sure it runs (see the Kaimon docs). Log in the claude CLI and/or start Ollama if you want the agent. This gives KaimonSlate its gate workers and the agent runtime.

2. Install the slate app ​

From the Pkg REPL (press ]), add KaimonSlate as an app — this puts a slate launcher on your PATH:

julia
pkg> app add KaimonSlate

(For an unregistered checkout, point at the repo: pkg> app add https://github.com/kahliburke/KaimonSlate.jl.) The launcher lands in Julia's app bin — if slate isn't found, add that directory (printed by app add) to your PATH.

3. Run slate ​

sh
slate                 # start (or attach to) the hub + status TUI
slate my_analysis.jl  # also open that notebook in the browser (created if missing)

The first time you run it with Kaimon installed, slate offers to register itself as a Kaimon extension:

Register Slate as a Kaimon extension now?  [Y]es · [n]o · [d]on't ask again

Say yes — Kaimon scans for extensions dynamically, so it's picked up without a restart. slate stays open and attaches the moment Kaimon brings the hub up. Now your agents have the slate.* tools and Kaimon serves your notebooks from its own hub — no extra process — and running slate again attaches to that hub as a live status viewer.

Consented, not automatic

Registration is a one-time prompt you approve — it replaces the old silent auto-register on package load. Nothing wires itself into Kaimon behind your back; KaimonSlate.register_extension() registers manually, and slate never overwrites a registration you removed.

4. Open the browser ​

slate opens your notebook automatically. Otherwise browse the hub index at http://127.0.0.1:8765 (set KAIMONSLATE_PORT to move it) — it lists open notebooks and opens more by path — or just ask the 💬 agent to open one (slate.open). See The AI Agent for the full tool surface.

Standalone (without Kaimon) ​

slate --own runs the hub in-process, without Kaimon (also the default when Kaimon isn't installed):

sh
slate --own                 # own the hub locally, even if a Kaimon extension is registered
slate --own analysis.jl

Cells evaluate, widgets and figures work, and the Timeline records history. The AI agent is unavailable (it needs Kaimon), and notebooks evaluate in-process rather than in a per-notebook worker.

The status TUI ​

However you start it, slate shows a terminal dashboard:

  • Server — whether the hub is up (this process owns it), attached (an external Kaimon-extension hub), or waiting for the extension to come up — plus the hub URL and whether Slate is registered with Kaimon.

  • Notebooks — a live table of every open notebook: cells, running / stale / errored counts, its worker port, and URL.

  • Keys — ↑↓/enter open the selected notebook, o opens the hub index, r restarts the hub you own, s starts a local hub (when waiting on the extension), q quits.

Embedding (programmatic) ​

To drive the hub from your own script instead of the app, the REPL API is still available — serve_notebook / start_server / stop_server — see Configuration and the API Reference.

In-process vs. gate worker

Even standalone, a notebook gets its own gate worker when it sits inside a Julia project and Kaimon's gate is available — giving it a clean namespace, a tailable log, package management, and isolation from the server. Otherwise it evaluates in-process. See Architecture.

Next steps ​