Keeps your AI from floating away.
Because "AI went rogue and deleted my database" is a story nobody wants to tell at standup.
TETHER is a safety cage, guardrail system, and workflow framework for Google Antigravity. It transforms your AI coding assistant from a brilliant but occasionally chaotic intern into a disciplined engineering partner.
Without TETHER: "Hey AI, add user auth" β AI implements OAuth, rewrites your database schema, refactors 47 files, and introduces 3 bugs you won't find for weeks.
With TETHER: "Hey AI, add user auth" β AI creates a plan, waits for your approval, implements incrementally, tests each step, and documents everything.
| Problem | TETHER Solution |
|---|---|
| AI hallucinates code | Plan-Then-Execute: Must create artifact BEFORE coding |
| AI cuts corners | Metronome: Every 5 actions, stops to ask "Am I being sloppy?" |
| AI context degrades | 60% Budget: Forces archiving before brain overload |
| AI forgets learnings | Global Memory: .thoughts/ persists across all projects |
| AI writes placeholders | No Placeholders Rule: Complete code or break into tasks |
| AI makes bulk changes | Anti-Shortcut: rm -rf requires sign-off in triplicate |
Want the full walkthrough? See GETTING_STARTED.md
| Setting | Location | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge Base | Settings β Knowledge | Enable (so AI remembers you) |
| Artifact Review | Settings β Artifacts | "Request Review" (so AI asks permission) |
| Terminal Policies | Settings β Terminal | Add Allow/Deny lists (so AI can't rm -rf /) |
| Browser Sub-Agent | Settings β Browser | Enable (so AI can verify its own work) |
# Create the brain that follows you everywhere
mkdir -p "$env:USERPROFILE\antigravity-global-memory\{solutions,patterns,mistakes,decisions,discoveries}"
# In each project, create symlink
New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path ".thoughts" -Target "$env:USERPROFILE\antigravity-global-memory"Say: "Read 00_ARCHITECT_BRAIN.md and follow all rules."
That's it. You now have adult supervision for your AI.
| Command | What It Does | When To Use |
|---|---|---|
/godmode [goal] |
Full autonomous build | "Make me a thing" |
/status |
Traffic light health check | "Is everything on fire?" |
/debug [issue] |
Structured bug hunt | "Why is this broken?" |
/rollback |
Undo everything | "OH GOD GO BACK" |
/help |
Show all commands | "What can you do again?" |
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
/specify [feature] |
Create detailed spec before coding |
/investigate [question] |
Research without polluting main context |
/tools |
List auto-discovered project tools |
/archive-phase |
Compress and store learnings |
/decision [topic] |
Document architectural choices |
/godmode [goal] --bmad |
Full BMad cascade (for complex work) |
| π’ Nominal (85-100) | π‘ Warning (70-84) | π΄ Critical (<70) |
|---|---|---|
| Vibing | Caution | Panic |
These rules live in 00_ARCHITECT_BRAIN.md. The AI must follow them. No exceptions. No negotiations. No "but I thoughtβ".
- Plan-Then-Execute: Create plan β Wait for approval β Only then code
- No Placeholders: Write
// TODO: implement laterand we are no longer friends - 60% Context Budget: Hit 60%? Archive. Don't hit 80% and become word salad.
- Metronome Check: Every 5 actions, pause and ask "Am I cutting corners?"
- Auto-Lint: Deliver clean code or don't deliver at all
- TDD Mandate: Failing test first (or mark as
// SPIKE - needs tests) - Guard Clauses: Early returns at the top, happy path at the bottom
- Progressive Loading: Load files on-demand, not "let me just read everything"
| File | Purpose | Vibe |
|---|---|---|
00_ARCHITECT_BRAIN.md |
All the rules | The Constitution |
GEMINI.md |
Error log & lessons | The Diary of Shame |
.planning/PROJECT.md |
Goals & architecture | The Vision Board |
.planning/ROADMAP.md |
Phased plan | The To-Do List |
.thoughts/ |
Global memory symlink | The Eternal Brain |
.tether/ADVANCED_PATTERNS.md |
BMad, Swarm, Memory Compression | The PhD Thesis |
.tether/SKILLS_INDEX.md |
Reusable patterns | The Recipe Book |
Once you've mastered the basics, TETHER offers power tools:
| Pattern | What It Does | Complexity |
|---|---|---|
| BMad Method | Cascades work through Spec β Architect β Build β Test agents | High |
| Multi-Agent Swarm | Parallelizes independent work streams | High |
| Recursive Memory Compression | Saves learnings without token bloat | Medium |
| Auto-Tool Discovery | AI finds and uses project-specific tools | Medium |
See .tether/ADVANCED_PATTERNS.md for the full breakdown.
For humans who want to go deeper:
| Document | What It Covers |
|---|---|
| SKILLS_INDEX.md | 20 reusable patterns (auth, database, API, testing) |
| GLOBAL_MEMORY_SETUP.md | Cross-project memory via .thoughts/ symlink |
| TROUBLESHOOTING.md | When things go wrong |
Everything else in .tether/ is for the AI. You don't need to read it.
TETHER stands on the shoulders of giants (and a few mad scientists):
- Get Shit Done (GSD) by Lex Christopherson - The original "stop chatting, start building" philosophy. TETHER grew from this seed.
- Boris Cherny's Claude Code workflows - The spec-driven, artifact-first approach
- BMad AI Coding Methodology - Multi-agent cascade patterns
- Ashley Ha's Claude Code Mastery - Context budget management and
.thoughts/global memory
- Anthropic Engineering - Plan-then-execute, subagent orchestration
- Cursor IDE Community - Progressive context loading, guard clauses
- Windsurf Cascade - Auto-lint integration
- antigravity-skills / antigravity-awesome-skills community repos - Pattern library inspiration
- antigravity-kit / antigravity-workspace-template - Recursive memory and auto-discovery patterns
- Every developer who's ever said "the AI broke my code" - Your pain is the reason TETHER exists
Q: Why "TETHER"?
A: Because in Antigravity, things float away if you don't tie them down. Your AI's context, your project's state, your sanityβall of it. TETHER keeps everything connected.
Q: Is this overkill for a small project?
A: Is a seatbelt overkill for a short drive? Maybe. But the one time you need it...
Q: Can I disable rules I don't like?
A: You can. But then you'll email me at 2am asking why your AI deleted your production database. I'll send you a link to this FAQ.
Q: Why the humor?
A: Because reading documentation is already painful enough. If I can't make it useful AND entertaining, what's the point?
Q: Does this actually work?
A: It reduced my "AI did something insane" incidents by about 90%. The other 10% make great stories.
RandOS License (ROL) 1.0 - MIT with personality. Use it, fork it, ship it. Just don't be a jerk about it.
To update TETHER:
- Modify workflows in
.agent/workflows/ - Update
00_ARCHITECT_BRAIN.mdfor rule changes - Mirror templates to
.tether/templates/ - Test with
/self-check - Commit and ship
Built by a Marine Corps veteran, artist, MBA, alderman, and occasional AI wrangler who believes in shipping finished work.
Now go build something. And let TETHER keep your AI from floating away. π