Tools

Habits ships as a collection of standalone tools. Each one can be used independently or combined to build a complete system. Pick the tools that fit your context.

The tools

Tool	What it does	Run it
Base	Visual drag-and-drop canvas for building and testing habits in the browser	npx habits base
Cortex Server	Node.js runtime that executes habits and exposes them as a REST API	npx habits cortex
Admin	Self-hosted web UI that manages multiple Cortex instances, subdomains, and users	npx habits admin
Desktop App	Native macOS, Windows, and Linux app that runs habits fully offline	Download from GitHub
Mobile App	Native iOS and Android app with on-device execution and device hardware access	Download from stores
Mirror	P2P file transfer for moving .habit files between devices, no cloud involved	Built into Base / Admin / Apps

How they relate

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Base (build)          Admin (manage)            │
│   └─ design habits      └─ host multiple         │
│   └─ export .habit          Cortex instances     │
│   └─ use Mirror             └─ subdomain routing │
└──────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
                   │  .habit file
         ┌─────────▼──────────┐
         │   Cortex Server    │  ← runs anywhere Node.js runs
         │   executes habits  │
         │   REST API         │
         └────────────────────┘
                   │
         ┌─────────▼──────────────────────┐
         │  Desktop App / Mobile App       │  ← offline, on-device
         │  bundles Cortex + hardware bits │
         └─────────────────────────────────┘

Choosing what to use

I want to build a workflow visually → start with Base

I want to run a habit on a server → use Cortex Server

I want to host habits for a team or customers → use Admin

I want to run habits offline on my laptop → use the Desktop App

I want habits on my phone → use the Mobile App

I want to send a habit to another device → use Mirror

What a habit actually is

A habit is a self-contained workflow file (.habit or stack.yaml) that describes inputs, a sequence of nodes, and an output. Each node is a bit: a small, single-purpose function like "call OpenAI", "send an email", or "query a database". All tools in this list know how to load and run habit files.

See the Recipes section for end-to-end examples that combine multiple tools.