pad
Project Management for the agent era
Runssource: GitHubGoApache-2.0commit 512343853906
Go, Apache-2.0 licensed. The project labels itself: agent era, agent tools, ai agents, claude code, cli, codex, cursor and developer tools.
pad runs. An Argusic agent installed it in 38 minutes and hit 4 errors and fixed every one without help on a clean machine with no GPU, and the whole session was recorded.
Pad binary builds and serves its web UI and API on localhost:7777 with SQLite storage; all Go packages except 14 environment-dependent buildtools tests pass; web frontend vitest suite passes
What the agent ended up with on a clean machine, in its own words. How this is measured
Measured by Argusic on a fresh machine every time. Every number links to its evidence. Argusic Score 100 of 100 (the mean of this project's run scores).
At a glance
Subject data from GitHub, linked at the top of this page. Test data by Argusic (CC BY 4.0); every number links to a run page with the full log, the recording, and their sha256 hashes.
What was measured
From the run that decided this verdict. Every line is a recorded value, not an estimate.
What went wrong, in the agent's own words
The agent's own words, worst first, never rewritten into advice.
- 14 tests in internal/buildtools fail due to missing ss/lsof commands5 minutes
- Node.js v18 too old for project dependencies (requires ^22.22.2 || ^24.15.0 || >=26.0.0)3 minutes
- Go compiler not found in environment2 minutes
- make build-go failed: embed.go requires web/build directory which needs web UI build first1 minute
- Install time
- 38 minutes
- Cold machine to finish
- 41 minutes
- Errors hit and fixed
- 4 hit, 4 fixed with no human help
- How the result was proved
- cd /work/repo && ./pad server start -> curl -s -o /dev/null -w %{http_code} http://localhost:7777/api/v1/health returned 200; curl -s http://localhost:7777/api/v1/health returned valid JSON with status ok; curl -s http://localhost:7777/ returned 200 with HTML; go version && node --version confirmed toolchain
- Model tokens used
- 520,048
- Exact commit tested
- 512343853906
- Container image
- sha256:cdd920bce783
What was not measured
The other half, so you can see exactly how far this evidence goes. A gap is printed as a gap and never filled in.
- Peak GPU memory
- this ran on a CPU machine, so there was no GPU to sample
- Behaviour over a long run
- each attempt uses the smallest documented settings and a fixed time budget, so this measures whether it runs, not how it holds up under load
The end of the recording
The last lines of the terminal session that decided this verdict, exactly as they were recorded.
EOF' in /work/repo succeeded in 0ms: succeeded in 79334ms: ok github.com/PerpetualSoftware/pad/cmd/pad 73.778s ok github.com/PerpetualSoftware/pad/internal/collections 0.116s ok github.com/PerpetualSoftware/pad/internal/cli 14.608s Here's the summary of what I found and accomplished: 2026-11-06T12:15:17.605770Z ERROR codex_core::session: failed to record rollout items: thread 01a1b… 2026-11-06T12:15:17.606120Z ERROR codex_core::session: failed to record rollout items: thread 01a1b… tokens used 520,048 Here's the summary of what I found and accomplished:
Replay the whole session, every command from a clean machine to this point.
How it was tested
One agent, one container, no human help. It installs the project the way its own documentation says to, runs it, and fixes what breaks. Everything below is recorded as it happened: the terminal session, the log and the exact commit. The full method.
Strengths and limits
Measured facts, not opinions. How this is written.
What went well
- Reached a running state on a clean machine, with the session recorded.
- Installed in 38 minutes.
- Recovered from all 4 errors without a human stepping in, which says the failures are documented well enough to solve.
- Ran without a GPU, so it does not need one to start.
- Licensed Apache-2.0, as reported by its host.
What did not, or is not known
- Measured once so far. A single attempt shows it can run, not that it runs reliably.
What it is a reasonable choice for
- Trying it on a laptop or a small server: it reached a running state without a GPU.
Also tested, in the same area
Every one of these was installed and run by Argusic on a clean machine. Nothing appears here that was not tested.
Run history
Topics (from GitHub)
agent-eraagent-toolsai-agentsclaude-codeclicodexcursordeveloper-toolsgolangissue-trackerlocal-firstmarkdownmcp-serveropen-sourceproject-managementself-hostedsqlitesveltekittask-managementwindsurf
Embed the badge
Markdown for the project README. It links back here; terms on the terms page.
[](https://argusic.com/subject/pad)Questions
- Does pad run?
- Yes. pad runs. Argusic installed and launched it on a clean machine in 38 minutes, hitting 4 errors on the way, and recorded the session.
- How did Argusic test pad?
- On a fresh, disposable machine, with every command recorded and the repository pinned at commit 512343853906. One attempt is recorded, and the full method is on the methodology page.
- What did it cost to test pad?
- The run that produced this verdict cost $0.25: real compute and model cost, not a list price per million tokens. It is recorded on that run's page.
- How long does pad take to install?
- 38 minutes in the run that decided this verdict, from a clean machine to a running state. That is one measured attempt, not an average.
- Does pad need a GPU?
- Not to start. Argusic reached a running state on a machine with no GPU.
- What goes wrong when installing pad?
- 4 things broke in the recorded run, and 4 were fixed without human help. Each one, and the time it cost, is listed on this page.
- Where is the evidence for pad?
- The recorded run is on this page, each linking to its full log and terminal recording, stored with a sha256 fingerprint so it cannot be quietly altered.