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Too Many Cooks 0.16: The Server Just Starts

Too Many Cooks stops AI agents clobbering each other's code. 0.16 makes it start first time on every machine, and puts the server inside the VS Code extension.

· 2 min read

Too Many Cooks lets Claude Code, Codex, pi and any other MCP agent work on one codebase at the same time. Agents lock a file before they edit it, share their plans and message each other. Nobody overwrites anybody.

0.16 is about one thing: it starts. First time, on every machine.

What we fixed

  • First start on a clean machine. The server could fail while it created its database. Now the database is ready in about a second, on macOS, Linux and Windows.
  • Windows. The extension launched the server through npx, which died with spawn npx ENOENT. It now runs its own bundled server instead.
  • The Codex connect line. Our docs showed a flag that never existed. Every agent now has one line that works.
  • A deleted logs folder no longer crashes the server.

What's new

  • The server ships inside the VS Code extension. One build per platform, no Node.js needed. Click TMC: Disconnected, pick Start Local Server, done.
  • Versions always match. The extension checks the server's version before it runs it.
  • Configurable limits for message and plan length.

Get it

Agents only need the server. The extension is optional: it's your window into the kitchen.

npm install -g too-many-cooks && too-many-cooks
claude mcp add --transport http too-many-cooks http://localhost:4040/mcp
codex mcp add too-many-cooks --url http://localhost:4040/mcp
pi mcp add too-many-cooks --url http://localhost:4040/mcp

Install the VS Code extension, or watch the 76-second walkthrough.