seristack

Turn shell workflows into CLI commands, HTTP APIs, and MCP tools.

Seristack is a lightweight YAML-driven automation engine for DevOps, platform, and AI-agent workflows. Define stacks once, run them locally, expose them as REST-style endpoints, or publish them as MCP tools for IDEs and agent clients.

See YAML Example View on GitHub

Features

Run multiple command stacks from a single config
Repeat stacks with serial or concurrent execution
Define dependencies between stacks
Variable substitution using templates
Share output between stacks
Expose stacks as HTTP endpoints
Run as an MCP server for IDE integrations
Validate inputs with required, allowed, denied, and regex rules
Per-command timeouts using Go duration syntax
Works with mvdan shell (default), Bash, sh, and PowerShell

Why Seristack?

One stack, three interfaces

Use the same YAML stack as a local CLI command, an internal HTTP API, or an MCP tool for AI-enabled clients.

Script-to-API without a backend

Wrap existing shell scripts and runbooks without writing a Flask, FastAPI, Express, or Go service for each operation.

MCP-native automation

Create AI-callable tools from YAML instead of hand-coding a custom MCP server for every internal operation.

Installation

Mac and Linux (Homebrew)

brew install TechXploreLabs/tap/seristack

Linux (Release Archive)

STEP 1

Download the latest release from GitHub:

# Download from https://github.com/TechXploreLabs/seristack/releases
# Look for: seristack_VERSION_linux_ARCH.tar.gz
VERSION=v0.3.5
ARCH=amd64   # amd64 | arm64

curl -LO "https://github.com/TechXploreLabs/seristack/releases/download/${VERSION}/seristack_${VERSION#v}_linux_${ARCH}.tar.gz"

STEP 2

Extract the archive:

tar -xzf seristack_VERSION_linux_ARCH.tar.gz

STEP 3

Move to your PATH and set permissions:

sudo mv seristack /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/seristack

STEP 4

Verify installation:

seristack --help

Windows (Release Archive)

STEP 1

Download the latest release from GitHub:

# Download from https://github.com/TechXploreLabs/seristack/releases
# Look for: seristack_VERSION_windows_ARCH.zip

STEP 2

Extract the zip file (Right click → Extract all, or use 7-Zip)

STEP 3

Move seristack.exe to a folder in your %PATH% (e.g., C:\Windows or a custom tools folder)

STEP 4

Verify installation in PowerShell:

seristack --help

Configuration

Sample YAML Configuration

# config.yaml

stacks:
  - name: greet-api
    description: Greets a user from CLI, HTTP, or MCP
    method: GET
    urlPath: /greet
    workDir: ./
    count: 1
    timeouts: 30s
    executionMode: SEQUENTIAL
    vars:
      - name: name
        value: engineer
        required: true
        allowed_regex: regex("^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$")
      - name: env
        value: dev
        allowed_value: [dev, stage, prod]
    cmds:
      - |
        echo "Hello {{.Vars.name}} from {{.Vars.env}}"

  - name: collect-metadata
    description: Produces JSON metadata for aggregation
    dependsOn: [greet-api]
    count: 2
    timeouts: 5m
    executionMode: SEQUENTIAL
    vars:
      - name: env
        value: dev
    cmds:
      - |
        echo "{\"index\": {{.Count.index}}, \"env\": \"{{.Vars.env}}\", \"status\": \"ok\"}"
    output: |
      echo '{{.Self.result}}' | grep "^{" | jq -s '{records: ., total: length}'

  - name: cleanup-output
    dependsOn: [collect-metadata]
    discardOutput: [greet-api]
    count: 1
    timeouts: 10s
    cmds:
      - echo "discarded greet-api output from memory"

Running Stacks

1. Trigger entire stacks

Run all stacks defined in the config file (default: config.yaml)

seristack trigger -c config.yaml
# or simply:
seristack trigger

2. Run a specific stack

Execute only a particular stack by name

seristack trigger -c config.yaml -s stack3

2a. Pass variables at runtime

Use repeated --vars or a single --vars-json payload for multiple values

seristack trigger -c config.yaml -s stack1 \
  --vars name=alice \
  --vars 'payload={"team":"platform"}'

seristack trigger -c config.yaml -s stack1 \
  --vars-json '{"name":"alice","env":"dev","payload":{"team":"platform"}}'

3. Start HTTP server

Initialize the HTTP server with defined endpoints (Ctrl+C to stop)

seristack run -c config.yaml

4. Launch MCP server

Expose stacks to IDEs and MCP-enabled clients (Ctrl+C to stop)

seristack mcp -t streamableHTTP

Production Security

Seristack can execute shell commands, so do not expose it directly to the public internet. The recommended production setup is to bind Seristack to 127.0.0.1 or a private network and place Nginx or Caddy in front of it.

Use the reverse proxy for TLS, authentication, authorization, IP allowlists, rate limiting, request body limits, and access logging.

HTTP API

Run the HTTP server locally and expose selected endpoints through a protected reverse proxy.

seristack run --config config.yaml --addr 127.0.0.1 --port 8080

MCP server

Treat MCP endpoints with the same security posture as the HTTP API because MCP clients can trigger stack tools.

seristack mcp --type streamableHTTP --addr 127.0.0.1 --port 8080

Input Validation and Timeouts

Variable rules

Restrict incoming CLI, HTTP, and MCP inputs before commands run.

required
allowed_value
denied_value
allowed_regex
denied_regex

Command timeouts

Each stack can define a per-command timeout using Go duration syntax. Default is 1h.

timeouts: 500ms
timeouts: 30s
timeouts: 5m
timeouts: 1h
timeouts: 1h30m
timeouts: 2.5h

Support the Project

Support the project

If Seristack saves you from building custom internal automation APIs or MCP servers, consider starring the repository, sharing feedback, opening issues, or sponsoring future development.

Star on GitHub