---
title: "nika"
description: "Nika: intent-as-code for AI workflows: author a reviewable DAG in YAML, audit cost and permits before running, keep tamper-evident traces after. This package carries the authoring, debugging, operating and migration skil"
canonical: https://agentpluginsdirectory.com/plugins/nika
last-updated: 2026-09-22
---

# nika
Nika: intent-as-code for AI workflows: author a reviewable DAG in YAML, audit cost and permits before running, keep tamper-evident traces after. This package carries the authoring, debugging, operating and migration skills plus the read-only Nika MCP oracle. Requires the nika binary: brew install supernovae-st/tap/nika
- Slug: nika
- Publisher: SuperNovae Studio
- Repository: https://github.com/supernovae-st/nika
- Manifest: .agents/plugins/nika/plugin.json
- Version: 0.120.3
- License: AGPL-3.0-or-later
- Category (editorial): agent-tooling
- Skills: 4 (nika-authoring, nika-debugging, nika-migration, nika-operating)
- MCP servers: 1 (nika)
- Stars: 88
- Repository created: 2026-01-02
- Repository last pushed: 2026-09-22
- Publisher type: Organization
- Listing: https://agentpluginsdirectory.com/plugins/nika
- Schema: https://agent-plugins.org/schemas/1.0.0/plugin.schema.json

## What nika does, in the publisher's words

Teach your agent to hand repeatable work to Nika: a plain-text.nika.yaml workflow it can check before a token is spent and verify after. One Add installs the full bundle: your agent learns to author, debug, operate and migrate workflows on its own.

- route the intent to a template (nika new or the nika_template tool)
- fill every # SLOT: marker: touch nothing else
- nika check: findings carry NIKA-XXXX codes with fix hints
- repair, re-check, until rc=0
- the human runs it: nika run: and the trace proves it (nika trace verify)

No plugin store to audit on the workflow side either: everything callable is a tool under invoke:, and the engine ships its own builtin library.

- macOS GUI PATH: Cursor may not inherit your shell PATH: if the MCP oracle does not start, launch Cursor from a terminal once (open -a Cursor) or ensure nika is reachable from GUI apps.

From the project README, punctuation lightly normalized. Full text: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/supernovae-st/nika/HEAD/.agents/plugins/nika/README.md

## Skills

- nika-authoring: Author, check and repair Nika workflows (.nika.yaml files: the workflow language for AI). Use when writing or editing a *.nika.yaml file, converting a repeated AI task or prompt chain into a workflow, or when nika check reports NIKA-XXXX findings to fix.
- nika-debugging: Diagnose and repair failed, paused or suspicious Nika runs from their traces (.nika/traces). Use when nika run exited red, a run paused on a prompt, a NIKA-XXXX runtime finding needs a root cause, a trace must be read or tamper-verified, or a fixed workflow needs a surgical partial rerun.
- nika-migration: Convert existing automation, shell scripts, Python glue, Makefile targets, CI jobs, prompt chains in docs, into checkable.nika.yaml workflows. Use when a script wraps LLM calls or HTTP/file plumbing, a prompt chain lives in a README or notebook, or ad-hoc automation needs audit, cost bounds and…
- nika-operating: Operate Nika workflows day-2: spend caps, permits boundaries, secrets, model swaps (cloud/local), CI wiring, trace export. Use when hardening a working workflow for production, wiring it into CI or a scheduler, capping cost, tightening the permits boundary, swapping models, or exporting traces to…

Descriptions come from the frontmatter of each SKILL.md, punctuation lightly normalized.

## MCP servers

- nika: transport: stdio; command: nika mcp

Read from the plugin's own mcp.json. Environment variable names only, never values.