Getting Started

Get up and running with Bynary. This guide walks through initial setup, creating your first project, shaping the roadmap and running your first cycle.

Purpose

Bynary brings structure and discipline to AI-powered software development. Rather than using AI as an ad-hoc coding assistant, Bynary integrates it into a full delivery lifecycle: shaping features on a roadmap, planning them with AI, building them autonomously with validation, and reviewing the result with people in charge.

The result is software that is planned intentionally, built and checked by AI, reviewed by a person, and documented automatically.

Cycles

Features

Tasks

Completed

Cycle 3 — Authentication

5 features, 18 tasks

planning

Cycle 2 — Dashboardcompleted

Cycle 1 — Project Setupcompleted

The project dashboard shows your cycles, features, and overall progress.

Initial Setup

Run the Setup Wizard

A system admin is guided through a 2-step setup wizard: connect your Anthropic API key (tested before you can continue), then optionally connect a GitHub Personal Access Token.

Connect AI and GitHub

Settings → AI Connectivity holds your Anthropic API key or Claude subscription token. Settings → GitHub Connectivity lets you register and install a Bynary GitHub App, which is the preferred option, or use a Personal Access Token as a fallback. All credentials are encrypted with AES-256-GCM before storage.

Create Your First Project

Click New Project from the sidebar or projects page. Choose to create a new Next.js app or connect an existing GitHub repository. For existing repos, Bynary runs a Claude Code analysis in the background that produces architecture docs, discovers features for the roadmap and flags existing defects. The dashboard opens immediately with a passive 'Analyzing codebase…' pill. Cycles can't start until the analysis completes.

Shape the Roadmap

Features are created on the roadmap, not inside cycles. New projects land with a seeded sample feature tagged 'Getting Started' on the Now lane so you can see what a complete feature looks like. Work with the product manager AI to give each feature a persona, a user value statement, done whens and tasks, until it reaches Ready.

Start Your First Cycle

Once analysis has completed and at least one feature is Ready in the Now lane, click Start Cycle on the roadmap. The AI recommends up to 3 features to build together and you can swap them. The dialog shows a cost and duration estimate, calibrated against your last 5 completed cycles once you have some. Confirm to enter planning.

Understanding the Workflow

Plan

Each feature in the cycle has its own chat with an engineering lead AI that checks the done whens are testable, the tasks cover them and the technical approach fits your codebase. You approve each feature for build individually, then complete planning.

Build

The AI implements all tasks using Claude Code in a sandboxed environment, with a fresh session per feature. It writes code, runs your toolchain, validates against your done whens and runs review agents. A supervisor monitors the build and pauses for a person only when it hits something it can't resolve.

Review

Review the AI's work feature by feature. Accept tasks, flag defects, note missed requirements, or request small changes with Iterate. Issues can be fixed with a targeted rebuild or deferred to the roadmap's Later lane. Optional preview deployments let you click through the running app.

Document (Optional)

If enabled for the project, the AI generates user documentation, release notes and technical documentation based on what was built. You can edit the content before completing the cycle, which creates the GitHub pull request.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to know how to code to use Bynary?

Some technical understanding helps, especially during review where you evaluate the AI's work. The roadmap is designed to be accessible to product managers and non-technical stakeholders, who work in plain language with the product manager AI.

What programming languages does Bynary support?

Bynary currently targets Next.js (App Router) and TypeScript projects. The build sandbox, tooling and validation are all specific to that stack.

How do I invite team members?

Go to Settings → Members and send an invitation, choosing their roles. They receive an email with a signup link, and their roles are applied when they join. Anyone who signs up without an invitation joins with read-only access until an admin grants them a role.

Is my code secure?

Builds run in ephemeral sandboxed environments (E2B) that are destroyed after use. Credentials are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM. Data is isolated by team using row-level security, and every mutation is audit-logged.

What is a cycle?

A cycle is the core work unit in Bynary: one iteration of plan → build → review → document, covering up to 3 features from the roadmap. Completing a cycle creates a GitHub pull request.