Nextstep MIT · source

Nextstep · Career command engine for AI agents

Let AI help with your job search. Keep the record honest.

Agents draft CVs and letters well, but they can't be trusted with the record: which opportunities you chose and why, what was really submitted and when, and whether each claim is backed. Nextstep owns that record in your own files, through explicit, audited commands, while your agent keeps doing the drafting.

Try it in a minute Source on GitHub ↗
git clone https://github.com/smota/nextstep.git
  • MIT
  • Local files · no server
  • Codex · Claude · Grok · any CLI agent
  • 5 agent skills
An illustrative Nextstep pipeline Three fictional opportunities with explicit states: a recorded decision to pursue with its reason, a submission recorded at day precision, and a declined role with its reason, plus an audit line for the latest command. pipeline status read-only · no lock CTO · scale-up (example) Decision: pursue — mandate matches platform turnaround warm-introduction package ready VP Engineering · enterprise (example) Submitted 2026-09-18 · day precision, confirmed by you cold-apply outreach confirmed Head of Data · consultancy (example) Decision: decline — outside target mandate, recorded with reason audit application-attempt record-submission · v3 · idempotent Fictional example for illustration.

For executives in transition

A senior job search is a portfolio of decisions. Run it like one.

An executive search runs for months across advertised roles, search firms, introductions, and internal routes. When the record lives in chat history it drifts, giving a different answer every session. Nextstep keeps a durable, auditable record that you own.

Decisions you can defend

Every opportunity carries an explicit pursue or decline decision with its reasoning, recorded by a command rather than inferred from conversation.

Clarity · why each role is in play

A record that stays true

CVs and letters follow stable structural contracts. Submissions are recorded at their real precision, so a known date is never turned into a guessed timestamp.

Integrity · no invented process state

Strategy as experiments

Eight built-in playbooks, from warm introductions and hiring-leader outreach to executive-search market mapping and authority building, can be activated and measured.

Focus · learn which approach works
In one sentence

Nextstep brings the discipline of a well-run programme — explicit decisions, evidence, and regular review — to the most personal programme an executive will ever run, with every record kept in files they control.

For adopters

Start with no data. Add yours when ready.

Nextstep needs Node.js 20 or newer. The first commands need no configuration and touch no personal information.

  1. Explore the contract

    See the CLI contract, the built-in document templates, and the eight strategy playbooks without any setup.

    git clone https://github.com/smota/nextstep.git
cd nextstep && npm install
node bin/nextstep.mjs capabilities --json
node bin/nextstep.mjs strategy definitions --json

  2. Create your data root

    Keep your records in a directory you control, outside the repository. Nextstep never ships or invents one.

    NEXTSTEP_DATA_ROOT=C:\path\to\your-private-data
# needs Master/ and Candidatures/records/manifest.json
node bin/nextstep.mjs doctor --json

  3. Add a profile

    Use a small native profile card, or connect an existing Holoself install as an optional context source.

    node bin/nextstep.mjs candidate-profile upsert
# optional: HOLOSELF_EXECUTABLE=<trusted install>

  4. Let your agent use it

    Five portable skills cover context, opportunities, applications, networking, and review. Agents discover payloads from the CLI rather than from source.

    node bin/nextstep.mjs command describe \
  --command "application-attempt record-submission" --json

  5. Review the whole search

    A read-only, portfolio-wide view of status and staleness across every tracked opportunity.

    node bin/nextstep.mjs pipeline status --json

On Windows, integration link exposes the launcher on your PATH from one product tree. See the CLI reference ↗ and data layout ↗.

For technologists

The agent interprets. The engine records.

Nextstep is a pattern as much as a product. Agents research, interpret, and draft; every durable change passes through an explicit, versioned, audited command. There is no server, no listening port, and no embedded agent runtime.

Nextstep architecture A coding agent requests bounded context and sends versioned JSON envelopes on standard input to the Nextstep CLI. The domain engine checks contracts and readiness, takes one short commit lock, and atomically updates records, projections, audit, and idempotency state in a local data root. Holoself is an optional external context source. Coding agent Codex · Claude · Grok research · interpret · draft NEXTSTEP CLI + DOMAIN ENGINE Contractsdescribe · readiness Bounded contextworkflow + authorization Semantic mutationsversioned envelopes One commit lockatomic · idempotent Your data root records · projections audit · idempotency outside the repository Holoself (optional, via its CLI) stdin JSON stdout
Self-describing commands
capabilities and command describe return full machine-readable payload schemas, so agents discover the contract instead of guessing it or reading source.
Atomic, audited mutations
One versioned JSON envelope on stdin; one short commit lock updates records, projections, audit, and idempotency state together. Reads never take a lock.
Human edits are first-class
Direct edits to your files appear as user_revision_pending and can be adopted as a new version rather than overwritten.
Privacy by construction
Disposable run manifests accept only privacy-safe operational metadata; prompts and document content are rejected. Tests use synthetic fixtures only.
Structure, not generated prose
Workflow templates define structure for executive CVs, letters, and recruiter scans. Document checks are structural, and visual review is never automatic.
Composable, not coupled
Holoself is consumed through its own CLI when present; a native profile card is the fallback. Nextstep never reads or duplicates Holoself's files.
111+tests against disposable fixtures
8built-in strategy playbooks
5portable agent skills
0servers, ports, or embedded agent runtimes

Counts are taken from the repository README and strategy catalogue (docs/strategies.md ↗).

Status and boundaries

What you can rely on today.

An honest picture before you trust it with a live search.

DistributionOpen source on GitHub under MIT, run from source. It is not published to npm.
RuntimeNode.js 20 or newer. The domain engine has no OS-specific code; the optional local-tool linker is Windows-only.
Agent toolsCodex, Claude, Grok, or any coding agent that can run a command-line tool. Skills are optional clients; the CLI remains authoritative.
Your dataLives in a directory you choose, outside the repository. There is no hosted service; Nextstep never ships or collects career data.
What it does not doIt does not write your CV or letters, submit applications, or send outreach. It records what you and your agent decided and did.

Questions

Before you start.

Short answers for candidates, coaches, and engineers.

Is Nextstep an AI job-search assistant?

No. Your coding agent remains the assistant. Nextstep is the system of record that the assistant must go through to change durable state.

Where does my data live?

In a data root you choose, outside the Nextstep repository. Nothing is uploaded by Nextstep; your agent's own provider terms still apply to what you share with it.

Do I need Holoself?

No. Holoself is an optional context source. A small native candidate-profile card works without it.

Can I still edit files by hand?

Yes. Direct edits are detected as a pending user revision and can be adopted as a new version.

Is it only for executives?

No, but it was built for long, multi-channel searches. The executive CV template and executive-search strategies reflect that.

Run your next move like a programme you can review.

Explore the contract in a minute, then decide whether to trust it with your own record.

Get started Read the source ↗

Built by Samuel Mota · Move the Needle

Why Nextstep exists

Open source · MIT · run from source

Value

Let an AI agent help with a job search while decisions, submissions, outreach, and evidence stay in an auditable record you own.

Strategy

Agents are good at drafting and poor at remembering what was decided. Separating interpretation from durable state keeps a months-long search coherent across sessions and tools.

Technical frontier

An agent-neutral command engine: self-describing contracts, versioned JSON envelopes, one commit lock per atomic and idempotent mutation, human edits adopted as versions, and privacy-safe run manifests, with no server, port, or embedded agent.

Related thinking

The Silent Killer: Why Not Deciding is Your Most Dangerous DecisionGreen status is not truth (Decision Truth Audit)

Where this shows up in practice

Technology strategy & investment

Better together

With Holoself, and on its own
Discuss applying this with your team