Norn

Norn is an open-source, local-first workspace designed for advanced pull request reviews on Bitbucket Cloud and GitHub.

It keeps sensitive credentials safe on your machine, stores review context locally, and gives reviewers a structured path from suggestions to published comments.

Key features

• Unified browsing: navigate Bitbucket and GitHub pull requests in the same workspace.
• Diff-first interface: switch between unified and side-by-side views, preview images, and move quickly between files.
• Multiple interfaces: install the headless CLI and Terminal UI, or build the desktop app from source.
• Reviewer-owned drafts: keep comments local until you choose to publish them.
• Integrated AI Assist: run reviews with Claude or Codex and retain results and evidence locally.
• Managed agent skills: install the version-matched Norn review workflow for Codex and Claude Code without a source checkout.
• Local Git operations: sync branches, apply fixes, create commits, and publish changes from the workspace.

Three ways to use Norn

Norn is available through three interfaces built around the same local-first review workflow:

Headless CLI

Use norn review in a terminal, an AI-agent workflow, or CI. The headless CLI can review working-tree changes, branches, and pull requests, and can return Markdown or structured JSON output. It is the best fit for automation and pre-push quality gates.

Terminal UI

Run norn without a subcommand—or launch norn-tui directly—to browse and review pull requests in an interactive terminal interface. The TUI is designed for developers who want a complete review workspace without leaving the terminal.

Desktop app

Use the native Tauri/React app for the richest visual experience: unified and side-by-side diffs, image previews, local drafts, AI-assisted review, and publication controls. The desktop app can be built from source, but it is not included in the current stable Homebrew distribution.

Quick installation

Install Norn with Homebrew on macOS:

brew install delaudio/tap/norn

The current stable release is Norn v0.2.7. Its formula installs the headless CLI, Terminal UI, and version-matched agent skill assets on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. See the desktop app guide if you want to run the graphical workspace from source.

Initialize Norn in a repository and validate its configuration:

cd /path/to/repo
norn init --quick --repo-path . --yes
norn doctor --repo-path .
norn config validate --repo-path .

Review your local changes:

norn review --repo-path . --scope working-tree --allow-provider-diff

The documentation below covers installation, the everyday review workflow, and integration with AI assistants.