> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://rapidreview.io/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is Merv

> Merv turns ML research into gated, reviewable experiment workflows that your coding agent runs and you supervise.

Merv is a plugin for coding agents — Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and [eight more](/docs/merv/clients/overview). It gives a research agent structure: plan an experiment, get the plan reviewed, run it, get the results reviewed, and periodically step back and reflect on the whole project.

You install it in the agent you already use. The agent talks to a hosted **brain** over MCP; a web UI shows everything from research strategy to a single run's output.

## Every experiment passes two reviews

<Frame>
  <img className="block dark:hidden" src="https://mintcdn.com/rapidreview/P2fa0fqdwIeqtAmW/images/merv/experiment-workflow-light.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=P2fa0fqdwIeqtAmW&q=85&s=b5e7a22686f3f31214cf994f4c28d95d" alt="Experiment workflow: Plan, Design review, Execute, Results review, Complete. Rejected reviews send work back to Execute or Plan." width="992" height="256" data-path="images/merv/experiment-workflow-light.svg" />

  <img className="hidden dark:block" src="https://mintcdn.com/rapidreview/P2fa0fqdwIeqtAmW/images/merv/experiment-workflow-dark.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=P2fa0fqdwIeqtAmW&q=85&s=dd0175e383ebe3f90bf5a8ed43316388" alt="Experiment workflow: Plan, Design review, Execute, Results review, Complete. Rejected reviews send work back to Execute or Plan." width="992" height="256" data-path="images/merv/experiment-workflow-dark.svg" />
</Frame>

A second agent reviews the plan adversarially before anything runs; a third reviews the report against the plan afterwards and can send it back to execution or to planning. Nothing skips a gate. [The gated workflow](/docs/merv/concepts/gated-workflow)

## Every few experiments, the project reflects

<Frame>
  <img className="block dark:hidden" src="https://mintcdn.com/rapidreview/P2fa0fqdwIeqtAmW/images/merv/project-workflow-light.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=P2fa0fqdwIeqtAmW&q=85&s=5cda0509d3149d20e8a9cdee56b5968d" alt="Project workflow: completed experiments fan out to three core lenses plus two written for the wave, then Synthesis, Reflection review, Publish." width="992" height="296" data-path="images/merv/project-workflow-light.svg" />

  <img className="hidden dark:block" src="https://mintcdn.com/rapidreview/P2fa0fqdwIeqtAmW/images/merv/project-workflow-dark.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=P2fa0fqdwIeqtAmW&q=85&s=522470adb4c24f8bd0a485bd006dab5e" alt="Project workflow: completed experiments fan out to three core lenses plus two written for the wave, then Synthesis, Reflection review, Publish." width="992" height="296" data-path="images/merv/project-workflow-dark.svg" />
</Frame>

Five sub-agents read one snapshot — three fixed lenses (what to amplify, what to avoid, what hasn't been tried) plus two written for that wave — and their findings become a reviewed report, project graph, and change spec for the next phase. [Reflection waves](/docs/merv/concepts/reflection-waves)

## Three pieces

<Frame>
  <img className="block dark:hidden" src="https://mintcdn.com/rapidreview/P2fa0fqdwIeqtAmW/images/merv/system-architecture-light.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=P2fa0fqdwIeqtAmW&q=85&s=3e4ab4395f3cd6180f69545d9af7361a" alt="System architecture: agent platforms connect to the brain over authenticated HTTP MCP; the brain owns records, gates and sandboxes; the frontend supervises the brain." width="992" height="460" data-path="images/merv/system-architecture-light.svg" />

  <img className="hidden dark:block" src="https://mintcdn.com/rapidreview/P2fa0fqdwIeqtAmW/images/merv/system-architecture-dark.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=P2fa0fqdwIeqtAmW&q=85&s=7de442872bb63291139eefecfc306ab1" alt="System architecture: agent platforms connect to the brain over authenticated HTTP MCP; the brain owns records, gates and sandboxes; the frontend supervises the brain." width="992" height="460" data-path="images/merv/system-architecture-dark.svg" />
</Frame>

| Piece               | Owns                                                                                                                    |
| ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Client adapters** | Connect each coding agent to the same workflow: MCP, skills, reviewer sub-agents                                        |
| **Brain**           | Owns the research state — projects, claims, experiments, artifacts, gates, reflections — and provisions cloud sandboxes |
| **Frontend**        | Experiments, reviews, artifacts, logic graphs, timelines, feed                                                          |

Hosted by default; [self-host](/docs/merv/self-host/overview) if you want.

Your checkout and your SSH keys stay on your machine. Agents send explicit project ids, typed metadata, and the bytes they choose to submit; the brain never opens your repository.

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Choose your setup" icon="signs-post" href="/docs/merv/start/choose-your-setup">Hosted or self-hosted; interactive or auto-run.</Card>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/docs/merv/start/quickstart">Install, sign in, first call — five minutes.</Card>
</Columns>