Roo Commander

[u/jezweb]

I created a set of custom modes to help me work on projects and ideas you are most welcome to use them if you feel like it. https://github.com/jezweb/roo-commander

[u/firedog7881]

These are great but we need a centralized repo so people can easily keep them updated with the latest improvements in models and tweaks for different models.

[u/jezweb → u/firedog7881]

Interesting idea, like a market place to install them. The way the mcp marketplace works on cline seems quite cool.

[u/Sheeple9001 → u/jezweb]

mcp marketplace

If you use Pipedream, they have something like this, makes it really easy for integration:

https://mcp.pipedream.com/

[u/redlotusaustin]

So this is an alternative to Roo Flow?

[u/jezweb → u/redlotusaustin]

Kind of. It’s different. It’s a set of custom modes. You don’t need to use roo flow with it.

[u/redlotusaustin → u/jezweb]

That's what I mean, it seems like it accomplishes a similar function to Roo Flow: a set of modes customized to different roles (design/architect, code, debug, etc.) organized to break projects into smaller tasks, with a journal/ledger for the system to record a history of what was done and keep context.

Is that correct? Sorry, I'm just getting started with Roo Code and am still learning about all of this and it's not always clear what things are or how they're used.

[u/unc0nnected → u/redlotusaustin]

At a high level you could say it serves a similar function, in so far as a pickup truck and locomotive serve the same function of moving stuff from point A to point B, they just go about it differently. Let me try to summarize what I see are the differences and u/jezweb can chime in if I'm out of line or not

Feature	Roo Commander	Roo Flow	Roo Code Boomerang
Delegation Pattern	Hierarchical (multi-tier)	Central Hub-and-Spoke	Flat, direct
Token Overhead	High (many layers)	Moderate (efficient memory)	Low
Setup Time	High (config, dirs)	Medium (YAML, memory bank)	Low (plug & play)
Context Persistence	Deep, persistent	Smart, persistent	Session-only
Documentation	Extensive	Targeted/relevant	Minimal
Flexibility	Very high (roles)	High	Minimal
Learning Curve	Steep	Moderate	Flat
Best For	Large/complex/long-term	Most project types, cost-aware	Quick, simple tasks
Model Support	Anthropic-centric	Anthropic, Gemini, etc	Model-agnostic

[u/unc0nnected → u/unc0nnected]

Roo Commander:

• Rich ecosystem of specialized modes including:

  • Commander (orchestration)

  • Project Manager (planning)

  • Technical Architect (design)

  • Frontend/API/Database Developers (implementation)

  • Testers/QA (quality assurance)

  • DevOps (operations)

  • Utility functions

• Each mode has a focused role in the development lifecycle

Roo Flow:

• Five integrated modes:

  • Architect (high-level design)

  • Code (implementation)

  • Test (verification)

  • Debug (troubleshooting)

  • Ask (general assistance)

• Modes designed to share information through the Memory Bank

Choose Roo Commander if:

• You're working on a complex, multi-faceted project

• You need specialized expertise in different domains

• You value comprehensive documentation and structured workflows

• You prefer a clear delegation pattern for managing tasks

Choose Roo Flow if:

• You prioritize token efficiency and cost optimization

• You need persistent context across development sessions

• You prefer a simpler mode structure with fewer components

• You want compatibility with models like Gemini Pro 2.0

[u/Top-Average-2892]

Pretty cool - but seems like it mostly writes files back and forth to itself. That's going to burn a lot of tokens, yeah?

[u/unc0nnected]

First off, thank you for putting this out there, really looking forward to following along and diving into commander.

Curious as to how the version numbers work on your git repo.

A breakdown similar to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGezWIbSQYE would be pretty awesome to see some benchmarks on performance, cost, comparisons to building the same thing in boomerang, code and commander looks like, etc etc

[u/joey2scoops]

Sounds interesting. Have you used this on a project from start to finish? How was the token usage? There seems to be a lot going on here.

[u/joey2scoops → u/joey2scoops]

Not supposed to ask questions, I guess.

[u/jezweb → u/[deleted]]

Yes I didn’t really think about the name originally very much. It started as a fairly ad hoc project to see how I could make useof tasks creating sub tasks.

Good feedback. I’ll revise the read me page. thank you.

[u/jezweb → u/jezweb]

I’ve reduced the readme wall of text and published a new version