Create executable documents that demonstrate an agent's work
INTEGRATE — Install immediately as the canonical tool for agents to produce verifiable, reproducible executable demo documents.
19/24 — actively-maintained / adequately-documented / high-discipline
Failed: H4: FAIL — last commit 2026-03-14 is ~72 days ago, exceeds 30-day threshold
Passed: H1: PASS — v0.6.1 tagged release exists; H2: PASS — v0.6.1 released 2026-02-23, ~3 months ago; H3: PASS — 2026-03-14 commit is ~72 days ago, within 6-month window; H5: PASS — archived: false; H6: PASS — 13 open issues, healthy triage signal; H7: PASS — Apache-2.0 license; H8: PASS — README contains Tests badge referencing .github/workflows/test.yml
Failed: D5: FAIL — no markdown heading containing "API", "Configuration", "Options", "Reference", "Commands", or "Parameters" (help output embedded in code block, not a heading); D7: FAIL — no external docs site, wiki, or /docs directory link, only PyPI and GitHub releases; D8: FAIL — no section with "Limitations", "Caveats", "Known Issues", or "Not supported"
Passed: D1: PASS — README is present and substantive; D2: PASS — README far exceeds 1000 bytes with extensive help output and examples; D3: PASS — README contains pip install, uv tool install, and go install instructions; D4: PASS — multiple code blocks under "Example" and "Verifying" headings; D6: PASS — first paragraph states "Create executable demo documents that show and prove an agent's work. Showboat helps agents build markdown documents that mix commentary, executable code blocks, and captured output."
Failed: E3: FAIL — dependency manifest not available in provided data; count unverifiable
Passed: E1: PASS — primary language is Go, a typed language; E2: PASS — go.mod is definitionally required for go install github.com/simonw/showboat@latest to resolve; pyproject.toml implied by PyPI distribution; E4: PASS — README contains Tests CI badge referencing workflows/test.yml; E5: PASS — 1144 stars >= 50; E6: PASS — created 2026-02-06, ~3.6 months to appraisal date, ~318 stars/month far exceeds threshold of 2; E7: PASS — 45 forks >= 5; E8: PASS — description is 52 characters, meaningful, not a restatement of repo name
| Dimension | Score | Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Harvest Value | 2 | The verify-and-diff pattern (re-executing all code blocks and comparing captured output) is a novel approach to agent proof-of-work that PAI could adopt directly for agent task auditing. The extract command emitting a reproducible sequence of CLI commands to recreate a document is an unusual and directly harvestable design pattern. |
| Integration Readiness | 2 | Drop-in via pip install showboat or uvx showboat with no setup beyond installation. Clear CLI surface (init, note, exec, image, pop, verify, extract) maps directly to agent workflow steps without glue code. |
| Overlap Risk | 0 | Crowding index is 0 — no vault repo covers executable agent documentation or proof-of-work document generation. Nothing in the landscape summary touches this problem space. |
| Gap Fill | 1 | No gap is explicitly flagged in the Gaps section for agent work documentation, but the category is entirely absent from the 48-repo landscape, making this a meaningful new dimension for the vault rather than a declared urgent need. |
Composite: 0.875
Category: Agent Work Documentation Crowding: 0 repos in vault (first-in-category) Alternatives: first in this category vs. top alternative: No vault repo provides executable, verifiable markdown documents for agent output — this is uncontested. Landscape impact: filling a gap — no prior vault entry addresses reproducible agent work documentation or proof-of-work executable documents
Density: 8/10 — Available: README (extensive), description, stars/forks/issues, license, language, commit history, release history, archived status. Missing: dependency manifest (not fetched), topics (none set by author).
Authored by Simon Willison (datasette, shot-scraper, LLM CLI ecosystem), which raises confidence in long-term maintenance intent even though commits slowed after v0.6.1. The 72-day commit gap is the only health concern and is common for tools that reach feature stability quickly. The PyPI distribution of a Go binary is an unusual and well-executed packaging choice that lowers the integration barrier for Python-centric AI toolchains. The verify command is particularly valuable as a quality gate in agent pipelines — worth studying as an architectural pattern for PAI's own agent output validation.