Codebase CLI

AI coding agent in your terminal. Reads your project, writes code, runs commands, searches the web. Works with any LLM provider — or sign in with codebase.foundation and we proxy inference for you.

v2 (TypeScript) — codebase-cli has been rewritten on top of the pi-mono runtime. Existing v1 (Go) users: the installer below auto-detects the old binary and migrates your data. See docs/MIGRATION_v1_to_v2.md.

Install

Requires Node.js ≥ 20. The one-liner installer prints a hint with Volta/fnm/nvm if Node is missing or too old.

macOS / Linux (one-liner — recommended):

curl -fsSL https://codebase.design/install.sh | sh

This detects an existing v1 binary, asks before removing it, then installs v2 via npm.

Windows (PowerShell):

irm https://codebase.design/install.ps1 | iex

With npm (any platform, requires Node.js ≥ 20):

npm install -g codebase-cli

With Homebrew:

brew install codebase-foundation/codebase/codebase

From source:

git clone https://github.com/codebase-foundation/codebase-cli.git
cd codebase-cli
npm install
npm run build
npm link        # symlinks `codebase` into your npm prefix

After install, run codebase from any project directory.

Quick Start

Option 1: Login with Codebase (easiest)

codebase auth login

Opens your browser, logs you into codebase.foundation, and you're ready. Uses our inference providers (Claude, MiniMax, Qwen, etc.) with your account credits. No API keys needed.

Option 2: Bring your own API key

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
codebase

Works with any provider:

# OpenAI
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

# Groq
export OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://api.groq.com/openai/v1
export OPENAI_API_KEY=gsk-...
export OPENAI_MODEL=llama-3.3-70b-versatile

# Ollama (local, free)
export OPENAI_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434/v1
export OPENAI_API_KEY=ollama
export OPENAI_MODEL=qwen2.5-coder:32b

Option 3: First-run setup wizard

Just run codebase with no config. The setup wizard walks you through picking a provider, entering your key, and selecting a model. "Login with Codebase" is the first option.

What It Does

You describe what you want. The agent reads your code, makes changes, runs commands, and explains what it did.

> add a /health endpoint that returns uptime and version

  read_file server.go                    ✓
  read_file go.mod                       ✓
  edit_file server.go                    ✓
  shell go build ./...                   ✓

Added GET /health endpoint at server.go:47 returning JSON with
uptime, version, and go runtime. Build passes.

Tools (30)

Plus any tools from connected MCP servers.

Commands (22)

Features

• 30 tools with schema validation and input-dependent parallel execution
• Streaming tool execution — tools start running before the model finishes responding
• 3 agent types — explore (read-only), plan (architecture), general-purpose (full access)
• Worktree isolation — subagents can work in isolated git branches
• Cross-session memory — remembers your preferences and project context
• Error recovery — auto-retries on context overflow, output limits, rate limits
• Structured compaction — 9-section summaries when context gets long
• Hooks system — automate lint/test/format after edits
• 7 language checkers — Go, TypeScript, ESLint, Python (pyright/mypy), Rust
• MCP support — connect external tool servers for extensibility
• IDE detection — discovers VS Code/Cursor/JetBrains via lockfiles
• File history — undo any edit within the session, even without git
• Glue models — route cheap tasks to a fast model, save money
• Permission explainer — risk-rated permission prompts (LOW/MEDIUM/HIGH)
• Multi-provider — OpenAI, Anthropic, MiniMax, Groq, Ollama, any compatible endpoint
• OAuth-aware platform — sign-in unlocks proxied inference and account-curated skills/templates/prompts

Authentication

codebase auth login            # browser OAuth — log in with Google, GitHub, or wallet
codebase auth <cbk_xxx>        # save an API key from the dashboard (SSH / headless)
codebase auth status           # show current sign-in
codebase auth refresh          # force-refresh the access token
codebase auth logout           # revoke session

Credentials are stored at ~/.codebase/credentials.json (mode 0600).

When logged in, the CLI routes through codebase.foundation — you get access to all providers (Claude, MiniMax, Qwen, etc.) using your account credits. No API keys to manage. Skill, template, and prompt definitions you author in the web app become available automatically (Phase 7+).

MCP (External Tool Servers)

Connect to any MCP-compatible server. Add to ~/.codebase/config.json:

{
  "mcp_servers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "mcp-server-github",
      "args": ["--token", "$GITHUB_TOKEN"],
      "transport": "stdio"
    }
  }
}

MCP tools appear alongside built-in tools automatically.

Hooks

Automate actions on events. Add to ~/.codebase/hooks.json:

[
  {
    "event": "PostEdit",
    "matcher": "write_file|edit_file",
    "command": "go vet ./...",
    "timeout": 15
  }
]

Events: PreToolUse, PostToolUse, PostEdit, UserPromptSubmit, SessionStart, Stop.

Project Instructions

The CLI reads these files from your project root for context:

• CLAUDE.md — project instructions (Claude Code convention)
• AGENTS.md — agent instructions (OpenAI Codex convention)
• CODEX.md — project instructions (Codex convention)
• .cursorrules — project instructions (Cursor convention)

Flags

codebase                            # run in current directory
codebase --dir /path/to/proj        # run in specific directory
codebase --model claude-sonnet-4-5  # override model
codebase --resume                   # resume previous session
codebase --version                  # print version
codebase auth login                 # authenticate with codebase.foundation
codebase auth logout                # revoke authentication
codebase --headless "fix the build" # one-shot, no TUI

Environment Variables

# LLM Provider (pick one)
OPENAI_API_KEY=...           # OpenAI or compatible
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=...        # Anthropic (auto-detected)
OPENAI_BASE_URL=...          # Custom endpoint
OPENAI_MODEL=...             # Override model

# Glue (optional — cheap model for routing/narration)
GLUE_API_KEY=...
GLUE_BASE_URL=...
GLUE_FAST_MODEL=...
GLUE_SMART_MODEL=...

# Web Search (optional — DuckDuckGo works without keys)
TAVILY_API_KEY=...
BRAVE_API_KEY=...

# Behavior
CODEBASE_NOBOOT=1            # skip boot animation
CODEBASE_NOSOUND=1           # skip boot audio

License

MIT