CLI

The Anthracode CLI by default starts the TUI when run without any arguments.

anthracode

But it also accepts commands as documented on this page. This allows you to interact with Anthracode programmatically.

anthracode run "Explain how closures work in JavaScript"

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tui

Start the Anthracode terminal user interface.

anthracode [project]

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
--continue	-c	Continue the last session
--session	-s	Session ID to continue
--fork		Fork the session when continuing (use with --continue or --session)
--prompt		Prompt to use
--model	-m	Model to use in the form of provider/model
--agent		Agent to use
--port		Port to listen on
--hostname		Hostname to listen on
--mdns		Enable mDNS discovery
--mdns-domain		Custom mDNS domain name
--cors		Additional browser origin(s) to allow CORS

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Commands

The Anthracode CLI also has the following commands.

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agent

Manage agents for Anthracode.

anthracode agent [command]

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attach

Attach a terminal to an already running Anthracode backend server started via serve.

anthracode attach [url]

This allows using the TUI with a remote Anthracode backend. For example:

# Start the backend server
anthracode serve --port 4096 --hostname 0.0.0.0

# In another terminal, attach the TUI to the running backend
anthracode attach http://10.20.30.40:4096

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
--dir		Working directory to start TUI in
--continue	-c	Continue the last session
--session	-s	Session ID to continue
--fork		Fork the session when continuing (use with --continue or --session)
--password	-p	Basic auth password (defaults to ANTHRACODE_SERVER_PASSWORD)
--username	-u	Basic auth username (defaults to ANTHRACODE_SERVER_USERNAME or anthracode)

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create

Create a new agent with custom configuration.

anthracode agent create

This command will guide you through creating a new agent with a custom system prompt and permission configuration. Anything you don’t allow is denied in the generated agent’s frontmatter.

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
--path		Directory to write the agent file to (defaults to global or .anthracode/agent based on the prompt)
--description		What the agent should do
--mode		Agent mode: all, primary, or subagent
--permissions		Comma-separated list of permissions to allow (default: all). Available: bash, read, edit, glob, grep, webfetch, task, todowrite, websearch, lsp, skill. Anything omitted is denied. Alias: --tools
--model	-m	Model to use, in provider/model format

Passing all of --path, --description, --mode, and --permissions runs the command non-interactively.

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list

List all available agents.

anthracode agent list

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auth

Command to manage credentials and login for providers.

anthracode auth [command]

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login

Anthracode is powered by the provider list at Models.dev, so you can use anthracode auth login to configure API keys for any provider you’d like to use. This is stored in ~/.local/share/anthracode/auth.json.

anthracode auth login

When Anthracode starts up it loads the providers from the credentials file. And if there are any keys defined in your environments or a .env file in your project.

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
--provider	-p	Provider ID or name to log in to
--method	-m	Login method label to use, skipping method selection

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list

Lists all the authenticated providers as stored in the credentials file.

anthracode auth list

Or the short version.

anthracode auth ls

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logout

Logs you out of a provider by clearing it from the credentials file.

anthracode auth logout

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github

Manage the GitHub agent for repository automation.

anthracode github [command]

---

install

Install the GitHub agent in your repository.

anthracode github install

This sets up the necessary GitHub Actions workflow and guides you through the configuration process. Learn more.

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run

Run the GitHub agent. This is typically used in GitHub Actions.

anthracode github run

Flags

Flag	Description
--event	GitHub mock event to run the agent for
--token	GitHub personal access token

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mcp

Manage Model Context Protocol servers.

anthracode mcp [command]

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add

Add an MCP server to your configuration.

anthracode mcp add

This command will guide you through adding either a local or remote MCP server.

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list

List all configured MCP servers and their connection status.

anthracode mcp list

Or use the short version.

anthracode mcp ls

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auth

Authenticate with an OAuth-enabled MCP server.

anthracode mcp auth [name]

If you don’t provide a server name, you’ll be prompted to select from available OAuth-capable servers.

You can also list OAuth-capable servers and their authentication status.

anthracode mcp auth list

Or use the short version.

anthracode mcp auth ls

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logout

Remove OAuth credentials for an MCP server.

anthracode mcp logout [name]

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debug

Debug OAuth connection issues for an MCP server.

anthracode mcp debug <name>

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models

List all available models from configured providers.

anthracode models [provider]

This command displays all models available across your configured providers in the format provider/model.

This is useful for figuring out the exact model name to use in your config.

You can optionally pass a provider ID to filter models by that provider.

anthracode models anthropic

Flags

Flag	Description
--refresh	Refresh the models cache from models.dev
--verbose	Use more verbose model output (includes metadata like costs)

Use the --refresh flag to update the cached model list. This is useful when new models have been added to a provider and you want to see them in Anthracode.

anthracode models --refresh

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run

Run anthracode in non-interactive mode by passing a prompt directly.

anthracode run [message..]

This is useful for scripting, automation, or when you want a quick answer without launching the full TUI. For example.

anthracode run Explain the use of context in Go

You can also attach to a running anthracode serve instance to avoid MCP server cold boot times on every run:

# Start a headless server in one terminal
anthracode serve

# In another terminal, run commands that attach to it
anthracode run --attach http://localhost:4096 "Explain async/await in JavaScript"

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
--command		The command to run, use message for args
--continue	-c	Continue the last session
--session	-s	Session ID to continue
--fork		Fork the session when continuing (use with --continue or --session)
--model	-m	Model to use in the form of provider/model
--agent		Agent to use
--file	-f	File(s) to attach to message
--format		Format: default (formatted) or json (raw JSON events)
--title		Title for the session (uses truncated prompt if no value provided)
--attach		Attach to a running anthracode server (e.g., http://localhost:4096)
--password	-p	Basic auth password (defaults to ANTHRACODE_SERVER_PASSWORD)
--username	-u	Basic auth username (defaults to ANTHRACODE_SERVER_USERNAME or anthracode)
--dir		Directory to run in, or path on the remote server when attaching
--port		Port for the local server (defaults to random port)
--variant		Model variant (provider-specific reasoning effort)
--thinking		Show thinking blocks
--dangerously-skip-permissions		Auto-approve permissions that are not explicitly denied (dangerous!)

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serve

Start a headless Anthracode server for API access. Check out the server docs for the full HTTP interface.

anthracode serve

This starts an HTTP server that provides API access to anthracode functionality without the TUI interface. Set ANTHRACODE_SERVER_PASSWORD to enable HTTP basic auth (username defaults to anthracode).

Flags

Flag	Description
--port	Port to listen on
--hostname	Hostname to listen on
--mdns	Enable mDNS discovery
--mdns-domain	Custom mDNS domain name
--cors	Additional browser origin(s) to allow CORS

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session

Manage Anthracode sessions.

anthracode session [command]

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list

List all Anthracode sessions.

anthracode session list

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
--max-count	-n	Limit to N most recent sessions
--format		Output format: table or json (table)

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delete

Delete an Anthracode session.

anthracode session delete <sessionID>

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stats

Show token usage and cost statistics for your Anthracode sessions.

anthracode stats

Flags

Flag	Description
--days	Show stats for the last N days (all time)
--tools	Number of tools to show (all)
--models	Show model usage breakdown (hidden by default). Pass a number to show top N
--project	Filter by project (all projects, empty string: current project)

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export

Export session data as JSON.

anthracode export [sessionID]

If you don’t provide a session ID, you’ll be prompted to select from available sessions.

Flags

Flag	Description
--sanitize	Redact sensitive transcript/file data

---

import

Import session data from a JSON file.

anthracode import <file>

You can import from a local file.

anthracode import session.json

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acp

Start an ACP (Agent Client Protocol) server.

anthracode acp

This command starts an ACP server that communicates via stdin/stdout using nd-JSON.

Flags

Flag	Description
--cwd	Working directory
--port	Port to listen on
--hostname	Hostname to listen on
--mdns	Enable mDNS discovery
--mdns-domain	Custom mDNS domain name
--cors	Additional browser origin(s) to allow CORS

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plugin

Install a plugin and update your config.

anthracode plugin <module>

Or use the alias.

anthracode plug <module>

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
--global	-g	Install in global config
--force	-f	Replace existing plugin version

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pr

Fetch and checkout a GitHub PR branch, then run Anthracode.

anthracode pr <number>

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db

Database tools.

anthracode db [query]

Flags

Flag	Description
--format	Output format: json or tsv

---

path

Print the database path.

anthracode db path

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debug

Debugging and troubleshooting tools.

anthracode debug [command]

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uninstall

Uninstall Anthracode and remove all related files.

anthracode uninstall

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
--keep-config	-c	Keep configuration files
--keep-data	-d	Keep session data and snapshots
--dry-run		Show what would be removed without removing
--force	-f	Skip confirmation prompts

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upgrade

Updates anthracode to the latest version or a specific version.

anthracode upgrade [target]

To upgrade to the latest version.

anthracode upgrade

To upgrade to a specific version.

anthracode upgrade v0.1.48

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
--method	-m	The installation method that was used; curl, npm, pnpm, bun, brew

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Global Flags

The anthracode CLI takes the following global flags.

Flag	Short	Description
--help	-h	Display help
--version	-v	Print version number
--print-logs		Print logs to stderr
--log-level		Log level (DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR)
--pure		Run without external plugins

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Environment variables

Anthracode can be configured using environment variables.

Variable	Type	Description
ANTHRACODE_GIT_BASH_PATH	string	Path to Git Bash executable on Windows
ANTHRACODE_CONFIG	string	Path to config file
ANTHRACODE_TUI_CONFIG	string	Path to TUI config file
ANTHRACODE_CONFIG_DIR	string	Path to config directory
ANTHRACODE_CONFIG_CONTENT	string	Inline json config content
ANTHRACODE_DISABLE_AUTOUPDATE	boolean	Disable automatic update checks
ANTHRACODE_DISABLE_PRUNE	boolean	Disable pruning of old data
ANTHRACODE_DISABLE_TERMINAL_TITLE	boolean	Disable automatic terminal title updates
ANTHRACODE_PERMISSION	string	Inlined json permissions config
ANTHRACODE_DISABLE_DEFAULT_PLUGINS	boolean	Disable default plugins
ANTHRACODE_DISABLE_LSP_DOWNLOAD	boolean	Disable automatic LSP server downloads
ANTHRACODE_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_MODELS	boolean	Enable experimental models
ANTHRACODE_DISABLE_AUTOCOMPACT	boolean	Disable automatic context compaction
ANTHRACODE_DISABLE_CLAUDE_CODE	boolean	Disable reading from .claude (prompt + skills)
ANTHRACODE_DISABLE_CLAUDE_CODE_PROMPT	boolean	Disable reading ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md
ANTHRACODE_DISABLE_CLAUDE_CODE_SKILLS	boolean	Disable loading .claude/skills
ANTHRACODE_DISABLE_MODELS_FETCH	boolean	Disable fetching models from remote sources
ANTHRACODE_DISABLE_MOUSE	boolean	Disable mouse capture in the TUI
ANTHRACODE_FAKE_VCS	string	Fake VCS provider for testing purposes
ANTHRACODE_CLIENT	string	Client identifier (defaults to cli)
ANTHRACODE_ENABLE_EXA	boolean	Enable Exa web search tools
ANTHRACODE_SERVER_PASSWORD	string	Enable basic auth for serve
ANTHRACODE_SERVER_USERNAME	string	Override basic auth username (default anthracode)
ANTHRACODE_MODELS_URL	string	Custom URL for fetching models configuration

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Experimental

These environment variables enable experimental features that may change or be removed.

Variable	Type	Description
ANTHRACODE_EXPERIMENTAL	boolean	Enable all experimental features
ANTHRACODE_EXPERIMENTAL_ICON_DISCOVERY	boolean	Enable icon discovery
ANTHRACODE_EXPERIMENTAL_DISABLE_COPY_ON_SELECT	boolean	Disable copy on select in TUI
ANTHRACODE_EXPERIMENTAL_BASH_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS	number	Default timeout for bash commands in ms
ANTHRACODE_EXPERIMENTAL_OUTPUT_TOKEN_MAX	number	Max output tokens for LLM responses
ANTHRACODE_EXPERIMENTAL_FILEWATCHER	boolean	Enable file watcher for entire dir
ANTHRACODE_EXPERIMENTAL_OXFMT	boolean	Enable oxfmt formatter
ANTHRACODE_EXPERIMENTAL_LSP_TOOL	boolean	Enable experimental LSP tool
ANTHRACODE_EXPERIMENTAL_DISABLE_FILEWATCHER	boolean	Disable file watcher
ANTHRACODE_EXPERIMENTAL_EXA	boolean	Enable experimental Exa features
ANTHRACODE_EXPERIMENTAL_LSP_TY	boolean	Enable TY LSP for python files
ANTHRACODE_EXPERIMENTAL_MARKDOWN	boolean	Enable experimental markdown features
ANTHRACODE_EXPERIMENTAL_PLAN_MODE	boolean	Enable plan mode