Autohand CLI

An agentic CLI that reads, reasons, and writes code across your entire project. No context switching. No copy-paste.

Autohand is an autonomous LLM-powered coding agent that lives in your terminal. It uses the ReAct (Reason + Act) pattern to understand your codebase, plan changes, and execute them with your approval. Built with TypeScript and Bun for blazing-fast performance.

Installation

Quick Install (Recommended)

curl -fsSL https://autohand.ai/install.sh | bash

Manual Installation

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/autohandai/cli.git
cd cli
bun install
bun run build

# Install globally
bun add -g .

Requirements

• Bun ≥1.0 (curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash)
• Git (for version control features)
• ripgrep (optional, for faster search)

Quick Start

# Interactive mode - start a coding session
autohand

# Command mode - run a single instruction
autohand -p "add a dark mode toggle to the settings page"

# With auto-confirmation
autohand -p "fix the TypeScript errors" -y

# Auto-commit changes after task completion
autohand -p "refactor the auth module" -c

Usage Modes

Interactive Mode

Launch without arguments for a full REPL experience:

autohand

Features:

• Type / for slash command suggestions
• Type @ for file autocomplete (e.g., @src/index.ts)
• Press ESC to cancel in-flight requests
• Press Ctrl+C twice to exit

Command Mode (Non-Interactive)

Run single instructions for CI/CD, scripts, or quick tasks:

# Basic usage
autohand --prompt "add tests for the user service"

# Short form
autohand -p "fix linting errors"

# With options
autohand -p "update dependencies" --yes --auto-commit

# Dry run (preview changes without applying)
autohand -p "refactor database queries" --dry-run

CLI Options

| Option | Short | Description | |--------|-------|-------------| | --prompt <text> | -p | Run a single instruction in command mode | | --yes | -y | Auto-confirm risky actions | | --auto-commit | -c | Auto-commit changes after completing tasks | | --dry-run | | Preview actions without applying mutations | | --model <model> | | Override the configured LLM model | | --path <path> | | Workspace path to operate in | | --auto-skill | | Auto-generate skills based on project analysis | | --unrestricted | | Run without approval prompts (use with caution) | | --restricted | | Deny all dangerous operations automatically | | --config <path> | | Path to config file | | --temperature <value> | | Sampling temperature for LLM |

Agent Skills

Skills are modular instruction packages that extend Autohand with specialized workflows. They work like on-demand AGENTS.md files for specific tasks.

Using Skills

# List available skills
/skills

# Activate a skill
/skills use changelog-generator

# Create a new skill interactively
/skills new

# Auto-generate project-specific skills
autohand --auto-skill

Auto-Skill Generation

Analyze your project and generate tailored skills automatically:

$ autohand --auto-skill
Analyzing project structure...
Detected: typescript, react, nextjs, testing
Platform: darwin
Generating skills...
  ✓ nextjs-component-creator
  ✓ typescript-test-generator
  ✓ changelog-generator

✓ Generated 3 skills in .autohand/skills

Skills are discovered from:

• ~/.autohand/skills/ - User-level skills
• <project>/.autohand/skills/ - Project-level skills
• Compatible with Codex and Claude skill formats

See Agent Skills Documentation for creating custom skills.

Slash Commands

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | /help | Display available commands | | /quit | Exit the session | | /model | Switch LLM models | | /new | Start fresh conversation | | /undo | Revert last changes | | /session | Show current session details | | /sessions | List past sessions | | /resume | Resume a previous session | | /memory | View/manage stored memories | | /init | Create AGENTS.md file | | /agents | List sub-agents | | /agents-new | Create new agent via wizard | | /skills | List and manage skills | | /skills new | Create a new skill | | /feedback | Send feedback | | /formatters | List code formatters | | /lint | List code linters | | /completion | Generate shell completion scripts | | /export | Export session to markdown/JSON/HTML | | /status | Show workspace status | | /login | Authenticate with Autohand API | | /logout | Sign out | | /permissions | Manage tool permissions |

Tool System

Autohand includes 40+ tools for autonomous coding:

File Operations

read_file, write_file, append_file, apply_patch, search, search_replace, semantic_search, list_tree, create_directory, delete_path, rename_path, copy_path, multi_file_edit

Git Operations

git_status, git_diff, git_commit, git_add, git_branch, git_switch, git_merge, git_rebase, git_cherry_pick, git_stash, git_fetch, git_pull, git_push, auto_commit

Commands & Dependencies

run_command, custom_command, add_dependency, remove_dependency

Planning & Memory

plan, todo_write, save_memory, recall_memory

Configuration

Create ~/.autohand/config.json:

{
  "provider": "openrouter",
  "openrouter": {
    "apiKey": "sk-or-...",
    "model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514"
  },
  "workspace": {
    "defaultRoot": ".",
    "allowDangerousOps": false
  },
  "ui": {
    "theme": "dark",
    "autoConfirm": false
  }
}

Supported Providers

| Provider | Config Key | Notes | |----------|------------|-------| | OpenRouter | openrouter | Access to Claude, GPT-4, Grok, etc. | | Anthropic | anthropic | Direct Claude API access | | OpenAI | openai | GPT-4 and other models | | Ollama | ollama | Local models | | llama.cpp | llamacpp | Local inference | | MLX | mlx | Apple Silicon optimized |

Session Management

Sessions are auto-saved to ~/.autohand/sessions/:

# Resume via command
autohand resume <session-id>

# Or in interactive mode
/resume

Security & Permissions

Autohand includes a permission system for sensitive operations:

• Interactive (default): Prompts for confirmation on risky actions
• Unrestricted (--unrestricted): No approval prompts
• Restricted (--restricted): Denies all dangerous operations

Configure granular permissions in ~/.autohand/config.json:

{
  "permissions": {
    "whitelist": ["run_command:npm *", "run_command:bun *"],
    "blacklist": ["run_command:rm -rf *", "run_command:sudo *"]
  }
}

Platform Support

• macOS
• Linux
• Windows

Telemetry & Feedback

Opt-in telemetry helps improve Autohand:

{
  "telemetry": {
    "enabled": true
  }
}

The backend API is available at: https://github.com/autohandai/api

Development

# Install dependencies
bun install

# Development mode
bun run dev

# Build
bun run build

# Type check
bun run typecheck

# Run tests
bun test

Docker

FROM oven/bun:1
WORKDIR /app
COPY . .
RUN bun install && bun run build
CMD ["./dist/cli.js"]

docker build -t autohand .
docker run -it autohand

Documentation

• Playbook - 20 use cases for the software development lifecycle
• Features - Complete feature list
• Agent Skills - Skills system guide
• Configuration Reference - All config options

License

Startup-Friendly License: Free for startups with ARR under $1M. See LICENSE for details.

Links

• Website: https://autohand.ai
• CLI Install: https://autohand.ai/cli/
• GitHub: https://github.com/autohandai/cli
• API Backend: https://github.com/autohandai/api