Bortex Code CLI

Terminal AI coding assistant powered by https://bortex.site.

Install

After publishing to npm:

npm install -g bortexcode

Fallback installer:

curl -fsSL https://bortex.site/install.sh | bash

Windows PowerShell:

irm https://bortex.site/install.ps1 | iex

Direct tarball fallback:

npm install -g https://bortex.site/bortex-code/bortex-code-latest.tgz

Login

bortexcode --login

Or provide an API key:

bortexcode --api-key <YOUR_API_KEY>
export BORTEX_API_KEY=<YOUR_API_KEY>

Usage

bortexcode
bortexcode "explain this function"
bortexcode --agent "refactor src/utils.js"
bortexcode exec "summarize this repository"
bortexcode exec --json "review current changes"
bortexcode exec --output-schema schema.json -o result.json "extract metadata"
bortexcode resume --last
bortexcode resume <transcript-id> "continue the task"
bortexcode remote-control
bortexcode remote-control --cloud
bortexcode --remote-control

REPL Commands

Press / at the beginning of the prompt to open the command menu. Press Tab to complete slash commands.

Common commands:

/agent on|off
/status
/commands
/help
/llm-config show
/llm-config sync
/remote-control [name]
/remote-control --lan
/remote-control --cloud
/rc
/mcp list
/mcp add context7 -- npx -y @upstash/context7-mcp
/mcp tools context7
/mcp call context7 resolve-library-id '{"libraryName":"react"}'
/skills list
/skills new deploy-staging
/plugins list
/plugins init team-workflows
/permissions show
/browser setup
/hooks list
/hooks init
/hooks review
/subagents run --worktree --agents reviewer,security,tester review current changes
/transcript path
/transcript export
/resume last
/fork experiment-auth
/github-action init
/exit

Codex/Claude-style workflow features

Bortex Code 1.8 adds local workflow primitives commonly expected from modern coding CLIs:

• custom slash commands from .bortex/commands/*.md
• reusable skills from .bortex/skills/<name>/SKILL.md
• non-interactive bortexcode exec with JSONL events, stdin piping, output files, and JSON schema prompting
• MCP server configuration plus basic stdio/HTTP runtime through /mcp tools and /mcp call
• lifecycle hooks through .bortex/hooks.json, including nested hook groups and hook review/trust state
• plugin bundles from .bortex/plugins/<name> with skills, commands, MCP servers, and hooks
• permission profiles through /permissions
• Playwright MCP browser setup through /browser setup
• JSONL transcripts in .bortex/transcripts
• resume context with bortexcode resume or /resume
• parallel analysis with /subagents run, optionally isolated with --worktree
• isolated git worktrees with /fork
• GitHub comment workflow scaffold with /github-action init

Project-local configuration lives in .bortex/. User-level configuration lives in the Bortex Code application data directory.

Remote Control

Remote Control exposes the current Bortex Code process through a token-protected browser UI. By default it binds to 127.0.0.1.

bortexcode remote-control --name "My Project"
bortexcode --remote-control "My Project"

For phone access on the same LAN:

bortexcode remote-control --remote-lan

For remote access without opening an inbound port, use the bortex.site relay:

bortexcode remote-control --cloud --name "My Project"
bortexcode --remote-cloud "My Project"
bortexcode remote-control --cloud --remote-permission full

Cloud Remote Control defaults to balanced permissions. It allows inspection, status commands, and common test/lint/build shell commands while blocking mutating commands such as file writes, patch apply, git stage/commit/discard, and arbitrary shell mutations. Use --remote-permission read-only for inspection-only sessions or --remote-permission full only for trusted sessions.

The browser UI includes Cancel and Revoke controls. Cancel requests termination of the running command. Revoke invalidates the tokenized URL and stops the server-mode cloud session.

Remote output streams live for shell commands and CLI output: stdout/stderr chunks appear in the browser while the command is still running, then the final result replaces the streaming buffer when the command completes.

Inside the REPL:

/remote-control My Project
/remote-control --lan
/remote-control --cloud
/remote-control --cloud --permission full
/remote-control stop

Options

-a, --agent         Agent mode
    --chat          Chat mode (default)
-u, --url <url>     Bortex server URL
    --api-key <k>   API key
    --login         Open browser login
-m, --model <name>  Force a specific LLM model
    --api-url <u>   Custom LLM endpoint
    --offline       Local mode
    --json          Exec mode: emit JSONL events
    --output-last-message <file>
                    Exec mode: write final message to file
    --output-schema <file>
                    Exec mode: request final JSON matching schema
    --ephemeral     Exec mode: do not persist transcript events
    --sandbox <profile>
                    Permission profile: read-only, workspace, full
    --verbose       Show routing details
    --progress      Show server progress events
    --no-spinner    Disable spinner
    --icons         Enable icon output
    --check-update  Check for updates now
    --no-update-check
                    Disable startup update check
    --remote-control, --rc [name]
                    Enable browser remote control
    --remote-cloud, --cloud
                    Use bortex.site relay instead of opening a local port
    --remote-relay <url>
                    Remote relay base URL
    --remote-permission <mode>
                    Remote permissions: read-only, balanced, full
    --remote-lan    Bind remote control to 0.0.0.0 for LAN/mobile access
    --remote-host <host>, --remote-port <port>
                    Remote control bind address
-v, --version       Show version
-h, --help          Show help

Updates

Bortex Code checks for newer versions on startup. When an update is available, it asks before installing it globally with npm.

bortexcode --check-update
bortexcode --no-update-check

Environment

BORTEX_URL
BORTEX_API_KEY
BORTEX_CLI_ICONS=1
BORTEX_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1
BORTEX_REMOTE_HOST
BORTEX_REMOTE_PORT
BORTEX_REMOTE_RELAY_URL
BORTEX_REMOTE_PERMISSION
BORTEX_PERMISSION_PROFILE
BORTEX_SANDBOX
BORTEX_HOOK_TRUST=1