https://github.com/genai-io/gen-code
Open-source AI agent. Lives in your terminal.
https://github.com/genai-io/gen-code
ai-agents automation claude-code coding gemini-cli golang opencode provider-agnostic teminal workflow
Last synced: about 2 months ago
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Open-source AI agent. Lives in your terminal.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/genai-io/gen-code
- Owner: genai-io
- License: apache-2.0
- Created: 2024-09-05T16:16:25.000Z (almost 2 years ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-05-01T06:08:14.000Z (about 2 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-05-01T06:39:54.924Z (about 2 months ago)
- Topics: ai-agents, automation, claude-code, coding, gemini-cli, golang, opencode, provider-agnostic, teminal, workflow
- Language: Go
- Homepage:
- Size: 7.02 MB
- Stars: 12
- Watchers: 1
- Forks: 3
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
- License: LICENSE
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# Gen Code
< GEN ✦ />
Open-source AI coding assistant for the terminal
Open-source AI coding assistant for the terminal built with Go. Multi-provider LLM support, event-driven multi-agent orchestration, and full compatibility with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) extensions, plugins, and project instructions.
## Features
- **Multi-provider** — Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Moonshot, Alibaba, MiniMax — switch with `/model`
- **Tools & MCP** — Built-in tools (Edit, Bash, Glob, Grep, WebSearch, etc.) + [MCP](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) integration
- **Skills, Subagents & Plugins** — [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) compatible format, marketplace install
- **Event-driven multi-agent** — Parallel agent execution with decoupled event-based coordination
- **Hooks** — Lifecycle extensibility via shell, LLM, agent, or HTTP hooks
- **Session** — Auto-persist, resume, fork, auto-compact
- **Performance** — Minimal context injection, fast response, low token consumption
- **Other** — Prompt prediction, configurable thinking effort, scheduled loops, permission control, etc.
### Providers
| Provider | Models | Environment Variables |
|:---------|:-------|:----------------------|
| **Anthropic** | Claude Opus 4.6, Sonnet 4.6 | `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` or [Vertex AI](https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/generative-ai/docs/partner-models/claude) |
| **OpenAI** | GPT-5.2, GPT-5, o3, o4-mini, Codex | `OPENAI_API_KEY` |
| **Google** | Gemini 3 Pro/Flash, 2.5 Pro/Flash | `GOOGLE_API_KEY` |
| **Moonshot** | Kimi K2.5, K2 Thinking | `MOONSHOT_API_KEY` |
| **Alibaba** | Qwen3.5 Plus, Qwen3 Max/Plus/Flash, QwQ, DeepSeek-V3/R1 | `DASHSCOPE_API_KEY` |
| **MiniMax** | M2.7, M2.7 Highspeed, M2.5, M2.5 Highspeed, M2.1, M2.1 Highspeed, M2 | `MINIMAX_API_KEY` |
## Installation
```bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/genai-io/gen-code/main/install.sh | bash
```
Re-run to upgrade. To uninstall:
```bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/genai-io/gen-code/main/install.sh | bash -s uninstall
```
Other methods
**Go Install**
```bash
go install github.com/genai-io/gen-code/cmd/gen@latest
```
**Build from Source**
```bash
git clone https://github.com/genai-io/gen-code.git
cd gen-code
go build -o gen ./cmd/gen
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && mv gen ~/.local/bin/
```
## Usage
```bash
# Interactive mode
gen
# Non-interactive mode
gen "explain this function"
cat main.go | gen "review this code"
# Resume previous session
gen --continue # Resume most recent
gen --resume # Select from list
```
### Quick Start
1. Run `gen` to start interactive mode
2. Use `/model` to connect a provider and select a model
3. Start chatting!
### Commands
`/model` `/tools` `/skills` `/agents` `/mcp` `/plugin` `/compact` `/think` `/search` `/loop` `/resume` `/fork` `/clear` `/init` `/memory` — type `/help` for details.
Keyboard: `Shift+Tab` toggle permission mode, `Ctrl+O` expand tool details, `Ctrl+C` cancel, `Ctrl+D` exit.
## Configuration
Gen Code stores configuration in `~/.gen/`:
```
~/.gen/
├── providers.json # Provider connections and current model
├── settings.json # User settings (permissions, hooks, env)
├── skills.json # Skill states
├── projects/ # Project-scoped session transcripts + indexes
├── skills/ # Custom skill definitions
├── agents/ # Custom agent definitions
├── commands/ # Custom slash commands
└── plugins/ # Installed plugins
```
### Project Instructions
Place a `GEN.md` (or `CLAUDE.md`) in your project root to provide project-specific instructions. These are automatically loaded into the system prompt. Project-level settings can also be placed in `.gen/settings.json`.
### File-Based Configuration
GenCode reads user-level files from `~/.gen/` and project-level files from `/.gen/`. Project files override user defaults for that workspace.
Common project files:
```text
.gen/settings.json # Project permissions, hooks, disabled tools
.gen/mcp.json # Project MCP server definitions
.gen/agents/*.md # Project subagent definitions
.gen/skills/*/SKILL.md # Project skills
.gen/commands/*.md # Project slash commands
GEN.md # Project instructions
```
## Benchmark: GenCode vs Claude Code
Compared with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) v2.1.112 on Apple Silicon, same model (`claude-sonnet-4-6`):
| Metric | Gen Code | Claude Code | Advantage |
|--------|---------|-------------|-----------|
| Download size | 12 MB | 63 MB (+ Node.js 112 MB) | **5x smaller** |
| Disk footprint | 38 MB | 175 MB | **4.6x smaller** |
| Startup time | ~0.01s | ~0.20s | **20x faster** |
| Startup memory | ~32 MB | ~189 MB | **5.8x less** |
| Simple task | ~2.4s / 39 MB | ~10.4s / 286 MB | **4.3x faster, 7.3x less memory** |
| Tool-use task | ~3.3s / 39 MB | ~26.0s / 285 MB | **7.9x faster, 7.2x less memory** |
Both tools have comparable features (hooks, skills, plugins, session, MCP, etc.). The performance gap comes from Go's native compilation, minimal architecture design, and lean prompt engineering — vs Node.js V8/JIT/GC runtime overhead.
See full details: [docs/benchmark-gencode-vs-claudecode.md](docs/benchmark-gencode-vs-claudecode.md)
## Related Projects
- [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code) — Anthropic's AI coding assistant
- [Aider](https://github.com/paul-gauthier/aider) — AI pair programming in terminal
- [Continue](https://github.com/continuedev/continue) — Open-source AI code assistant
## Contributing
Contributions welcome! See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for guidelines.
## License
Apache License 2.0 - see [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details.