Why jcode?

Install

Quick Install (recommended)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cnjack/jcode/main/script/install.sh | sh

From Source

Requires Go 1.22+ and Node.js + pnpm.

git clone https://github.com/cnjack/jcode.git
cd jcode
make install

Update

jcode update

Windows users: Windows locks the running .exe and prevents any file operation on it (including rename). jcode update will download the new version to <current-path>.new instead. Follow the printed instructions to exit jcode and manually replace the binary (e.g. move /Y "jcode.exe.new" "jcode.exe").

First launch creates ~/.jcode/config.json with a setup wizard. Run jcode doctor to verify model & MCP connectivity.

Features

Core Agent Loop

Describe a task in plain English. The agent reads your codebase, writes surgical edits, runs commands, and reports every step — no black boxes.

🤝 Agent Teams

Spawn multiple AI teammates that work in parallel, each with independent tools, conversation history, and environment. The lead agent coordinates; teammates idle until they receive an explicit message.

🌐 SSH — work on any machine

Type /ssh user@host and every tool runs transparently on the remote host. No agents, no tunnels, no extra setup.

 You › /ssh deploy@10.0.1.5:/var/www/app

   ✓ SSH  Connected · linux/amd64

 You › why is nginx restarting?

   ⚙ Tool  execute  [deploy@10.0.1.5]  docker logs app-nginx-1 --tail 20

   ╭─────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
   │  nginx: [emerg] bind() to 0.0.0.0:80 failed        │
   │  (98: Address already in use)                       │
   ╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

 ◆ Port 80 is already taken. Let me find what's holding it.

Save connections as named aliases and jump between hosts with /ssh:

  ┌─────── /ssh ────────────────────────────────────┐
  │  > 🔗 prod        deploy@10.0.1.5:/var/www/app  │
  │    🔗 staging      ci@10.0.1.8:/srv/staging      │
  │    ➕ Connect New SSH                             │
  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

📋 Modes — Ask for approval · Plan · Full access

Press Shift+Tab to cycle the session mode:

• Ask for approval (default) — full tools, but you approve each non-trivial tool call.
• Plan — the agent explores your codebase read-only and presents a structured plan before touching any file. Review, approve or reject with feedback — then it executes step by step.
• Full access — full tools, every call auto-approved, end-to-end with no interruptions.

  Plan │ Model: openai / gpt-4o │ [██░░░░░░░░] 12%

🔌 MCP Integration

Connect any MCP-compatible server — stdio, HTTP, or SSE — and its tools merge with the built-ins. Auto-reconnect with exponential backoff. Status shown live in the status bar.

{
  "mcp_servers": {
    "github": { "type": "stdio", "command": "gh-mcp" },
    "db": { "type": "http", "url": "http://localhost:3001/mcp" }
  }
}

  Ask for approval │ Model: openai / gpt-4o │ [████░░░░░░] 2% │ MCP: 2/5

💰 Token Usage & Budget Control

Real-time context window tracking with a color-coded progress bar in the status bar:

Set cost guardrails in config.json:

{
  "budget": {
    "max_cost_per_session": 5.0,
    "warning_threshold": 0.8
  }
}

The agent receives in-context warnings when nearing limits and stops if the budget is exceeded. Model pricing is auto-fetched from models.dev.

🧠 Context Management

• Auto-compaction — when the context window fills up, older conversation is summarized while preserving the most recent messages
• Manual compaction — type /compact anytime to free up context
• Smart prompt caching — reduces redundant prompt computation across turns
• AGENTS.md support — global (~/.jcode/AGENTS.md), project-level, and local (.local.md, git-ignored) agent instructions with @include directives

🛠 Skills

Domain-specific skills loaded on demand. Built-in skills include PR review and security review. Add your own skill packs to ~/.jcode/skills/ or <project>/.jcode/skills/.

Skills register as slash commands — type /review-pr or /security-review to activate.

⚡ Subagents & Background Tasks

• Subagents — delegate subtasks to independent child agents (explore, general, or coordinator type) with up to 3 levels of nesting
• Background commands — long-running builds/tests run async; check with /bg or the check_background tool
• Status tracking — Bg: 3 running shown in status bar; task IDs for programmatic access

📼 Session Resume

Every conversation is recorded as JSONL. Resume any past session:

  ┌──────────────── Resume Session ─────────────────┐
  │  > 2026-03-12  gpt-4o      fix nginx crash       │
  │    2026-03-11  gpt-4o      refactor auth module  │
  │    2026-03-10  claude-3.5  add pagination logic  │
  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

jcode sessions          # list sessions
jcode --resume <UUID>   # pick up where you left off

🌐 Web Interface

Start a browser-based UI with jcode web. Chat interface, file browser, built-in terminal, and full agent control — all accessible from http://localhost:8080.

🖥 Desktop App

A native desktop app (built with Tauri) wraps the same web UI in a real OS window with native integration: OS notifications, a menu-bar tray, close-to-tray, single-instance focus, window-state memory, and a native folder picker. The Go backend runs as an embedded sidecar — no separate server to start.

make desktop-dev     # run the app in development
make desktop-build   # build a distributable bundle (.app/.dmg/.msi)

See the Desktop App guide for the architecture and details.

🧭 Context Awareness

At startup the agent automatically detects:

• Git branch, dirty status, last commit
• Project type (Go, Python, JS, Rust, Java, …)
• Directory structure
• SSH environment labels
• Available skills

No manual configuration needed — the agent adapts to your project.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Slash Commands

Configuration

Config lives at ~/.jcode/config.json. Key sections:

jcode doctor    # verify model + MCP connectivity
jcode version   # show version, commit, build time
jcode update    # update to latest version

Documentation

📖 Full documentation is available at cnjack.github.io/jcode

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for release notes and version history.

License

MIT