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Intro

Get started with hordecode.

hordecode is an open source AI coding agent. It’s available as a terminal-based interface, desktop app, or IDE extension.

hordecode TUI with the hordecode theme

Let’s get started.

Prerequisites

To use hordecode in your terminal, you’ll need:

  1. A modern terminal emulator like:

  2. API keys for the LLM providers you want to use.

Install

The easiest way to install hordecode is through the install script.

Terminal window
curl -fsSL https://hordecode.com/install | bash

You can also install it with the following commands:

  • Using Node.js

    Terminal window
    npm install -g hordecode

  • Using Homebrew on macOS and Linux

    Terminal window
    brew install siliconstencil/tap/hordecode

    We recommend using the hordecode tap for the most up to date releases. The official brew install hordecode formula is maintained by the Homebrew team and is updated less frequently.

  • Installing on Arch Linux

    Terminal window
    sudo pacman -S hordecode           # Arch Linux (Stable)
    paru -S hordecode-bin              # Arch Linux (Latest from AUR)

Windows

  • Using Chocolatey

    Terminal window
    choco install hordecode

  • Using Scoop

    Terminal window
    scoop install hordecode

  • Using NPM

    Terminal window
    npm install -g hordecode

  • Using Mise

    Terminal window
    mise use -g github:siliconstencil/hordecode

  • Using Docker

    Terminal window
    docker run -it --rm ghcr.io/siliconstencil/hordecode

Support for installing hordecode on Windows using Bun is currently in progress.

You can also grab the binary from the Releases.

Configure

With hordecode you can use any LLM provider by configuring their API keys.

Head over to the providers directory, pick the one you want to use, and follow its setup guide. Most take just a couple of minutes with the /connect command in the TUI.

/connect

Initialize

Now that you’ve configured a provider, you can navigate to a project that you want to work on.

Terminal window
cd /path/to/project

And run hordecode.

Terminal window
hordecode

Next, initialize hordecode for the project by running the following command.

/init

This will get hordecode to analyze your project and create an AGENTS.md file in the project root.

This helps hordecode understand the project structure and the coding patterns used.

Usage

You are now ready to use hordecode to work on your project. Feel free to ask it anything!

If you are new to using an AI coding agent, here are some examples that might help.

Ask questions

You can ask hordecode to explain the codebase to you.

How is authentication handled in @packages/functions/src/api/index.ts

This is helpful if there’s a part of the codebase that you didn’t work on.

Add features

You can ask hordecode to add new features to your project. Though we first recommend asking it to create a plan.

  1. Create a plan

    hordecode has a Plan mode that disables its ability to make changes and instead suggest how it’ll implement the feature.

    Switch to it using the Tab key. You’ll see an indicator for this in the lower right corner.

    <TAB>

    Now let’s describe what we want it to do.

    When a user deletes a note, we'd like to flag it as deleted in the database.
    Then create a screen that shows all the recently deleted notes.
    From this screen, the user can undelete a note or permanently delete it.

    You want to give hordecode enough details to understand what you want. It helps to talk to it like you are talking to a junior developer on your team.

  2. Iterate on the plan

    Once it gives you a plan, you can give it feedback or add more details.

    We'd like to design this new screen using a design I've used before.
    [Image #1] Take a look at this image and use it as a reference.

    hordecode can scan any images you give it and add them to the prompt. You can do this by dragging and dropping an image into the terminal.

  3. Build the feature

    Once you feel comfortable with the plan, switch back to Build mode by hitting the Tab key again.

    <TAB>

    And asking it to make the changes.

    Sounds good! Go ahead and make the changes.

Make changes

For more straightforward changes, you can ask hordecode to directly build it without having to review the plan first.

We need to add authentication to the /settings route. Take a look at how this is
handled in the /notes route in @packages/functions/src/notes.ts and implement
the same logic in @packages/functions/src/settings.ts

You want to make sure you provide a good amount of detail so hordecode makes the right changes.

Undo changes

Let’s say you ask hordecode to make some changes.

Can you refactor the function in @packages/functions/src/api/index.ts?

But you realize that it is not what you wanted. You can undo the changes using the /undo command.

/undo

hordecode will now revert the changes you made and show your original message again.

Can you refactor the function in @packages/functions/src/api/index.ts?

From here you can tweak the prompt and ask hordecode to try again.

Or you can redo the changes using the /redo command.

/redo

Share

The conversations that you have with hordecode can be shared with your team.

/share

This will create a link to the current conversation and copy it to your clipboard.

Here’s an example conversation with hordecode.

Customize

And that’s it! You are now a pro at using hordecode.

To make it your own, we recommend picking a theme, customizing the keybinds, configuring code formatters, creating custom commands, or playing around with the hordecode config.