cliide

The AI-Native Terminal IDE
Code with AI agents, not against them

Features • Quick Start • Why cliide? • Docs • Contributing

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✨ What is cliide?

cliide (CLI IDE) is a terminal-based AI-first development environment that runs entirely in your terminal. Unlike traditional IDEs with AI bolted on, cliide is built from the ground up with AI agents at its core.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 📁 Files    │ 📝 Editor                        │ 💬 AI Chat              │
│             │                                  │                         │
│ ▼ src/      │  def calculate_tax(income):      │ You: Optimize this      │
│   main.py   │      if income < 50000:          │ function for large      │
│   utils.py  │          return income * 0.1     │ datasets                │
│   config.py │      else:                       │                         │
│             │          return income * 0.2     │ AI: I'll refactor this  │
│ ▼ tests/    │                                  │ to use numpy vectorized │
│   test_m... │  [Proposed changes - Y/N]        │ operations...           │
│             │                                  │                         │
│ ─────────── │                                  │ 🔧 write_file(utils.py) │
│ 📋 Tasks    │                                  │    ⏳ Executing...      │
│ ▶ Step 1... │                                  │                         │
│ ○ Step 2... │                                  │                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

🎯 Why cliide?

Feature	VS Code + Copilot	Cursor	cliide
Runs in terminal	❌	❌	✅
Uses local models	❌	❌	✅
No cloud dependency	❌	❌	✅
AI can edit files	❌	✅	✅
Inline diff review	❌	✅	✅
Sub-agent tasks	❌	❌	✅
100% open source	❌	❌	✅
Resource usage	Heavy	Heavy	Lightweight
SSH-friendly	❌	❌	✅

🔒 Privacy First

Your code never leaves your machine. cliide connects to local VLLM/Ollama instances, meaning:

• No API keys required
• No cloud processing
• No data retention concerns
• Works completely offline

⚡ Built for Speed

• Terminal-native: No Electron, no browser, no bloat
• Instant startup: Ready in milliseconds
• Low memory: Runs on modest hardware
• SSH-ready: Full functionality over remote connections

🚀 Features

🤖 AI-First Development

• Inline code changes: AI proposes edits directly in the editor with diff highlighting
• Accept/Reject flow: Review changes with Y/N keys before applying
• Multi-step planning: AI breaks down complex tasks and shows progress
• Tool execution: AI can read files, run commands, and make changes

📝 Modern Editor

• Syntax highlighting for 30+ languages
• LSP integration: Completions, diagnostics, go-to-definition
• Multiple buffers: Work on several files simultaneously
• Vim-style keybindings: Feel right at home

🎨 Sleek TUI

• Resizable panels: Drag to resize file tree, editor, and chat
• Task panel: See AI planning steps and tool executions
• Approval queue: Review AI actions before they execute
• Rich markdown: AI responses render beautifully

🔧 Developer Experience

• Command palette: Quick access to all commands (Ctrl+P)
• File tree: Navigate projects with ease
• Find & replace: Search across files
• Git integration: Status indicators in file tree

📦 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• A local LLM server (VLLM, Ollama, or OpenAI-compatible)

Install

pip install cliide

Run

# Open current directory
cliide

# Open a specific project
cliide ~/projects/my-app

Connect to Your LLM

# Using Ollama (easiest)
ollama serve
ollama run deepseek-coder:33b

# Using VLLM
python -m vllm.entrypoints.openai.api_server \
    --model deepseek-ai/deepseek-coder-33b-instruct

Configure in ~/.config/cliide/config.toml:

[vllm]
base_url = "http://localhost:11434/v1"  # Ollama
# base_url = "http://localhost:8000/v1"  # VLLM
model = "deepseek-coder:33b"

⌨️ Keybindings

Key	Action
Ctrl+P	Command palette
Ctrl+K	Focus AI chat
Ctrl+S	Save file
Ctrl+B	Toggle file tree
Ctrl+E	Explain selected code
Y / N	Accept/Reject AI changes
Ctrl+Q	Quit

🧠 AI Commands

Chat naturally or use shortcuts:

/explain    - Explain selected code
/refactor   - Suggest improvements
/fix        - Find and fix bugs
/test       - Generate unit tests
/doc        - Generate documentation

🏗️ Architecture

cliide/
├── ai/             # AI agents, prompts, event bus
├── core/           # App core, config, session management
├── ui/             # Textual widgets (editor, chat, panels)
├── lsp/            # Language Server Protocol client
└── editor/         # Buffer management, syntax highlighting

🤝 Contributing

We love contributions! Whether it's:

• 🐛 Bug reports
• 💡 Feature suggestions
• 📖 Documentation improvements
• 🔧 Code contributions

See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

# Development setup
git clone https://github.com/mtecnic/cliide.git
cd cliide
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest

# Run with live reload
textual run --dev cliide/core/app.py

📜 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

🌟 Star History

💖 Acknowledgments

Built with amazing open source projects:

• Textual - TUI framework
• Rich - Beautiful terminal formatting
• VLLM - Fast LLM inference
• Ollama - Easy local LLMs

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If cliide helps you code faster, give it a ⭐!

GitHub • Issues • Discussions