Getting Started

Launch Methods

TUI Interactive Interface

cs

Starts the terminal UI (TUI) in the current directory. You can also specify a working directory:

cs /path/to/project

Non-interactive Mode

Pass a prompt directly — useful for scripts and automation:

cs run --agent build --model costrict/GLM-4.7 "Hello"
# Hello! How can I help you?

Web Interface

cs web                                    # Default: http://127.0.0.1:4096/
cs web --hostname 0.0.0.0 --port 8080    # Custom host and port

Docker Container

docker pull zgsm/costrict-cli:latest
docker run -it zgsm/costrict-cli:latest

---

Input Methods

File References

Use @ in a message to reference a file. Fuzzy search is supported for files in the current working directory:

@packages/src/api/index.ts How is the authentication logic implemented in this file?

The file contents are automatically added to the conversation context.

Shell Commands

Messages starting with ! are executed as shell commands, and the output is added to the conversation:

!ls -la
!git log --oneline -10

---

Session Management

Start a New Session

/new

Shortcut: ctrl+x n

Resume a Previous Session

cs --continue

Or type /sessions in the TUI and select a session from the list.

Shortcut: ctrl+x l

Undo / Redo

/undo reverts the last message and all associated file changes. /redo restores what was undone.

Undo/redo relies on Git to track file changes — the project must be a Git repository.

Shortcuts: ctrl+x u / ctrl+x r

Compact Context

When the context gets too long, compress the current session:

/compact

Shortcut: ctrl+x c

---

Model Management

Select a Model

/models

Shortcut: ctrl+x m

Switch Model Variants

Use ctrl+t to cycle through variants of the same model (e.g., different reasoning intensities).

Set the Default Model

In costrict.json:

{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "model": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5"
}

See the Models & Providers documentation for details.

---

Agent Management

Switch Agents

• Parent agent: Use Tab / Shift+Tab in the input box to cycle through agents. The built-in agents are Build and StrictPlan.
• Sub-agent: Invoke with @name syntax.

Enter / Exit a Sub-agent Conversation

• Enter: Double-click a sub-agent conversation to step into it.
• Exit: Press the shortcut shown at the top of the page. If there is a key conflict, click Parent in the top-left corner to exit.

---

Slash Commands

Type / followed by a command name in the TUI:

Command	Description	Shortcut
/new	Start a new session (alias: /clear)	ctrl+x n
/sessions	List and switch sessions (alias: /resume)	ctrl+x l
/models	Select a model	ctrl+x m
/compact	Compact the current session (alias: /summarize)	ctrl+x c
/undo	Undo the last message and file changes	ctrl+x u
/redo	Redo undone changes	ctrl+x r
/connect	Add a provider API key	—
/init	Create or update the AGENTS.md file	ctrl+x i
/editor	Compose a message in an external editor	ctrl+x e
/export	Export the conversation as Markdown	ctrl+x x
/theme	Choose a UI theme	ctrl+x t
/thinking	Toggle display of thinking process	—
/details	Toggle display of tool execution details	—
/help	Show help	ctrl+x h
/exit	Quit (aliases: /quit, /q)	ctrl+x q

---

External Editor Setup

The /editor and /export commands use the editor specified by the EDITOR environment variable.

Linux / macOS:

export EDITOR="code --wait"   # VS Code
export EDITOR=vim

Add this to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc to make it permanent.

Windows (PowerShell):

$env:EDITOR = "code --wait"

Common editors: code (VS Code), cursor, windsurf, nvim, vim, nano, notepad.

GUI editors (VS Code, Cursor, etc.) require the --wait flag so that the editor blocks until the file is closed.

---

TUI Configuration

Customize TUI behavior via costrict.json:

costrict.json

{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "tui": {
    "scroll_speed": 3,
    "scroll_acceleration": {
      "enabled": true
    },
    "diff_style": "auto"
  }
}

• scroll_speed — Scroll speed multiplier (default: 3, minimum: 1)
• scroll_acceleration.enabled — Enable smooth scroll acceleration; when enabled, takes precedence over scroll_speed
• diff_style — Diff rendering style: "auto" adapts to terminal width, "stacked" always shows single-column diffs

---

For more CLI flags and environment variable options, see the CLI Reference.