Rust-native · Single binary · Terminal-first
Orchestrate coding agents
from the terminal.
Interactive TUI and line REPL, detached sessions, git worktrees for subagents, and machine-readable output — built in Rust for fast startup and local-first control. Startup typically stays under 20 MB of RAM, on the order of 10× lighter than Claude Code or OpenCode — far less memory than most competing agents — so the binary stays out of your way. We are aiming for full compatibility with agent orchestration workflows (JSON, NDJSON, IPC, env hooks) so nca fits pipelines and multi-agent setups without a browser shell.
Interactive demo — Tab cycles agent · Ctrl+P command palette · Enter sends (no model)
Latest release: v0.3.0
View release notesBuilt for real terminal workflows
Sessions persist in your workspace. Tools cover filesystem, search, shell, and web. MCP extends the surface when you need it.
Sessions & IPC
JSON snapshots and JSONL logs per session. Resume, status, logs, and attach over a Unix socket — no throwaway prompt box.
Skills & MCP
Discover skills from AGENTS.md, workspace and user skill dirs, plus
built-ins. MCP servers load from config so tools grow with your stack.
Subagents & worktrees
Spawn child agents with parent/child lineage and optional isolated git worktrees for parallel work without tangling branches.
Multimodal where it counts
Paste images in the TUI (Ctrl+V or /image). If the model is not vision-capable, nca fails loudly — no silent drops.
How people use it
Solo
Interactive TUI
The hero is an interactive HTML demo of that layout: yellow hint line, Tab cycles agents, Ctrl+P opens a palette, plus sidebar,
status strip, and message line — use the real nca binary for full
behavior.
Background
Spawn & attach
Kick off nca spawn, keep coding, then return with status, logs, or attach — same binary, line-oriented shell session.
Automation
JSON, NDJSON & orchestration
Drive nca as a worker with --json, --stream ndjson, and NCA_ORCH_* metadata.
Providers & context
MiniMax-first with OpenAI, Anthropic, and OpenRouter. Config layers from defaults through ~/.nca/config.toml and workspace overrides. Auto-summarize keeps long threads within your token budget.
[memory.context]
context_window_target = 32000
auto_summarize_threshold = 75
enable_auto_summarize = true
Install in one command
macOS and Linux — downloads the latest release from GitHub
curl -fsSL https://nca-cli.com/install | bash Apple Silicon & Intel · Linux x86_64 & ARM64
All install options