nca

Rust-native · Single binary · Terminal-first

Terminal-native AI coding agent.

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. No browser shell in the default path.

Install ncaRead the docsGitHub
transcript — 1 lines (↑↓ wheel · End bottom)

▶ Interactive run — type a message, Tab cycles agent, Ctrl+P opens commands.

idle · ready for input
idleMiniMax-M2.7@buildperm:AcceptEdits00:00
message
❯

Interactive demo — Tab cycles agent ·Ctrl+Pcommand palette · Enter sends (no model)

Latest release: v0.4.0 — dedicated TUI, unified product home, live busy activity

View release notes

Built for real terminal workflows

Sessions persist under your product home. 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, andattach over IPC — 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.

What's new in v0.4.0

Dedicated nca-tui crate

Full-screen transcript, overlays, and REPL live in their own crate. The shipped app is still one nca binary.

Unified product home

Sessions, memory, and CLI index land under ~/.local/share/ncacli (or $NCA_HOME). Legacy ~/.nca still migrates.

Live busy activity

Status bar and transcript footer show thinking, streaming, and tool paths with elapsed time so waits never look stuck.

Multi-OS releases

GitHub Releases build Linux, macOS, and Windows x86_64. Custom OpenAI/Anthropic-compatible endpoints via /connect.

Full guide:Interactive mode·Configuration·Providers

How people use it

Solo

Interactive TUI

Full-screen transcript with markdown, live busy timers, slash commands, and a command palette. UseTab to cycle agents andCtrl+P to run commands.

nca full-screen TUI with transcript, context sidebar, status strip, and message composer
Real TUI — transcript, sidebar, and status strip

Background

Spawn & attach

Kick off nca spawn, keep coding, then return withstatus,logs, orattach.

nca line shell: nca spawn, detached session id, nca attach, and AGENTS IPC status line
Line CLI — spawn / attach / session id (separate from the full-screen TUI)

Automation

JSON, NDJSON & orchestration

Drive nca as a worker with --json,--stream ndjson, andNCA_ORCH_* metadata.

Providers & context

MiniMax-first with OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter, and custom OpenAI/Anthropic-compatible endpoints. Config layers from defaults through~/.local/share/ncacli/config.tomland workspace overrides. Auto-summarize keeps long threads within your token budget; smart compaction is opt-in.

[memory.context]
context_window_target = 0
auto_summarize_threshold = 75
enable_auto_summarize = true
smart_compaction_mode = "off"

Provider setup·Configuration reference

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 · Windows via GitHub Releases

All install options