Intro

Get started with OpenCode.

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

Let’s get started.

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Prerequisites

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

1. A modern terminal emulator like:
   • WezTerm, cross-platform
   • Alacritty, cross-platform
   • Ghostty, Linux and macOS
   • Kitty, Linux and macOS
2. API keys for the LLM providers you want to use.

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Install

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

curl -fsSL https://opencode.ai/install | bash

You can also install it with the following commands:

Using Node.js

npm install -g opencode-ai
# or
bun install -g opencode-ai
# or
pnpm install -g opencode-ai
# or
yarn global add opencode-ai

Using Homebrew on macOS and Linux

brew install anomalyco/tap/opencode

Note

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

Installing on Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S opencode           # Arch Linux (Stable)
paru -S opencode-bin              # Arch Linux (Latest from AUR)

Windows

Recommended: Use WSL. For the best experience on Windows, we recommend using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). It provides better performance and full compatibility with OpenCode’s features.

choco install opencode # Chocolatey
scoop install opencode    # Scoop
npm install -g opencode-ai    # NPM
mise use -g github:anomalyco/opencode    # Mise
docker run -it --rm ghcr.io/anomalyco/opencode    # Docker

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

You can also grab the binary from the Releases.

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Configure

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

If you are new to using LLM providers, we recommend using OpenCode Zen. It’s a curated list of models that have been tested and verified by the OpenCode team.

1. Run the /connect command in the TUI, select opencode, and head to opencode.ai/auth.

/connect

2. Sign in, add your billing details, and copy your API key.
3. Paste your API key.

Alternatively, you can select one of the other providers. Learn more.

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Initialize

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

cd /path/to/project
opencode

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

/init

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

Tip

You should commit your project’s AGENTS.md file to Git. This helps OpenCode understand the project structure and the coding patterns used.

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Usage

You are now ready to use OpenCode 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 OpenCode to explain the codebase to you.

Tip

Use the @ key to fuzzy search for files in the project.

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 OpenCode to add new features to your project. Though we first recommend asking it to create a plan.

1. Create a plan

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

Tip

Give OpenCode plenty of context and examples to help it understand what you want.

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.

Tip

Drag and drop images into the terminal to add them to the prompt. OpenCode can scan any images you give it and add them to the prompt.

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 OpenCode 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 OpenCode makes the right changes.

Undo changes

Let’s say you ask OpenCode 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

OpenCode 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 OpenCode to try again.

Tip

You can run /undo multiple times to undo multiple changes. Or you can redo the changes using the /redo command.

/redo

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Share

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

/share

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

Note

Conversations are not shared by default.

Here’s an example conversation with OpenCode.

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Customize

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

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