Every feature of the Gritcode AI coding agent

The agent

Gritcode runs a full agentic loop. The model plans, calls a tool, reads the result and keeps going until the job is done, and you can watch every step.

• Shell: runs bash commands in your project folder, with your login shell's environment and PATH.
• Files: reads, writes and edits files with exact string replacement, and lists directories.
• Search: uses grep across your codebase, web search, and fetches URLs for docs and examples.
• Vision: drop screenshots into the message box and they're routed to a DeepSeek vision model.
• Transparent: collapsible tool-call cards and thinking blocks, and you can cancel a turn at any time.
• Streaming markdown: headings, tables, code blocks and inline formatting render live on a custom native canvas.

Build and run: the ▶ Play button

Once the agent has your project working, it saves the run command for that folder. Press ▶ Play and Gritcode runs it directly, with no model call and no tokens. Output and errors are shown in the chat, so if something breaks you just say "fix it".

It works with any language or build system: python main.py, cmake --build, npm run dev, cargo run, or anything else your shell can run.

Built-in code editor

In the agentic era you type less and review more. The heavyweight IDEs of the past are fading, but you still need to see the code and the project outline and make small fixes. Gritcode keeps exactly that and cuts out the fluff.

• File tree with New File, New Folder, Rename and Show in Finder or Files
• Tree-sitter syntax highlighting and smart indentation
• Dirty tracking, save, and unsaved-changes protection
• Draggable split between chat and editor; the panel collapses when you don't need it

Sessions, export and replay

Each project folder has its own session, saved automatically in SQLite and restored when you come back. Switch between projects from the Session menu.

• Export a whole session, images included, to one .gritsession file.
• Load a session as a reference pane beside your current one.
• Replay: click any prompt in the reference to copy it into the live session. Rebuild a project step by step, or share a working recipe with a teammate.

Cross-project memory

Every conversation is indexed with SQLite FTS5 full-text search. Gritcode gives the agent two tools, grit_history_search and grit_history_fetch, so it can find how you solved something last month in another repo and bring just that context into the current task. You can turn the history tools off in Settings.

Context management that keeps costs down

Long agent sessions get expensive when a harness re-sends too much. Gritcode sends the model only what it needs:

• Compaction starts only as the conversation nears the model's context window
• A token-budgeted tail of recent turns is kept word for word
• Summaries are chained, so earlier summaries are merged in rather than lost
• Reasoning tokens are stripped from outgoing requests, and oversized tool arguments are truncated
• If the context overflows, Gritcode compacts and retries once automatically, and your full history stays intact on disk

Models

• Kilo Free: no API key and no sign-up. It's the default for new users.
• DeepSeek V4 Pro and V4.1 Flash: use your own key and pay DeepSeek directly.
• The model list is fetched live from DeepSeek, so new models show up without an update.

Gritcode as a DeepSeek desktop app →

A native app

• C++20 and wxWidgets, with no Electron, Chromium or JavaScript runtime
• About 10 MB on disk and under 60 MB of RAM at rest; event-driven, so it's idle when you are
• On macOS: the Tahoe look, with a transparent titlebar, SF Mono, overlay scrollbars and a self-contained .app with no Homebrew dependencies
• On Linux: native GTK widgets and a small .deb (Linux guide)
• Follows your system's dark or light theme

Privacy and security

• API keys are stored in the macOS Keychain or the Linux Secret Service
• Sessions, memory and images stay on your disk
• Your code goes only to the model provider you choose
• Open source under GPLv3, so you can audit everything