ByteAsk

An AI coding agent for your terminal. byteask drops a capable agent into your shell — an interactive TUI, real tool use, and first-class C/C++ tooling — talking to the self-hosted ByteAsk gateway.

$ byteask

That's it — one command drops you into an interactive session. First run signs you in; after that, just type.

Install

Pick whichever fits your setup — they all install the same native engine and share one runtime, so switching between them is free.

pip

pip install byteask

uv

uv tool install byteask     # or:  uv pip install byteask   /   uvx byteask

npm

npm install -g @byteask/cli
# or, no install:
npx @byteask/cli

Shell (Linux / macOS)

curl -fsSL https://code.byteask.ai/install.sh | sh

PowerShell (Windows)

irm https://code.byteask.ai/install.ps1 | iex

The pip, uv, and npm packages bundle the native engine for your platform — pip install / npm i gets you a working tool with no extra download. (On a platform without a prebuilt binary they fall back to fetching it once.) The installed command is byteask on every path.

Quickstart

# 1. Sign in (magic link to your email) — or just run `byteask`, it onboards you.
byteask login --email you@company.com

# 2. Start coding, interactively:
byteask

# 3. Or one-shot a question against the current repo:
byteask "explain what this service does and where the entrypoint is"

Inside the session, type your task in plain English. The agent reads files, runs tools, and proposes edits — you stay in control of what it applies.

Commands

Inside the TUI, slash commands include /login, /logout, /usage (your quota), /upgrade (Pro / Max), /referral-code, and /status.

What you get

• Interactive TUI — a real terminal agent, not a chat box: it navigates the repo, runs commands, and shows diffs before applying.
• First-class C/C++ tooling — 16 native tools wired in: Compiler Explorer (godbolt), gdb/lldb, ASan/UBSan/valgrind, clang-tidy, clang-format, clangd navigation, perf/callgrind, quick-bench, cppinsights, objdump/nm/readelf, Intel intrinsics lookup, and more. The agent reaches for them on the tasks that need them.
• Web search built in.
• Zero data retention — your prompts and code are not used to train models.
• Usage that's visible — /usage shows exactly where you stand; upgrade in-app with /upgrade.

Platforms

Alpine / musl isn't supported (a core dependency ships no musl build). On Alpine, use WSL or a glibc base image.

How it works

byteask is a thin client. The intelligence and your account live behind the ByteAsk gateway; the local binary is the agent runtime plus a small launcher that handles sign-in, updates, and your config in ~/.byteask. Your model key never touches your machine.

Links

• Home: https://code.byteask.ai
• Install script: https://code.byteask.ai/install.sh

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