meshapi-code 0.5.3

Terminal chat for Mesh API — OpenAI-compatible LLM gateway

meshapi-code

Agentic terminal CLI for Mesh API — one OpenAI-compatible key, 1000+ models. Plans, writes files, runs commands, starts dev servers, searches the web — with streaming markdown, live cost, and permission modes. Modeled on Claude Code.

📚 Docs: Install guide (Windows & macOS) · Upgrading · Changelog · Release notes

$ meshapi
███╗   ███╗███████╗███████╗██╗  ██╗
████╗ ████║██╔════╝██╔════╝██║  ██║
██╔████╔██║█████╗  ███████╗███████║   ✦  meshapi 0.5.2
██║╚██╔╝██║██╔══╝  ╚════██║██╔══██║   cwd:   ~/code/myproj
██║ ╚═╝ ██║███████╗███████║██║  ██║   model: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
╚═╝     ╚═╝╚══════╝╚══════╝╚═╝  ╚═╝   route: off

type /help for commands, /exit to quit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────── myproj · main
› add a healthcheck endpoint to server.py and run the tests
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

✦ anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5 · hop 2
⚙ write_file: server.py (+14 −2)      ✓ OK
⚙ run_bash: pytest -q                 ✓ exit 0
   anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5  •  942→318 tok  •  $0.001234  •  session $0.001234  •  6.1s

Install

macOS / Linux (Terminal):

brew install pipx && pipx ensurepath   # if you don't have pipx yet
pipx install meshapi-code
meshapi

Windows (PowerShell):

py -m pip install --user pipx
py -m pipx ensurepath                  # then open a NEW PowerShell window
pipx install meshapi-code
meshapi

Alternatives on any OS: uv tool install meshapi-code or pip install meshapi-code. PyPI package is meshapi-code; the command on your $PATH is meshapi (same split Claude Code uses: @anthropic-ai/claude-code → claude).

First run asks for your API key (get one at app.meshapi.ai) — hidden input, verified live, saved to ~/.meshapi/credentials. No environment variable needed. To set one anyway (CI, scripts):

# macOS / Linux
export MESHAPI_API_KEY=rsk_your_key_here

# Windows (PowerShell) — current session:
$env:MESHAPI_API_KEY = "rsk_your_key_here"
# persistent:
setx MESHAPI_API_KEY "rsk_your_key_here"

Upgrade

Use whichever tool you installed with — same commands on macOS, Linux, and Windows:

Installed with	Command
pipx	pipx upgrade meshapi-code
uv	uv tool upgrade meshapi-code
pip	pip install --upgrade meshapi-code

From 0.5.1 onward you rarely need these: the CLI checks PyPI in the background and offers a one-key upgrade when a new version ships (/update checks on demand; declining a version won't re-nag).

Verify with meshapi --version. If it still shows an old version, a second older copy is shadowing the new one on your PATH — find every copy with which -a meshapi (macOS/Linux) or where.exe meshapi (Windows), remove the stray (often an old pip install --user: python3 -m pip uninstall meshapi-code), then hash -r or open a new terminal. Full troubleshooting: upgrade guide.

What it does

• Agentic tool calling — the model plans multi-step work, reads/writes files, runs shell commands, starts dev servers in the background (with port auto-detection), and searches the web. Every step gated by permission modes.
• Repo memory — the agent remembers your project across sessions: files it touches are structurally mapped (zero extra tokens) into ~/.meshapi/context/ (never your repo), durable decisions persist via a remember tool, and re-reads of unchanged files are deduped. Next session starts warm. /memory inspects, /memory clear deletes, /memory off disables.
• Quality guard — stub code (// Add game logic here) is caught before the model declares victory: one automatic fix-it pass, then an honest warning naming the files and suggesting a stronger model. No more "Server's up!" over a blank page.
• Self-healing tool calls — malformed arguments are repaired client-side; the model never re-reads its own broken JSON. Ends the retry doom-loop, biggest win on cheaper models.
• Type while it works — the input stays live during streaming; Enter stacks messages that auto-run in order; ESC aborts a turn; unfinished text prefills the next prompt. (macOS/Linux; on Windows input is available between turns.)
• Fuzzy model picker — /model qw pops a menu of every qwen model; gpt4m finds openai/gpt-4o-mini. /models browses the catalog with context sizes and $/1M pricing.
• Auto-routing — /route auto lets Mesh's gateway pick the best model per prompt; the resolved model shows in the status line. /fallback m1 m2 sets an ordered failover list.
• Real cost per turn — Mesh returns cost in the SSE tail; surfaced after every reply and accumulated per session.
• Streaming with live status — markdown rendering, phase-aware spinner (preparing write_file (↓ 3.2k chars)), always-visible permission mode, background servers listed under the prompt.

Features in action

Every feature below shows the actual terminal output you'll see.

🚀 First run — guided key setup

╭─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ Connect your Mesh API key                                           │
│                                                                     │
│ Grab one at https://app.meshapi.ai → API Keys. Keys start with rsk_ │
│ Input is hidden — paste the key and press enter. Ctrl+C to cancel.  │
╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
API key ›
✓ key saved → ~/.meshapi/credentials (0600)

⬆ Built-in update checker

When a new version ships, the CLI offers it — no manual checking:

⬆ meshapi 0.6.0 available (you have 0.5.2)
upgrade now? y (yes) / n (no)  › y
✓ upgraded to 0.6.0 — restart meshapi to pick it up.

Declining a version never re-nags. /update checks on demand.

🤖 Agentic builds — plan → files → server

› create a snake game

⚙ create_plan (4 steps)
  Plan  (0/4 done)
    ○  1. create index.html with full game structure
    ○  2. create style.css with game styling
    ○  3. create script.js with complete Snake game logic
    ○  4. start dev server

⚙ write_file: index.html (573 chars)      ✓ OK
⚙ write_file: style.css (768 chars)       ✓ OK
⚙ write_file: script.js (2285 chars)      ✓ OK
⚙ start_server: python3 -m http.server (auto-port)
  ✓ ready in 0.2s

╭─────────────────── 🌐 ready ────────────────────╮
│  http://localhost:5174                          │
│  server running in the background · pid 72403   │
╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

start_server is port-smart: it detects a port written inside your command (http.server 8080, --port 3000), adopts whatever port the server actually binds, and warns instead of restarting a server you already have.

🧠 Repo memory — the agent remembers your project

Teach it once:

› remember that this project uses vanilla JS with no frameworks
⚙ remember: This project is a browser game built with vanilla JavaScript…
Noted — vanilla JS, no frameworks.

Days later, a fresh session in the same folder starts warm — no re-reading:

› what do you know about this repo?

Based on repo memory, this is a Snake Game — a browser game built with
vanilla JavaScript, HTML, and CSS (no frameworks or build tools)…

Everything the agent writes or reads is structurally mapped at zero token cost into ~/.meshapi/context/ (never inside your repo). Inspect with /memory, read notes with /memory notes, wipe with /memory clear:

› /memory
repo memory: on — 3 file(s) mapped, 1 note(s) for this directory
store: ~/.meshapi/context/a3920654ba91bbf4

♻️ Read-dedupe — never pay for the same file twice

Re-reading an unchanged file returns a pointer, not the body:

› it's causing a loop issue

⚙ read_file: script.js
  → unchanged — content already in context (skipped re-send)

Safety-first: the file is sha256-checked against disk, and if the model insists on a second read it always gets the real body.

🛡 Quality guard — no more "Server's up!" over a blank page

Cheap models love shipping stubs. The guard catches them:

⚙ quality check: script.js looks incomplete ('// Add game logic here')
  — asking the model to finish it

One automatic fix-it pass with concrete evidence; if stubs survive:

⚠ quality check: 1 file(s) still look incomplete:
    script.js — line 3: // Add game logic here
  Cheaper models often deliver skeletons. Try /model anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
  or /route auto, or reply 'implement the full logic, no placeholders'.

🔧 Self-healing tool calls

Models sometimes emit broken JSON arguments (missing commas, truncated streams). Instead of burning retries, the CLI repairs them in place:

⚠ repaired malformed tool arguments (missing comma)
⚙ write_file: game.js (8380 chars)   ✓ OK

…and the model never re-reads its own broken output, which ends the classic retry doom-loop on budget models. Unfixable calls get precise feedback (the problem is here: {"path": "game.js" ⟨"⟩content…) so the retry lands.

⌨️ Type while it works — stacked messages, live mode, ESC

Keep typing during a long turn; the input stays live at the bottom edge:

⠹ preparing write_file (↓ 3.2k chars) · 12.4s
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
⏵⏵ bypass permissions on  (shift+tab to cycle · esc to interrupt)
› also add a high-score board█  (1 queued)

Enter stacks the message — it auto-runs when the turn finishes. ESC aborts the current turn. Shift+Tab switches permission mode mid-run and shows instantly. Unfinished text prefills your next prompt.

🔍 Fuzzy model picker

› /model qw
  qwen/qwen-2.5-coder-32b
  qwen/qwq-32b
› /model gpt4m        →  openai/gpt-4o-mini

Suggestions pop as you type — every model on Mesh, fuzzy-matched. /models prints the full catalog with context windows and $/1M pricing.

🧭 Auto-routing & failover

› /route auto
Auto-routing on — each prompt goes to the model the gateway's router picks.

› explain this code
✦ auto · hop 1
…
auto → openai/gpt-5.4-mini  •  942→318 tok  •  $0.000431  •  6.1s

› /route preview
router would pick: deepseek/deepseek-r1

/fallback m1 m2 sets an ordered failover list if your primary is down.

🌐 Web search

› search the web for the latest vite version
⚙ web_search: latest Vite version release
  → web results (1141 chars)

The latest Vite version is 8.1.3 — Vite 8.0 shipped Rolldown as the
unified bundler with 10–30× faster builds…

🔐 Permission modes that don't nag

⚙ approve tool call?  write_file: index.html (573 chars)
→ /Users/you/project/index.html
y (yes) / a (always for write_file this session) / n (no)  › a
  ✓ auto-approving write_file for the rest of this session

Four modes cycled with Shift+Tab — default asks everything, bypass approves everything but still stops before rm -rf, sudo, and writes to ~/.ssh. Answer a once per tool and stop being asked.

💰 Real cost, every turn

anthropic/claude-opus-4.8  •  10500→258 tok  •  $0.021840  •  session $0.084  •  22.5s

The gateway returns true cost in the stream — no estimates. /cost shows the session total; the /optimize dial (below) cuts it.

Tool calling & permission modes

Tool	What it does
read_file	Read a file (image files are auto-attached instead).
write_file	Create or overwrite a file; parent dirs created; scanned by the quality guard.
run_bash	Shell command in the working directory. 120s timeout, output capped.
start_server	Long-running dev server in the background — detects the port in your command, adopts what it actually binds, shows progress, killed on exit.
web_search	Search the web through the Mesh gateway.
create_plan / update_step	The model's visible step-by-step plan.
remember	Persist a durable project note for future sessions (repo memory).

Permission modes, cycled live with Shift+Tab (works mid-run on macOS/Linux):

• default — ask for every tool call
• accept edits — auto-approve file writes inside the working directory
• auto — plus shell commands and web searches
• bypass — auto-approve everything (still asks before rm -rf, sudo, writes to ~/.ssh, …)

At any approval prompt, answer a to allow that tool for the rest of the session.

meshapi --mode bypass     # start in bypass (macOS/Linux/Windows alike)

Slash commands

Command	What it does
/model <name>	Switch model — fuzzy tab-completion from the live catalog
/models [free|query]	Browse the catalog: context, capabilities, $/1M pricing
/route auto|off|preview	Gateway auto-routing; preview shows the pick without running
/fallback <m1> <m2>|off	Ordered fallback models if the primary fails
/reasoning <level>	high/medium/low/none/off reasoning effort
/mode <perm>	default, accept-edits, auto, bypass (Shift+Tab cycles)
/file <path>	Inject a text file into the conversation
/image <path|url>	Attach an image (drag-dropped paths auto-attach too)
/clear-attach	Drop queued image attachments
/system <text>	Replace system prompt and reset chat
/optimize <dial>	Token-savings dial (beta), see below
/memory [notes|clear|on|off]	Repo memory: map + notes from past sessions
/login	Set or replace your API key
/update	Check PyPI and upgrade
/cost /clear /help /exit	The usual

Keyboard & live controls

Key	When	What it does
Shift+Tab	anytime¹	Cycle permission mode — applies to the next tool call, visible live
type + Enter	while the model works¹	Stack a message; it auto-runs when the turn ends ((N queued) shows live)
ESC	while the model works¹	Abort the turn (between deltas/hops/tool calls)
Ctrl+C	anytime	Abort the turn and discard stacked messages
a	at any approval prompt	Approve + auto-approve that tool for the rest of the session
Tab / arrows	at the prompt	Fuzzy completion menu for commands and model IDs
↑	at the prompt	Prompt history (persists across sessions, secrets scrubbed)

¹ macOS/Linux; on Windows these work at the prompt between turns.

Mesh Optimize (beta)

Beta feature. Off by default. /optimize off bypasses everything.

One dial that cuts token spend on every request. /optimize 0.3 enables it:

dial	levers	quality impact
0	off, byte-identical passthrough	none
0 to 0.2	prompt-cache breakpoints on stable prefixes, max_tokens defaults	none
0.2 to 0.95	plus pruning of tool results the model already consumed	minimal

Every turn re-sends the whole conversation — a 5000-line test log from ten turns ago is billed again on every request after it. The pruning lever truncates consumed outputs (last 4 messages untouched); the cache lever marks the stable prefix for the provider's ~90% cache discount. Savings are only claimed when measurable; if the gateway rejects an optimized request, the raw request is retried automatically. Reference implementation: mesh-optimize on GitHub.

Config & state

~/.meshapi/ (all files 0600):

File	What
credentials	Your API key (set on first run, /login replaces)
config.json	Settings — model, auto_route, fallback_models, reasoning_effort, optimize (never the key)
history	Prompt history (secrets scrubbed)
servers.json	Background-server records for crash recovery
update_check.json	Update-checker cache
toolcall_failures.jsonl	Forensics for malformed tool calls

Env overrides: MESHAPI_API_KEY, MESHAPI_BASE_URL.

Platform notes

• macOS / Linux — everything above.
• Windows — fully supported for chat, tools, servers, completion, and the update check; three POSIX-only niceties degrade gracefully: mid-run typing/queueing/ESC (input is available between turns), mid-run Shift+Tab (works at the prompt), and in-place self-upgrade (the CLI prints the exact command to run instead — the running .exe is file-locked).

About Mesh API

Mesh API is a unified LLM gateway: one API key, 1000+ models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Mistral, DeepSeek, Alibaba, and more. OpenAI-compatible — change the model name, leave everything else alone.

• Zero platform fees for 12 months. You only pay for tokens.
• Auto-routing. Send model: "auto" and the gateway picks the best model per prompt.
• Automatic failover. Provider down? Your request routes to another.
• Highest rate limits. Capacity pooled across providers.
• Zero data retention. Prompts and completions pass through; not stored.
• Full observability. Every request, token, cost tracked in real time; per-key limits.

Built by the founders of TagMango (YC W20) and AI Fiesta (1M+ users across India).

Why this CLI exists

Any generic OpenAI-compatible CLI talks to Mesh. meshapi adds what a generic one can't: the gateway-only cost field after every turn, /route auto + /models driving Mesh's gateway-side selection, an agentic loop hardened for cheap models (argument repair, quality guard), and 1000+ models behind one fuzzy picker.

Roadmap

• ✅ 0.5.1 — first-run key setup, update checker, auto-routing, fuzzy model picker, web search, quality guard, self-healing tool calls, always-visible input, ESC abort
• ✅ 0.5.2 — repo memory: zero-token context capture, warm-start repo maps, remember notes, read-dedupe
• 0.6 — something special 👀 (+ optional graphify backend for the memory layer)
• later — npm i -g meshapi-code (Node port), Homebrew tap

License

Apache 2.0