⚡ Nexus-Agent: Autonomous Agentic AI Coding Assistant

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🎬 Live Demo Recording

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/73e78850-8669-40e9-aec3-3a355e975c1f

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🌟 Overview

Nexus-Agent is an autonomous command-line coding agent designed to pair-program with developers directly inside their local workspace. Built from the ground up to showcase modern Agentic AI Engineering principles, Nexus-Agent doesn't just generate text—it autonomously inspects files, modifies codebases, executes scripts inside secure local sandboxes, searches live web documentation, and inspects Git repositories.

Built with a clean ReAct (Reasoning + Acting) cognitive architecture, Nexus-Agent reasons step-by-step after every tool execution before deciding its next move.

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❓ Why Nexus-Agent?

Unlike cloud-dependent tools like GitHub Copilot CLI, Nexus-Agent is built for offline-capable, cost-zero local execution. V2 will integrate a custom-trained 124M parameter LLM as the local backend — enabling completely private, zero-latency execution with no external API key required.

📊 How Nexus-Agent Compares

Feature	Nexus-Agent	Copilot CLI	Cursor	Aider
Multi-Provider Support (Claude, Gemini, OpenAI)	✅	❌	❌	✅
Auto-Provider Fallback (rate limit resilient)	✅	❌	❌	❌
Autonomous Local Tool Execution	✅	❌	✅	✅
Mobile / Android (Termux) Support	✅	❌	❌	⚠️
Real-Time Token & Cost Tracking	✅	❌	❌	❌
@mention File Context Injection	✅	❌	❌	❌
Smart Project vs. Global Detection	✅	❌	❌	❌
AI-Powered agent commit	✅	❌	❌	❌

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🔥 Key Architectural Highlights

• 🧠 Autonomous ReAct Loop: Implements multi-step cognitive reasoning (Thought → Action → Observation → Repeat), allowing the agent to solve complex multi-file engineering tasks independently (up to 10 autonomous tool iterations per query).
• 🔌 Universal Multi-Provider Backend: Abstracted provider layer supporting seamless switching between industry-leading LLMs (OpenAI GPT-4o, Anthropic claude-sonnet-4-6, and Google gemini-2.5-flash).
• 🔄 Auto-Provider Fallback: --provider auto chains gemini → anthropic → openai and switches silently on rate limit or auth failure, with a clean [WARN] message.
• 💰 Real-Time Dynamic Cost Tracker: Live token computation engine that calculates exact input/output token expenditure and monetary cost in real time per session.
• 🚀 First-Run Onboarding Wizard: Auto-detects first launch, guides through API key setup, detects RAM/CPU/GPU specs, and suggests optimal local model for V2.
• 📱 Full Mobile / Android (Termux) Support: Optimized zero-dependency C-wheel exclusions and pure-Python /proc/meminfo RAM/CPU detection allow pip install nexus-agent-ai to run 100% natively on Android phones inside Termux without C-compilation errors.
• 🛠️ Comprehensive Developer Toolset:
  • read_file: Safely parses local file contents to prevent hallucinations.
  • write_file: Actively writes or overwrites code files with automatic directory creation.
  • list_directory: Recursively maps workspace architecture.
  • run_code: Executes arbitrary Python code inside isolated subprocesses with strict execution timeout enforcement (CODE_EXECUTION_TIMEOUT = 10s).
  • search_web: Queries live DuckDuckGo indexes for real-time API docs and error debugging.
  • git_status: Monitors uncommitted workspace changes and diff statistics.
  • git_diff + git_commit: Reads full staged diff and commits — powering nexus-agent commit.
• 🎨 Rich Syntax-Highlighted UI: Beautiful terminal display powered by Rich, featuring markdown rendering and ReAct trace badges ([THINKING], [ACTION], [OBSERVE]).
• ⚡ Streaming CLI Response: Interactive streaming text output with --no-stream toggle support.

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🏗️ System Architecture

nexus-agent/
├── pyproject.toml               ← Package metadata & Typer binary entry point (`nexus-agent` / `agent`)
├── requirements.txt             ← Core dependencies (Typer, Rich, OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, DDGS)
├── .env.example                 ← Environment variable configuration template
└── src/
    ├── agent/
    │   ├── core.py              ← Autonomous ReAct agent loop & system instructions
    │   ├── memory.py            ← Sliding-window conversation buffer (max 20 turns)
    │   └── tools.py             ← Universal tool schema & execution handlers
    ├── cli/
    │   ├── app.py               ← Typer CLI command definitions (chat, repl, review, debug, generate, commit)
    │   ├── display.py           ← Rich terminal UI components & live cost tracking
    │   └── onboarding.py        ← First-run wizard (API keys, system spec detection, provider setup)
    ├── providers/
    │   ├── base.py              ← Abstract BaseProvider interface & RateLimitError
    │   ├── fallback_provider.py ← Auto-fallback chain (gemini → anthropic → openai)
    │   ├── openai_provider.py   ← OpenAI backend implementation
    │   ├── anthropic_provider.py ← Anthropic claude-sonnet-4-6 backend implementation
    │   └── gemini_provider.py   ← Google gemini-2.5-flash backend implementation
    └── utils/
        └── config.py            ← Environment loader & dynamic token cost calculator

Cognitive ReAct Workflow

graph TD
    User["Developer Query"] --> Core["Agent ReAct Loop"]
    Core --> Mem["Conversation Memory (Pair-Aware Pruning)"]
    Mem --> Provider["LLM Provider (Local / OpenAI / Claude / Gemini)"]
    Provider -->|Tool Call Requested| Dispatcher["Tool Execution Dispatcher"]
    Provider -->|Rate Limit| Fallback["FallbackProvider (auto-switch)"]
    Fallback --> Provider
    
    subgraph Sandbox Tools
        Dispatcher --> RF["read_file / list_directory"]
        Dispatcher --> WF["write_file"]
        Dispatcher --> RC["run_code / run_file"]
        Dispatcher --> WEB["search_web (DuckDuckGo / Offline Cache)"]
        Dispatcher --> GIT["git_status / git_diff / git_commit"]
    end
    
    RF --> Obs["Observation Buffer"]
    WF --> Obs
    RC --> Obs
    WEB --> Obs
    GIT --> Obs
    
    Obs -->|Append Tool Result| Mem
    Provider -->|Final Markdown Text| UI["Rich Terminal UI Panel"]

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🚀 Getting Started

1. Installation

Install officially via PyPI across any desktop or server (Windows / macOS / Linux):

pip install nexus-agent-ai

📱 Mobile / Android (Termux) Quickstart

Nexus-Agent is fully optimized to run on Android phones via Termux (v2.2.6+). It uses pure-Python spec detection (/proc/meminfo) and automatically skips C/Rust compilation dependencies (psutil, jiter, pydantic-core) by default:

# 1. Update Termux & install Python/Git
pkg update && pkg upgrade -y
pkg install python git -y

# 2. Install Nexus-Agent cleanly from PyPI (fast pure-Python install)
pip install --upgrade nexus-agent-ai

# 3. Launch from anywhere!
nexus-agent

(Optional: If you explicitly want Claude (anthropic) or ChatGPT (openai) models inside Termux, run pkg install rust python-pydantic -y before installing via pip install nexus-agent-ai[all])

🪟 Windows Setup & Troubleshooting Guide

If installing or running on Windows 10/11, here are standard resolutions for common Windows & PyPI edge cases:

1. PowerShell Script Execution Restriction (PSSecurityException): If activating a virtual environment (venv\Scripts\activate) fails due to script execution policies, run this in PowerShell:

   Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope Process
   

2. File-Locking Bug ([WinError 2] .deleteme): If upgrading global dependencies triggers Windows binary file-locking errors, upgrade pip first:

   python -m pip install --upgrade pip
   

3. Executable PATH Isolation Warning (CommandNotFoundException): If nexus-agent is not recognized because AppData\Roaming\Python\Scripts is not on system PATH, launch directly via Python module invocation:

   python -m nexus_agent_ai
   

4. Official PyPI Package Identifier: Ensure you install using the exact PyPI package name nexus-agent-ai:

   pip install nexus-agent-ai
   

Or clone for local development:

git clone https://github.com/Yash1bajpai/nexus-agent.git
cd nexus-agent
pip install -e .

2. Initial Setup & User Guide

When you install nexus-agent-ai, getting started takes less than 30 seconds whether you choose Local Offline Mode (zero cost, private) or Cloud Provider Mode (Claude, OpenAI, Gemini).

A. First-Run Interactive Wizard (Automatic)

On your very first nexus-agent invocation from the terminal, the built-in Interactive Onboarding Wizard launches automatically:

nexus-agent

The wizard auto-detects your system specifications (CPU threads, total RAM, and GPU capabilities on Desktop or Termux), helps you choose a default provider (local, gemini, anthropic, or openai), and saves your preferences cleanly to a local .env file in your workspace or home directory (~/.nexus_agent_initialized).

B. Offline Local Model Download (pull-model)

Nexus-Agent includes built-in support for autonomous local reasoning (LocalQwenProvider) — allowing you to generate, review, and debug code completely offline with zero API keys required.

To download or verify the quantized reasoning model (Qwen2.5-Coder 4-bit AWQ / GGUF engine):

nexus-agent pull-model

What this does:

• Checks your system environment and verifies huggingface_hub availability.
• Downloads the optimized local quantized model weights (~4.5 GB) directly to your local cache (~/.cache/huggingface/hub/...).
• Validates model integrity (verify_download=True) and confirms readiness (✅ Local Quantized Model Ready).
• Once pulled, you can run offline any time using: nexus-agent --provider local.

C. Manual API Key Configuration (Cloud Providers)

If you prefer manual configuration or want to use cloud LLMs (Anthropic Claude 3.5 Sonnet, OpenAI GPT-4o, Google Gemini 2.5 Flash), copy the example environment file:

cp .env.example .env

Open .env and set your desired default provider and API keys:

DEFAULT_PROVIDER=gemini
GEMINI_API_KEY=AIzaSy...
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-proj-...

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3. Top Starting Commands (Quick Reference)

Here are the essential commands every developer should try first:

⚡ 1. Start Interactive Pair-Programming (REPL Mode)

Launch a continuous multi-turn coding session inside your current directory. Ask questions, mention files via @filename, and let the agent autonomously inspect and edit code:

nexus-agent
# Specify provider explicitly:
nexus-agent --provider anthropic
# Enable auto-switching fallback (gemini -> anthropic -> openai):
nexus-agent --provider auto

💬 2. Instant One-Shot Coding Task (chat)

Execute a direct autonomous engineering instruction without entering REPL mode:

nexus-agent chat "Create a python script primes.py that generates the first 20 prime numbers and run it to verify." --provider gemini

🔍 3. Read-Only Code Review (review)

Perform a strict read-only audit of any local code file to identify bugs, security vulnerabilities (SQLi, path traversal), and performance bottlenecks:

nexus-agent review src/utils/config.py --provider local

🐞 4. Autonomous Error Traceback Repair (debug)

Paste any terminal traceback or error message directly into Nexus-Agent. The agent autonomously reads the problematic file, diagnoses the exact root cause, and applies the corrected fix via write_file:

nexus-agent debug src/app.py --error "ZeroDivisionError: float division by zero when response_times is empty"

📝 5. Direct Code File Generation (generate)

Instruct the agent to write production-ready code directly to a target destination path:

nexus-agent generate "Create an async web scraper using aiohttp and BeautifulSoup" --output scraper.py

📦 6. AI Conventional Git Commit (commit)

Analyze your staged or unstaged Git diff (git diff) and autonomously generate a concise conventional commit message (feat:, fix:, refactor:):

nexus-agent commit
# Skip confirmation and commit immediately:
nexus-agent commit --yes

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4. Advanced Features & Trace Inspection

Verbose ReAct Trace Engine (--verbose)

See the agent's internal cognitive reasoning ([THINKING] → [ACTION] → [OBSERVE]) in real time across every tool execution loop:

nexus-agent chat "Refactor utils.py to use dataclasses" --verbose

[THINKING] I need to read the file first to understand the current structure
[ACTION]   read_file(path="utils.py")
[OBSERVE]  Done (0.1s) → class Config: | def load(): | ...
[THINKING] Now I'll rewrite using dataclasses and write_file
[ACTION]   write_file(path="utils.py", content="...")
[OBSERVE]  Done (0.0s) → Successfully wrote 847 characters to utils.py

@mention File Context Injection

Inside REPL mode or chat prompts, mention any file path using @filename (e.g. @src/agent/core.py). Nexus-Agent automatically attaches the file's exact contents cleanly into its context window before answering.

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🧪 Testing & Verification

Nexus-Agent maintains a 100% passing automated regression & security test suite (36 unit tests) covering all tool dispatchers, AST sandbox boundaries, safe-dunder allowlisting, streaming mechanics, provider mocking, and filesystem handlers:

pytest tests/ -v --tb=short

============================= test session starts =============================
collecting ... collected 36 items

tests/test_audit_fixes.py::test_sandbox_check_blocks_bypass PASSED       [  2%]
tests/test_audit_fixes.py::test_sandbox_check_blocks_introspection_and_gc PASSED [  5%]
tests/test_audit_fixes.py::test_sandbox_check_allows_safe_dunders PASSED   [  8%]
tests/test_audit_fixes.py::test_validate_workspace_path_prefix_containment PASSED [ 11%]
tests/test_audit_fixes.py::test_execute_run_file_sandbox_validation PASSED [ 13%]
tests/test_audit_fixes.py::test_memory_pruning_user_boundaries PASSED    [ 16%]
tests/test_audit_fixes.py::test_search_web_offline_labeling PASSED       [ 19%]
tests/test_audit_fixes.py::test_local_provider_setup_model_verify PASSED [ 22%]
tests/test_audit_fixes.py::test_agent_run_stream_true PASSED             [ 25%]
tests/test_audit_fixes.py::test_onboarding_env_file_path PASSED          [ 27%]
tests/test_local_provider.py::test_local_qwen_provider_init PASSED       [ 30%]
tests/test_local_provider.py::test_local_qwen_provider_convert_tools PASSED [ 33%]
tests/test_local_provider.py::test_local_qwen_provider_setup_model PASSED [ 36%]
tests/test_local_provider.py::test_local_qwen_format_tool_result_message PASSED [ 38%]
tests/test_providers.py::test_anthropic_provider_schema PASSED           [ 41%]
tests/test_providers.py::test_openai_provider_schema PASSED              [ 44%]
tests/test_providers.py::test_gemini_provider_schema PASSED              [ 47%]
tests/test_providers.py::test_provider_tool_result_format PASSED         [ 50%]
tests/test_providers.py::test_fallback_provider_general_exception PASSED [ 52%]
tests/test_providers.py::test_anthropic_complete_and_stream PASSED       [ 55%]
tests/test_providers.py::test_openai_complete_and_stream PASSED          [ 58%]
tests/test_providers.py::test_gemini_complete_and_stream PASSED          [ 61%]
tests/test_tools.py::test_read_file_success PASSED                       [ 63%]
tests/test_tools.py::test_read_file_not_found PASSED                     [ 66%]
tests/test_tools.py::test_list_directory_success PASSED                  [ 69%]
tests/test_tools.py::test_list_directory_not_found PASSED                [ 72%]
tests/test_tools.py::test_search_web PASSED                              [ 75%]
tests/test_tools.py::test_write_file_success PASSED                      [ 77%]
tests/test_tools.py::test_run_code_success PASSED                        [ 80%]
tests/test_tools.py::test_git_status_tool PASSED                         [ 82%]
tests/test_tools.py::test_execute_tool_dispatcher PASSED                 [ 85%]
tests/test_tools.py::test_get_readonly_tools PASSED                      [ 88%]
tests/test_ux_features.py::test_parse_at_mentions PASSED                 [ 91%]
tests/test_ux_features.py::test_smart_startup_project_mode PASSED        [ 94%]
tests/test_ux_features.py::test_status_spinner_helpers PASSED            [ 97%]
tests/test_ux_features.py::test_sqlite_memory PASSED                     [100%]

============================= 36 passed in 5.25s ==============================

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🛡️ Security & Sandbox Best Practices

• Strict Secret Exclusion: Verified .gitignore blocks .env, .env.local, and .env.*.local.
• AST Sandbox with Safe-Dunder Allowlist: The run_code sandbox uses AST static analysis to block dangerous imports (os, subprocess, socket, importlib, etc.), execution calls (exec, eval, compile, open, __import__), and introspection attributes (__class__, __bases__, __mro__, __globals__, __builtins__). Safe dunders (__name__, __main__, __file__, __str__, __repr__, __len__, __eq__) are explicitly allowed so standard Python patterns like if __name__ == "__main__": are not blocked.
• Subprocess Isolation: Code execution (run_code) runs in dedicated subprocess threads with mandatory timeouts to prevent infinite loops.
• GitHub Actions CI: Automated Python 3.11/3.12/3.13 matrix testing on every push and PR — no manual QA gates needed.

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