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  1. CoreThink Powered Tools
  2. ChadCode TUI

The ChadCode website is available here

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Running ChadCode

Running ChadCode starts the TUI for the current directory.

chad-code

Or you can start it for a specific working directory.

chad-code /path/to/project

Once you’re in the TUI, you can prompt it with a message.

Give me a quick summary of the codebase.

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File References

You can reference files in your messages using @. This does a fuzzy file search in the current working directory.

You can also use @ to reference files in your messages.

How is auth handled in @packages/functions/src/api/index.ts?

The content of the file is added to the conversation automatically.

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Bash Commands

Start a message with ! to run a shell command.

!ls -la

The output of the command is added to the conversation as a tool result.

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Commands

When using the ChadCode TUI, you can type / followed by a command name to quickly execute actions. For example:

/help

Most commands also have keybind using ctrl+x as the leader key, where ctrl+x is the default leader key. Learn more.

Here are all available slash commands:

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connect

Add a provider to ChadCode. Allows you to select from available providers and add their API keys.

/connect

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compact

Compact the current session. Alias: /summarize

/compact

Keybind: ctrl+x c

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details

Toggle tool execution details.

/details

Keybind: ctrl+x d

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editor

Open external editor for composing messages. Uses the editor set in your EDITOR environment variable. Learn more.

/editor

Keybind: ctrl+x e

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exit

Exit ChadCode. Aliases: /quit, /q

/exit

Keybind: ctrl+x q

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export

Export current conversation to Markdown and open in your default editor. Uses the editor set in your EDITOR environment variable. Learn more.

/export

Keybind: ctrl+x x

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help

Show the help dialog.

/help

Keybind: ctrl+x h

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init

Create or update AGENTS.md file. Learn more.

/init

Keybind: ctrl+x i

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models

List available models.

/models

Keybind: ctrl+x m

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new

Start a new session. Alias: /clear

/new

Keybind: ctrl+x n

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redo

Redo a previously undone message. Only available after using /undo.

Any file changes will also be restored.

Internally, this uses Git to manage the file changes. So your project needs to be a Git repository.

/redo

Keybind: ctrl+x r

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sessions

List and switch between sessions. Aliases: /resume, /continue

/sessions

Keybind: ctrl+x l

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share

Share current session. Learn more.

/share

Keybind: ctrl+x s

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themes

List available themes.

/theme

Keybind: ctrl+x t

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undo

Undo last message in the conversation. Removes the most recent user message, all subsequent responses, and any file changes.

Any file changes made will also be reverted.

Internally, this uses Git to manage the file changes. So your project needs to be a Git repository.

/undo

Keybind: ctrl+x u

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unshare

Unshare current session. Learn more.

/unshare

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Editor Setup

Both the /editor and /export commands use the editor specified in your EDITOR environment variable.

  • Linux/macOS

  • Windows (CMD)

  • Windows (PowerShell)

# Example for nano or vim
export EDITOR=nano
export EDITOR=vim

# For GUI editors, VS Code, Cursor, VSCodium, Windsurf, Zed, etc.
# include --wait
export EDITOR="code --wait"

To make it permanent, add this to your shell profile; ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, etc.

Popular editor options include:

  • code - Visual Studio Code
  • cursor - Cursor
  • windsurf - Windsurf
  • nvim - Neovim editor
  • vim - Vim editor
  • nano - Nano editor
  • notepad - Windows Notepad
  • subl - Sublime Text

Some editors like VS Code need to be started with the --wait flag.

Some editors need command-line arguments to run in blocking mode. The --wait flag makes the editor process block until closed.

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Configure

You can customize TUI behavior through your ChadCode config file.

chadcode.json
{
  "$schema": "https://chadcode.dev/config.json",
  "tui": {
    "scroll_speed": 3,
    "scroll_acceleration": {
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

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Options

  • scroll_acceleration - Enable macOS-style scroll acceleration for smooth, natural scrolling. When enabled, scroll speed increases with rapid scrolling gestures and stays precise for slower movements. This setting takes precedence over scroll_speed and overrides it when enabled.
  • scroll_speed - Controls how fast the TUI scrolls when using scroll commands (minimum: 1). Defaults to 1 on Unix and 3 on Windows. Note: This is ignored if scroll_acceleration.enabled is set to true.

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Customization

You can customize various aspects of the TUI view using the command palette (ctrl+x h or /help). These settings persist across restarts.

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Username Display

Toggle whether your username appears in chat messages. Access this through:

  • Command palette: Search for “username” or “hide username”
  • The setting persists automatically and will be remembered across TUI sessions