Dext

A source-first coding agent that lives in your terminal.
One Rust binary. Native tools. Project-scoped sessions. Guardrails you can inspect.

Documentation · Usage · Packs · Security

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Dext is an interactive terminal agent and automation-friendly CLI. It supports ChatGPT/Codex, OpenAI, Anthropic, GLM, Kimi Code, DeepSeek, and local OpenAI-compatible models without requiring a Dext-hosted service.

Install

Linux and macOS:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SiliconState/Dext/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

Windows PowerShell 5.1 or PowerShell 7:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SiliconState/Dext/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

The Windows installer uses native Windows environment values for architecture detection so the same in-memory script works under Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7. The installers select the matching release archive, require an exact vX.Y.Z tag, verify its SHA-256 checksum, and validate that it starts and reports the selected version before replacement. Dext v0.1.0 is published, so the default installers download prebuilt archives and do not require Rust. If no tagged release is available, the documented fallback resolves and pins the current main commit before running a locked Cargo build; that fallback requires Rust. Set DEXT_SOURCE_FALLBACK=0 to refuse source fallback. Set DEXT_REQUIRE_ATTESTATION=1 to additionally require GitHub CLI verification of release provenance; because source builds have no release attestation, that setting also disables source fallback.

Prefer to review before running? Download install.sh or install.ps1, inspect it, then execute it locally. Release provenance and manual verification are documented in docs/RELEASING.md.

Install from a checkout

git clone https://github.com/SiliconState/Dext.git
cd Dext
cargo install --path . --force --locked

Windows tool calls need a real bash.exe, such as Git for Windows. Dext ignores the WSL app alias; set DEXT_BASH_PATH to override discovery.

Start

# Browser login for ChatGPT/Codex or a Claude Pro/Max subscription
# (Anthropic subscription compatibility is unofficial and version-pinned.)
dext auth login chatgpt
dext auth login anthropic

# Anthropic Console API keys remain supported through ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.

# Work interactively in the current project
dext

One-shot and local-model use are just as direct:

dext "review this repository and find the riskiest bug"
dext auth provider local
dext --frugal --effort off

See docs/USAGE.md for provider setup, model routing, sessions, Seats, automation, and the CLI reference.

Why Dext

• Terminal-native. Inline Ratatui UI with normal scrollback, streaming input, one-shot output, JSON, and stream-JSON.
• Source-first. Prompts, provider adapters, policies, state, tools, and UI are auditable in this repository.
• Recoverable. Git-native pre-mutation checkpoints, previews, side-effect journals, and explicit undo.
• Bounded where it matters. Credential scrubbing, privacy redaction, capped I/O, process cleanup, and recovery remain active without constraining the default agent runtime.
• Provider-neutral. Cloud and local providers share one compact native tool layer.
• Extensible without core bloat. User-owned packs and shelves can add workflows and reviewed runtime tools.
• Explicit continuity. By default, Dext autosaves session state under a project-specific key; dext --resume restores the latest session. Optional recall.md and Seat summaries are user-authored context, not autonomous memory.

A small working surface

dext                         interactive session
dext "fix the failing test"  one-shot task
dext --resume                resume this project's latest session
dext doctor                  inspect the active safety and state posture
dext undo --list             inspect recovery checkpoints
dext pack run NAME TASK      run a user-owned workflow pack

Inside Dext, type /help for commands and ? on an empty prompt for the keymap.

Safety, plainly

A no-argument Dext run is equivalent to dext --sandbox-profile danger-full-access --approval always: agent-selected privileged tools run without approval prompts and subprocesses use the ambient filesystem and network authority already granted by the host, container, VM, namespace, WSL environment, CI worker, remote shell, or service account. Dext neither adds confinement nor attempts to escape an existing boundary. Select --approval ask|auto-read|auto-write|never and/or --sandbox read-only|workspace-write when a task needs stricter controls; optional confinement remains best-effort and platform-dependent.

Git checkpoints are recovery aids, not a substitute for commits. Credentials are scrubbed from agent-run subprocesses unless you explicitly opt in. Run dext doctor to inspect the current posture, and read SECURITY.md plus the risk register for exact boundaries.

Documentation

• Usage and configuration
• Packs and shelves
• Technical architecture
• Third-party notices
• TUI behavior
• Release verification
• Contributing
• Canonical technical documentation

Development

Dext requires stable Rust with edition 2024 support. The build, test, release, and reinstall workflow lives in CONTRIBUTING.md; release-owner checks live in docs/RELEASING.md.

License

MIT