UI for parallel work with AI agents -- a local-first Electron desktop app for AI-powered code assistance with multi-provider support.
Download | Documentation | Contributing
Start screen.
Browser integration.
View project files.
Viewing diff changes.
- Multi-Provider Support -- Use Claude, OpenAI Codex, or OpenCode as your AI backend
- Plan and Agent Modes -- Switch between read-only analysis (Plan) and full code execution permissions (Agent)
- Ralph Mode -- Autonomous coding sessions with minimal user input
- Session Resume -- Continue conversations across app restarts with full context preservation
- Integrated Terminal -- Full xterm-based terminal with multiple panes and session persistence
- Real-time Tool Execution -- Watch bash commands, file edits, and web searches execute live
- Git Worktree Isolation -- Each chat session runs in its own isolated Git worktree for safe experimentation
- Change Tracking -- Visual diffs, file change tracking, and PR management
- Project Linking -- Link local folders with automatic Git remote detection for GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket
- VSCode Theme Support -- Import and apply your favorite VSCode themes with builtin theme options
- Cross-Platform -- Native builds for macOS, Linux, and Windows (experimental)
- Zero Analytics -- No telemetry, no data collection, fully local-first
Download the latest release for your platform from the Releases page.
| Platform | Formats |
|---|---|
| macOS (Apple Silicon) | DMG, ZIP |
| Linux (x64, arm64) | AppImage, DEB, RPM |
| Windows (x64) | NSIS installer |
Prerequisites:
- Bun package manager
- Node.js 18+ (for native module compilation)
- macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools (
xcode-select --install) - Linux: Build essentials (
build-essential,python3) - Windows: Visual Studio Build Tools
git clone https://github.com/Nolikzero/better-code.git
cd better-code
bun install
bun run build
bun run package:mac # or package:win, package:linuxgit clone https://github.com/Nolikzero/better-code.git
cd better-code
bun install
bun run dev # Start with hot reload- Launch the app -- Open BetterCode after installation
- Complete onboarding -- Sign in with your Claude account or configure your preferred AI provider
- Add a project -- Click "Add Project" and select a local folder (Git repos are auto-detected)
- Start chatting -- Choose Plan or Agent mode and begin your coding session
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Electron Application │
├─────────────────┬─────────────────┬─────────────────────────┤
│ Main Process │ Preload │ Renderer Process │
│ (Node.js) │ (IPC Bridge) │ (React 19) │
├─────────────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────────────┤
│ • tRPC Routers │ • Context │ • Tailwind CSS 4 │
│ (15 routers) │ Isolation │ • Radix UI Components │
│ • SQLite + │ • desktopApi │ • Jotai + Zustand │
│ Drizzle ORM │ Exposure │ • React Query │
│ • Git Ops + │ │ • xterm Terminal │
│ Worktrees │ │ • Shiki Highlighting │
│ • AI Providers │ │ │
│ (3 providers) │ │ │
│ • Terminal PTY │ │ │
└─────────────────┴─────────────────┴─────────────────────────┘
For detailed architecture documentation, see CLAUDE.md.
BetterCode supports multiple AI backends through a unified provider interface:
| Provider | SDK | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Claude | @anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk |
Anthropic Claude with full tool use |
| Codex | @openai/codex-sdk |
OpenAI Codex for code generation |
| OpenCode | @opencode-ai/sdk |
OpenCode AI provider |
Providers can be switched per-chat and support both Plan mode (read-only) and Agent mode (full execution permissions).
| Layer | Technologies | Version |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop | Electron, electron-vite, electron-builder | 40.0.0 |
| Frontend | React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS | 19.2.3, 5.9.3, 4.1.18 |
| Components | Radix UI, Lucide icons, Motion | -- |
| State | Jotai, Zustand, React Query | 2.16.2, 5.0.10, 5.x |
| Backend | tRPC, Drizzle ORM, better-sqlite3 | 11.8.1, 0.45.1, 12.x |
| AI | Claude Agent SDK, Codex SDK, OpenCode SDK, Vercel AI SDK | -- |
| Terminal | xterm, node-pty | 6.0.0, 1.1.0 |
| Code | Shiki (syntax highlighting) | 3.21.0 |
| Git | simple-git | 3.30.0 |
| Linting | Biome | 2.3.11 |
| Package Manager | Bun | -- |
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
bun run dev |
Start development with hot reload |
bun run build |
Production build |
bun run package:mac |
Package for macOS (DMG + ZIP) |
bun run package:win |
Package for Windows (NSIS) |
bun run package:linux |
Package for Linux (AppImage, DEB, RPM) |
bun run db:generate |
Generate database migrations |
bun run db:push |
Push schema directly (dev only) |
bun run db:studio |
Open Drizzle Studio for database inspection |
bun run lint |
Run Biome linter |
bun run format |
Format code with Biome |
bun run typecheck |
TypeScript type checking |
BetterCode uses SQLite with Drizzle ORM. The database is stored at {userData}/data/agents.db and migrations run automatically on startup.
- Architecture Guide -- Detailed codebase structure, patterns, and development reference
- Contributing Guide -- How to contribute to BetterCode
Contributions are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
# Fork and clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/better-code.git
cd better-code
# Install dependencies
bun install
# Create a branch for your feature
git checkout -b feature/your-feature
# Make changes, then submit a PRApache License 2.0 -- see LICENSE for details.