Show HN: Aictl – A native AI agent for terminal and macOS, in Rust

v0.45.1 · Rust · single binary · open source

aictl

Native AI agent for your terminal and macOS desktop. Run cloud and local AI models through one secure runtime.

$ curl -sSf https://aictl.app/install.sh | sh

Get startedRun serverGet in touchView on GitHub

aictl

summarize report.pdf

three takeaways

// aictl-desktop

Desktop app

Native macOS app with a graphical chat UI. Same providers, tools, sessions, and agents as the CLI — in a window.

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$ aictl --auto

› draft release notes from git log

✓ git log · 47 commits

✓ search_files · 12 matches

↳ write_file CHANGELOG.md

// aictl-cli

Command-line interface

Single binary for macOS and Linux. Interactive REPL or one-shot. 35 built-in tools, security policy on by default.

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POST/v1/chat/completions

GET/v1/models

GET/healthz

200openai · 1.2s

// aictl-server

LLM HTTP proxy server

Second binary, aictl-server. OpenAI-compatible HTTP proxy — point any OpenAI-compatible SDK at it and reach every provider behind one master key.

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aictl-core rust

Security Layer part of aictl-core

Cloud LLM APIsOllamaLocal · MLX / GGUF

A single Rust crate — aictl-core — powers all three. The agent loop, providers, tools, security, and sessions live in one library.

SESSION9ee82912· 2 messages

ClearRetryUndoCompact

USER

describe in one sentence contents of this dir

ASSISTANT

Let me look at the directory contents.

TOOLlist_directory

[FILE] Cargo.toml [FILE] LICENSE [DIR] .aictl [FILE] AICTL.md [DIR] target [FILE] install.sh [DIR] tests [DIR] website [DIR] .claude [FILE] CLAUDE.md [DIR] src

ASSISTANT

This directory is the root of the aictl Rust workspace, containing source crates (aictl-cli, aictl-core, aictl-server, aictl-desktop), docs, install scripts, and standard project files.

Type a message

$ curl -sSf https://aictl.app/install.sh | sh

⌥⌘1aictl

[-_-] aictl 0.45.1 (latest) — AI agent in your terminal |_| anthropic · claude-sonnet-4-6 35 tools · dir: aictl/ cwd jail: on · subshell blocked · timeout: 30s · disabled tools: 0 keychain (0 locked · 9 plain · 0 both) session: 9ee82912-c760-4444-bfe8-0bc000c173c0 Type a message or /help for commands. Exit with "exit" or Ctrl+D

❯describe in one sentence contents of this dir

Let me look at the directory contents.

list_directory ──

[FILE] Cargo.toml [FILE] .DS_Store [FILE] LICENSE [DIR] .aictl [FILE] AICTL.md [DIR] target [FILE] install.sh [DIR] tests [DIR] website [DIR] .claude … 11 lines hidden … [FILE] CLAUDE.md [DIR] src

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── claude-sonnet-4 · 3↑ (4320⚡) · 69↓ · 1 tool(s) · $0.0024 · 3.2s · ctx 1%

This is the aictl Rust CLI project — an AI agent tool with source code, documentation (README, ARCH, ROADMAP), pricing references, a website, examples, tests, GitHub CI config, and an install script.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── claude-sonnet-4 · 221↑ (4320⚡) · 53↓ · 1 tool(s) · $0.0031 · 2.3s · ctx 2%

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 2 reqs · 1 tool(s) · 224↑ · 122↓ · $0.0054 · 6.3s · ctx 2%

❯

$ curl -fsSL https://aictl.app/server/install.sh | sh

~ aictl-server

$ aictl-server

aictl-server v0.45.1 — OpenAI-compatible LLM proxy

listeninghttp://127.0.0.1:7878

master keyresolved from keyring

providersopenai · anthropic · gemini · grok · mistral · deepseek · kimi · zai · ollama

audit~/.aictl/server-audit.log

redactionon (regex + entropy)

● ready

[14:32:18]POST/v1/chat/completionsopenai · gpt-4o-mini2001.24s

[14:32:21]POST/v1/chat/completionsanthropic · sonnet-4-62002.18s

[14:32:24]GET/v1/models2003ms

[14:32:25]POST/v1/chat/completionsdeepseek · v32003.41s

[14:32:28]GET/v1/stats20012ms

[14:32:30]POST/v1/chat/completionsgemini · 2.5-flash2000.97s

Agent loop

Interactive REPL and one-shot mode. Up to 20 tool iterations per turn with confirmation or autonomous execution via --auto. Press Esc to cancel any in-flight call and roll back the turn.

Tools

35 built-in tools spanning shell, files, archives, checksums, clipboard, notifications, web, documents, images, maps, code execution, math, JSON / CSV queries, host probing, and long-term memory. Every call is gated by the security policy. Review with /tools.

Context

/context shows live token and message usage vs. model limits; /compact summarizes the conversation on demand, and the REPL auto-compacts above AICTL_AUTO_COMPACT_THRESHOLD (default 80%).

Sessions

Every REPL run is a session. Persist, name, and resume via /session, or start a private run with --incognito. Full conversation history stored as JSON under ~/.aictl/sessions.

Agents

Reusable system prompts as plain text. Create manually, generate with an LLM, or pull curated ones from the catalogue via /agent. Load on startup with --agent .

Skills

One-turn markdown playbooks under ~/.aictl/skills/. Invoke with / or --skill — the body drives a single turn, then evaporates. Manage via /skills.

Plugins

Add custom tools without forking. Drop an executable plus a plugin.toml manifest into ~/.aictl/plugins//; aictl pipes the tool body in on stdin and returns stdout to the model. Opt in with AICTL_PLUGINS_ENABLED=true; manage via /plugins.

Hooks

Shell commands the harness fires at lifecycle events — SessionStart, UserPromptSubmit, PreToolUse, PostToolUse, Stop, and more. Block, approve, rewrite a prompt, or inject context via JSON on stdout. Configured in ~/.aictl/hooks.json; manage via /hooks.

MCP servers

Connect Model Context Protocol servers as a source of additional tools. Declare servers in ~/.aictl/mcp.json (Claude Desktop-compatible shape); their tools merge into the agent loop as mcp____. Opt in with AICTL_MCP_ENABLED=true; manage via /mcp.

Security first

CWD jail, blocked paths, shell command allowlists, environment scrubbing, subshell blocking, injection guard, output sanitization, per-session audit log, and opt-in credential / PII redaction at the network boundary. On by default. Review policy with /security.

Key storage

API keys in macOS Keychain or Linux Secret Service. Transparent fallback to plain text when no keyring is available. Lock and unlock on demand via /keys.

Cost meter

Every turn reports token usage, estimated cost, and execution time. Daily and monthly usage stats under /stats.

OpenAI

Anthropic

Google Gemini

xAI Grok

Mistral

DeepSeek

Kimi

Z.ai

Ollama

GGUF experimental

MLX Apple Silicon

AICTLHTTP proxy

switch models mid-session — context of your conversation stays

System

exec_shell — run shell commands

read_file · write_file · edit_file

remove_file · create_directory

list_directory · find_files

search_files — grep across the tree

diff_files — unified diff between two files

archive — tar.gz / tgz / tar / zip create, extract, list

checksum — streaming SHA-256 / MD5 digests

git — restricted status / diff / log / blame / commit

Web & media

fetch_url · extract_website

search_web_fc — via Firecrawl (primary)

search_web_ddg — via DuckDuckGo (fallback, no key)

fetch_datetime · fetch_geolocation

read_image — vision across providers

generate_image — DALL·E, Imagen, Grok

read_document — PDF, DOCX, spreadsheets

view_map — OpenStreetMap / satellite pins (desktop)

draw_chart — Chart.js line / bar / pie / scatter (desktop)

Code & data

run_code — python, node, ruby, perl, lua, bash

lint_file — auto-selected linter per extension

json_query — jq-style JSON filters

csv_query — SQL-like over CSV/TSV

calculate — safe math expression evaluator

Host & network

list_processes — structured ps with filters

check_port — TCP reachability probe

system_info — OS, CPU, memory, disk

clipboard — read / write the system clipboard

notify — desktop notifications (macOS, Linux)

save_memory — persist a fact to long-term memory

Dedicated coding capabilities may be added in the future. If you are looking for an AI agent specialized in software development today, consider Claude Code, Codex, or opencode — they are purpose-built for that workflow.

General purpose, not IDE-only

Most AI coding tools live inside an editor — Copilot in VS Code, Cursor and Windsurf as IDE forks. aictl is a general-purpose agent: write code, research topics, process documents, analyze images, query the web — all from a single terminal session.

Provider neutral

Claude Code is Anthropic-only. Codex and ChatGPT are OpenAI-only. Gemini CLI is Google-only. aictl gives you twelve providers behind one interface — switch from Anthropic to Grok to a local model mid-session and your conversation context stays.

Local inference built in

Native GGUF via llama.cpp is compiled into the binary. No Python, no Ollama server (unless you want it), no sidecar — just the model file and aictl. ChatGPT, Copilot, and Codex have no local path at all. Native MLX on Apple Silicon is supported too — the macOS aarch64 release ships with mlx.metallib placed next to the binary; every other platform's release contains just the aictl binary.

Single binary, zero runtime

One curl and you are running. No Node.js (Claude Code, Codex), no Electron (Cursor, Windsurf), no runtime at all. The Rust binary has no dependencies on macOS or Linux.

Security on by default

CWD jail, shell allowlists, environment scrubbing, prompt injection guard, output sanitization, per-session audit log, and opt-in credential & PII redaction at the network boundary — all shipped out of the box. Most CLI agents run tools with full user privileges and no guardrails. Review the full policy with /security.

Keyring-native secrets

API keys stored in macOS Keychain or Linux Secret Service — not in a dotfile or environment variable. Transparent fallback when no keyring is available. Lock and unlock on demand via /keys.

Cross-provider cost meter

Every turn reports tokens, estimated cost, and wall time. Daily and monthly stats via /stats. When you switch between providers with very different pricing, you see the impact immediately — no separate billing dashboard required.

No subscription, no account

ChatGPT, Copilot, Cursor, and Windsurf require paid subscriptions and vendor accounts. aictl is a free binary — bring your own API keys, pay only for the tokens you use, and keep full control of your data.

Open source

The full source is on GitHub under the PolyForm Noncommercial License. Read it, modify it, learn from it. No telemetry, no analytics, no phone-home — the binary does exactly what you tell it to.

Open the DMG and drag aictl.app into /Applications. Signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple — opens cleanly on first launch.

01

Install

$ curl -sSf https://aictl.app/install.sh | sh

02

Configure

$ aictl --config

Interactive wizard for provider, model, and API keys. Stored in ~/.aictl/config or the system keyring.

03

Run

$ aictl

Omit --message to enter the interactive REPL, or pass one for single-shot mode.

Or build from source with Rust:

$ cargo install --path crates/aictl-cli --features "gguf mlx redaction-ner"

Note: the macOS Apple Silicon release ships with --features mlx enabled and includes a sibling mlx.metallib next to the binary (MLX needs the Metal library at runtime). Other platform releases contain just the aictl binary.

Or run inside Docker (multi-stage Rust build → debian:bookworm-slim):

$ docker build -f docker/cli.Dockerfile -t aictl .

$ docker run --rm -it -v "$HOME/.aictl:/home/aictl/.aictl" -v "$PWD:/workspace" aictl

The host's ~/.aictl mount carries config, keys, sessions, and audit between runs; the project mount is what the agent's read_file, write_file, and exec_shell tools operate on. Cargo features (gguf, redaction-ner) are off by default — opt in with --build-arg FEATURES=…. MLX is Apple-Silicon-only and never built in the Linux image.

For more information and usage instructions, see the docs.

Su

[truncated for AI cost control]