CLAT

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CLAT is a local-first coding agent foundation shipped as one Rust binary. It can inspect a repository, edit files, run commands, use external tools, and keep durable conversations without requiring a JavaScript or Python runtime. That guarantee covers the shipped CLAT core; optional MCP servers and the DSH adapter may declare their own runtimes.

The project is built by dogfooding real repository work and turning recurring needs into reusable, provider-neutral capabilities.

Quick start

# Open the terminal UI in the current repository.
clat

# Then run /model once to choose a preset and enter an API key.

# Headless use: positional text is the instruction; piped input is context.
clat exec "explain this repository in one sentence"
git diff | clat exec "review this diff"

# Deterministic offline proof of the model -> tool -> model loop.
clat demo

# Check whether a signed upgrade is available.
clat upgrade --check

Run clat --help for the complete command-line surface.

Interfaces

clat serve binds only to 127.0.0.1:2691 by default. API access uses a persistent ~/.clat/web-token Bearer credential; the token is never placed in the URL. The same binary serves the responsive three-panel PWA.

What is included

• Agent workflow — an unbounded model → tool → model loop, in-run steering, user questions, per-session todos, automatic titles, and context compaction that preserves the original journal.
• Workflow intelligence — durable Plan Mode with structurally filtered tool access; bundled/user/project Markdown skills with lazy bounded loading; optional user-configured read-only LSP navigation (definition, references, implementation, hover) through CLAT-managed sandboxed stdio; and /context for a one-shot estimate of the model-facing context breakdown.
• Bounded agent intelligence — explicit local project/user memory with no model writes; one durable CAS goal per session with user-armed, capped continuation; and a default-off, depth-1 explorer/reviewer experiment whose children are confined to three project-relative read tools.
• Models — built-in DeepSeek, GLM, Qwen, and Kimi presets; named custom profiles; OpenAI Responses and OpenAI-compatible protocols; reasoning, usage, cache, context, and quota telemetry.
• Native tools — bounded Git-aware literal/regex/glob search, file listing and reading, atomic writes, exact edits, single-file multi-hunk patches, and run-owned command sessions with incremental output, stdin, PTY and owned process-group cleanup. macOS commands use functionally probed Seatbelt write/network confinement outside Full Access; other platforms report supervised fallback honestly. Scoped project instructions refresh as successful file tools reach nested paths.
• Permissions — Read Only, Project Write, and Full Access modes; complete argument review; project trust; path fences; fail-closed headless behavior.
• Sessions — crash-resilient, append-only, DSH-compatible journals under ~/.clat, with local replay and per-project resume state.
• Extensions — MCP over stdio or Streamable HTTP, sandboxed WebAssembly components, and a static Cordis compatibility adapter for portable DSH plugin capabilities; one transactional package manager installs both WASM and executable MCP packages with signed market discovery, dependency solving, publisher/revocation checks, capability review and rollback.
• Client-neutral core — the TUI, headless runner, local server, and future clients consume the same Application facade and event vocabulary.

Install

macOS / Linux:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/artec/clat/main/install.sh | sh

Windows (PowerShell):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/artec/clat/main/install.ps1 | iex

The installers prefer prebuilt release artifacts and fall back to a source build when an artifact is unavailable. Prebuilt binaries cover macOS arm64 and x86_64, Windows x86_64 and arm64, and Linux x86_64 and aarch64 with glibc 2.39+. Older Linux systems can build from source with the stable Rust toolchain. See release signing for the trust model and platform baselines.

Prebuilt installs go to ~/.local/bin/clat on macOS/Linux and %LOCALAPPDATA%\clat\bin\clat.exe on Windows; the installer prints a PATH hint when needed. A source fallback uses Cargo's bin directory, normally ~/.cargo/bin. To uninstall, remove that executable. User state under ~/.clat is deliberately left intact unless you remove it separately.

Documentation

Start with the document that matches your task:

The DSH adapter package also has standalone English and Chinese package documentation.

Development

Prerequisites are Git and the current stable Rust toolchain:

git clone https://github.com/artec/clat.git
cd clat
cargo test --all-targets --all-features
cargo build
./target/debug/clat demo

Useful repository paths:

Live provider checks are intentionally separate from the normal test suite because they require user credentials and may incur charges. Follow live-model validation when provider behavior is in scope. Contributors and coding agents should also read the project constitution in AGENTS.md.

Principles

Local first · one binary · model agnostic · MCP native · project aware · permission first · dogfood driven · generalize, never special-case.

License

MIT