CodeWhale is an open source terminal coding agent — a TUI and a CLI. Point it at a model and a project and it gets to work: reading code, making edits, running commands, checking results, planning multi-step tasks, and correcting itself when something fails. It's genuinely agentic — the system prompt is built for it, and long-running tasks with a real plan are the norm. The goal is simple: keep the local terminal workflow current with practical coding-agent research and capabilities.
# npm — no Rust toolchain required $ npm install -g codewhale $ codewhale
# other ways (Cargo / Homebrew / direct download / China mirrors): # /install
Three steps: install it, point it at a model key, and run it in a project. The install guide walks through each one.
One npm line, or Cargo / Homebrew / a direct binary. On mainland China networks, the CNB and Tsinghua Tuna mirrors route around GitHub.
Install guide →codewhale auth set --provider deepseek (or openrouter, anthropic, zai, …). A local vLLM or Ollama box needs no key at all.
Provider list →Type codewhale in a project. Plan mode is read-only by default; press Tab for Agent mode.
Docs →This dispatch is regenerated by DeepSeek V4-Flash on a six-hour cron. Until the cron fills in fresh repo activity, the static links below are the best starting points.
npm, Cargo, Homebrew, or a direct download.
Start with anything labelled good first issue.
What is confirmed, what is being weighed, what is ruled out.
Every install path, key setup, sandboxing, the CNB / Tsinghua Tuna mirrors for mainland China, and troubleshooting.
Install guide →High-frequency questions on models, providers, modes, MCP, skills, and where config lives.
FAQ →Hit a bug or have an idea? Open an issue or pull request on GitHub — the maintainer reads everything personally.
Contribute →This release merged and harvested a large community tranche. The full notes live in the changelog; this keeps the latest public credit surface easy to find.
CodeWhale started as one person's DeepSeek side project, and contributors from many countries have shaped it into what it is — the contributor list on every release is the proof. No CLA, no sponsor lockouts, issues triaged in the open, releases cut from main.
“All feedback is a gift.” Something I learned early in teaching, and the way I maintain CodeWhale. Every issue, PR, bug report, or idea is how I understand real use cases and make better decisions.
If you hit something that doesn't work, or want a model that isn't listed — that's the most useful thing you can tell the project.