limit-cli

AI-powered terminal coding assistant with REPL and TUI.

An intelligent coding assistant that lives in your terminal. Features multi-provider LLM support, session persistence, and 18 built-in tools for file operations, git, and code analysis.

Part of the Limit ecosystem.

Why This Exists

Developers shouldn't have to leave their terminal to get AI assistance. limit-cli brings the power of LLMs directly to your command line with a beautiful TUI, full tool integration, and seamless session management.

Features

Multi-provider LLM: Anthropic Claude, OpenAI GPT, z.ai GLM, and local models
Two interfaces: Full TUI (default) or simple REPL mode with --no-tui
18 built-in tools: File I/O, bash execution, git operations, code analysis
AST-aware search: Structural code matching with ast-grep (Rust, TypeScript, Python)
LSP integration: Go-to-definition, find-references
Session persistence: Auto-save and restore conversations
Token tracking: SQLite-based usage tracking with cost estimation
Web search: Fetch current information via Exa AI
Markdown rendering: Rich formatting with syntax highlighting
File autocomplete: Type @ to quickly reference files with fuzzy matching

Installation

One-line Install (Recommended)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marioidival/limit/trunk/install.sh | bash

via Cargo

cargo install limit-cli

Requirements: Unix-like OS (Linux, macOS), Rust 1.70+

Quick Start

# Set your API key
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-key-here"

# Start the TUI
lim

That's it! Start chatting with your AI coding assistant.

REPL Mode

lim --no-tui

Configuration

Create ~/.limit/config.toml:

provider = "anthropic"

[providers.anthropic]
model = "claude-sonnet-4-6-20260217"
max_tokens = 4096

Environment Variables

Variable	Provider
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	Anthropic Claude
`OPENAI_API_KEY`	OpenAI
`ZAI_API_KEY`	z.ai

Built-in Tools

File Operations

Tool	Description
`file_read`	Read file contents (max 50MB)
`file_write`	Create or overwrite files
`file_edit`	Diff-based file editing

Shell & Git

Tool	Description
`bash`	Execute shell commands
`git_status`	Show repository status
`git_diff`	Show changes
`git_log`	Show commit history
`git_add`	Stage files
`git_commit`	Create commit
`git_push` / `git_pull`	Remote operations
`git_clone`	Clone repository

Code Analysis

Tool	Description
`grep`	Regex search in files
`ast_grep`	AST-aware code search (Rust, TypeScript, Python)
`lsp`	Language server operations

Web

Tool	Description
`web_search`	Search the web via Exa AI
`web_fetch`	Fetch URL content as markdown
`browser`	Browser automation for testing and scraping

Session Management

Sessions are automatically saved to ~/.limit/sessions/:

# In the TUI/REPL
/session list      # List all saved sessions
/session new       # Create a new session
/session load <id> # Load a specific session
/share             # Copy session to clipboard
/share md          # Export as markdown file
/share json        # Export as JSON file

File Autocomplete

Type @ in the TUI to quickly reference files:

Read @Cargo.toml and analyze the dependencies

Features:

Fuzzy matching powered by Frizbee
Respects .gitignore and .ignore
Keyboard navigation (↑/↓/Enter/Tab/Esc)

Commands

Command	Description
`/exit`	Save session and exit
`/clear`	Clear the screen
`/help`	Show available commands
`/model`	Show current model configuration
`/session list`	List all saved sessions
`/session new`	Create a new session
`/session load <id>`	Load a specific session
`/share`	Copy session to clipboard
`/share md`	Export session as markdown
`/share json`	Export session as JSON

Token Tracking

Usage statistics are tracked in ~/.limit/tracking.db:

Request count
Input/output tokens
Cost estimation
Duration metrics

limit-cli 0.0.28