Basic Usage
Learn the four daily usage modes of Auto-Coder.Chat — Traditional, Async, SubAgents Cowork, and Headless mode.
Basic Usage
Auto-Coder.Chat offers four usage modes for different development scenarios.
cd your-project
auto-coder.chat # classic CLI
auto-coder.chat.lite # lightweight CLI
| Mode | Command | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional | /auto | Synchronous execution, real-time progress |
| Async | /async | Background parallel tasks, auto-merge |
| SubAgents Cowork | $workflow | Multi-Agent staged collaboration |
| Headless | auto-coder.run | Scripted calls, automation pipelines, non-interactive runs |
Traditional Mode (/auto)
The most straightforward approach — use the /auto command to have AI analyze and execute coding tasks:
/auto Add a user login feature
Simply follow /auto with your request. The AI executes the task synchronously in the current session, and you can watch progress in real time.
File References
Use @ to reference file paths, and press Tab for auto-completion:
/auto Refactor the auth logic in @src/utils/auth.ts
Session Management
# Start a brand new session
/auto /new
# List all previous sessions
/auto /list
Headless Mode (auto-coder.run)
When you need to run Auto-Coder in non-interactive environments (such as Claw, CI/CD, or batch scripts), use the headless CLI entrypoint: auto-coder.run (alias: auto-coder.cli).
Quick start:
auto-coder.run --from-prompt-file task.md --verbose --output-format stream-json
--from-prompt-file: keeps prompts versioned and reusable--verbose: provides detailed execution logs for debugging--output-format stream-json: streams structured events for parser-friendly progress tracking
For the full flag reference, session reuse, --async parallel execution, and CI/CD + Claw integration examples, see Headless Mode.
Command Quick Reference
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/auto <request> | Execute coding task synchronously |
/auto /new | Start a new session |
/auto /list | List previous sessions |
/auto /merge <job> | Merge async task into main branch |
/async /name <name> /time <time> <request> | Submit an async task |
/async /name <name> /workflow <wf> | Run workflow asynchronously |
/async /list | List async tasks |
/async /task <name> | View task details |
/workflow <name> [key=value] | Execute workflow (standard command) |
$<name> <request> | Execute workflow (shortcut) |
/chat <question> | Chat with AI (no code changes) |
auto-coder.run --from-prompt-file <file> | Headless mode (Claw/automation friendly) |
!<command> | Execute external shell command |
@<path> + Tab | File path auto-completion |
Next Steps
- Learn about Async Mode for background parallel task execution
- Learn about Headless Mode to run Auto-Coder non-interactively in scripts and CI/CD
- Learn about Cowork Mode for multi-stage workflows
- See Project Structure to understand project organization