linuztx / alter-zero

# Alter Zero
### Give your terminal a coding agent.
Read, build, debug, and review code with an agent that works alongside you. 
Use the same tools for cybersecurity research, technical investigation, and everyday automation.
Quick start ·
Features ·
Model providers ·
Commands & shortcuts ·
Support ·
Acknowledgements
 Watch the video demo on YouTube 
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## Why Alter Zero
Alter Zero is an open-source AI coding agent written in Rust. It works directly in your project: reading files, making edits, running commands, and checking results while you follow along in your terminal. Coding is its focus, with the flexibility to investigate security issues, explore unfamiliar systems, and automate tasks using your existing tools.
| What you get | Why it matters |
| --- | --- |
| **Work you can follow** | Live command output, readable diffs, and a task checklist make progress easy to inspect. |
| **Control over execution** | Choose a permission mode, review proposed changes, and steer the agent while it works. |
| **Your choice of model** | Connect with a supported subscription or API key, or run local models with Ollama. |
| **Room to extend** | Add specialist subagents, reusable skills, lifecycle hooks, and MCP servers to fit your workflow. |
| **A native terminal experience** | A single Rust binary with persistent sessions, inline images, and keyboard-driven controls. |
## Quick start
Alter Zero runs on **Linux** (x86_64, arm64) and **macOS** (Intel, Apple silicon) in a modern terminal.
### Install
One line on Linux or macOS:
 [code] 
It picks the build for your machine, verifies its SHA-256 against the checksum published with the release, installs `alter-zero` into `~/.local/bin`, and tells you if that directory is not on your `PATH`.
Or install the same build with npm:
 [code] 
 Install options 
Set `ALTER_ZERO_INSTALL_DIR` to install somewhere else, or `ALTER_ZERO_VERSION=vX.Y.Z` to pin a release. `CHANGELOG.md` records what changed between versions.
 [code] 
For a manual install, each release's notes list every archive with its SHA-256, so you can download, verify, and extract one by hand.
 Run it in a Kali Linux container 
`docker/` builds a small headless Kali Rolling image around the latest release, with a working set of command-line tools, for Docker or Podman. One command builds it and starts a container on a folder of yours:
 [code] 
Outside a multiplexer, the `-e` flags hand over your terminal's identity so
pictures render as real images rather than half-blocks. The
container guide covers workspaces, the published ports,
pasting images, and adding tools.
Inside tmux, enable `allow-passthrough` on the host and explicitly select the
outer terminal's image protocol for that `docker exec`; the
tmux instructions include a
ready-to-run Podman example.
### Build from source
You need rustup and a C compiler. The repository pins the Rust toolchain, which rustup installs automatically.
 [code] 
Without a configured provider, Alter Zero opens an offline d