Mini-coder
small, fast CLI coding agent
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I got tired of coding agents that feel like IDEs in disguise. Slow to start, full of chrome, opinionated about where you work. So I built one that doesn't get in the way.It's called *mini-coder*. The command is `mc`. Tagline: Small. Fast. Gets out of your way.Oh — and it mostly wrote itself (with some help from me).---## What it ismini-coder is a terminal-native AI coding agent built on *Bun.js* — fast startup, native TypeScript, built-in SQLite, no ceremony. It routes to *Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Ollama, and Zen* and auto-detects your provider from env vars. No config file to write. No account to create. No telemetry.Session memory lives in local SQLite. Resume your last session with `mc -c`, or pick one with `mc -r <id>`. Your history stays on your machine.---## How it worksThe LLM gets a tight set of tools: `glob`, `grep`, `read`, `create`, `replace`, `insert`, `shell`, and `subagent`. That last one is the interesting bit — mini-coder can spawn parallel sub-agents for independent subtasks, up to 3 levels deep. It delegates, waits, synthesizes. It works the way you do.Inside the REPL, `!command` runs shell commands inline and `@file` references files with tab completion. Slash commands cover the essentials: `/model` to switch providers, `/plan` for read-only mode, `/ralph` for a fully autonomous loop, `/review`, `/undo`, `/new`, and `/help`.16 ANSI colors only. It inherits your terminal theme. Always.---## The `.agents` folderThis is the part is to help with community configurations. mini-coder follows the `.agents` convention that's emerging across the AI coding tool ecosystem — the same one used by Claude Code, Opencode, and others. Write your config once, and it works everywhere. (It supports the .claude conventions as well out of the box!)Here's what drops in there:- *`.agents/commands/.md`* — a Markdown file becomes a slash command - *`.agents/agents/.md`* — a Markdown file becomes a custom agent, callable with `@agent-name` - *`.agents/skills/<name>/SKILL.md`* — reusable skills you inject with `@skill-name` - *`.agents/hooks/post-<tool>`* — scripts that auto-run after any tool call (e.g., auto-format after every file write) - *`AGENTS.md`* — project context injected into every system promptMCP is supported too — connect tools like Exa web search or the MMO Spacemolt all work. Wire them in via `/mcp`.The philosophy here is community over invention. Follow existing conventions. Don't make people learn a new system.---## Get it```sh bun add -g mini-coder # or npm install -g mini-coder ```GitHub: [https://github.com/sacenox/mini-coder](https://github.com/sacenox/mini-coder)---The best tools disappear into your workflow. That's what I was going for. Here's what the early adopter had to say:> "sean this is fucking sick" — vpr99That's good enough for me. Give it a spin. I would love some feedback, contributions, or just a star on. Github!
HN · launched Mar 2, 2026 · 6 upvotes (top 71%) · 0 views
Niche: ai coding agents · 470 launches, 22 in the last 7 days ▼ -48% · Explore this niche →
Category and tags
- Horizontal
- Agent / copilot
- Developer
- AI-native
- Hobby / open-source project
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More like this: all 470 launches in ai coding agents →
Could you build this?
Yes A minimal CLI coding agent wrapping an LLM API with basic file read/write and command execution toolcalls is a classic weekend vibe-coding project.
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Competitors
Other products that read as similar to this one : 2039 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.
Attention rank: #1624 of 2040 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).
Launched 122 days after the earliest competitor.
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