A desktop interface forge for OpenCode remote agents and local coding-agent CLIs.

Chisl palette

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What Chisl Does

Chisl is a desktop client for driving coding agents through a durable UI instead of a raw terminal. Its primary path is connecting to a registered OpenCode remote agent, and it also drives local CLI-backed agents. Project files, secrets, and tools come from whatever agent runtime and MCP connectors you configure — Chisl doesn't lock you into a layout.

Supported agents:

Workflow	What Chisl exposes
OpenCode remote agent	Register a remote endpoint, test/handshake it, fetch model metadata, send messages, attach files, use OpenCode modes, slash commands, stop active runs, and inspect context usage when reported. MCP servers and skills are configured on the OpenCode server side; Chisl surfaces their output in the conversation.
OpenCode local	Use a detected local OpenCode-style agent from the same chat interface.
Claude Code	Use detected Claude Code sessions through the local-agent flow.
Gemini CLI	Use Gemini CLI-backed sessions and Gemini modes.
Codex	Use Codex sessions with Chisl conversation, tool-call, and permission UI.
Custom local agent	Define an ACP-style command, args, env, icon, and advanced settings from the Agent settings page.

Features

Capability	What you can do
Remote agent registry	Add, edit, delete, and list remote agents — name, protocol, URL, auth (token or basic), avatar, description, insecure-TLS toggle — and test/handshake before saving.
Model selection	Refresh and pick from the models a connected OpenCode server advertises.
Unified agent picker	Remote agents sit alongside detected local agents on the start page.
Chat & context	Send prompts with attached files and selected workspace items; see token/context usage when the agent reports it.
Command queue	Queue, reorder, pause, resume, edit, remove, or clear prompts while a run is busy.
Run control	Stop an active run, switch OpenCode modes, attach server-side skills (sticky across messages), and use slash commands.
Session actions	Fork, revert/restore, share/unshare a link, summarize/compact, and edit the server config from the conversation header. View file changes via the Interactive Diff workspace tab: revert individual hunks or whole files, and browse native workspace VCS diffs for any remote session regardless of tool-host mode.
Compaction	Get notified (with tokens reclaimed) when a session is compacted, manually or automatically.
Server-state pills	See the connected server (with one-click switch) and tool-host mode; in server-tool-host mode, LSP status and VCS branch/changes too.
Multi-server	Live per-agent health in settings and a default-server preference.
Permissions & approvals	Approve tool and question requests via per-request cards, a pending banner, and a dedicated Approvals tab, including bulk approve. An auto-approval rule evaluator runs each incoming prompt against your saved allow/deny rules and responds automatically, with session-scoped rules visible in the conversation History tab. A protected-paths hard-deny layer blocks credential and SSH key paths regardless of allow rules. Shell-command cards include an "Edit and Resend" action that rejects the original and resubmits a modified command.
Sub-agents	Watch delegated child sessions as inline, collapsible subtask cards.
Message editing	Edit or delete your own messages in a remote conversation.
Local & custom agents	Use detected local CLIs (Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex, local OpenCode), or define your own ACP-style command agent.
Editor & LSP	Monaco editor with LSP-powered go-to-definition, peek references, rename symbol, and quick fix; Emmet abbreviation expansion for HTML, CSS, JSX, and TSX; git change indicators on the minimap and overview ruler; inline and side-by-side diff review for agent conflicts.
Settings & Layout	Dedicated Settings shell with a full-width nav column below the titlebar; main workspace sider hides on settings routes. Responsive single-bar header chrome collapses ambient badges into an overflow menu on narrow viewports.
Appearance	Ships with Chisl's retro palette; a toggle hands control to a CSS theme preset (Catppuccin included).

Remote OpenCode Flow

Configure the remote OpenCode path as a remote-agent entry in Agent settings.

Step	What happens
Register endpoint	Add a remote agent with protocol opencode, a URL, an auth type, and an optional token/password.
Test connection	The settings modal can test the endpoint before you save.
Save and handshake	Saving an OpenCode remote agent runs a handshake.
Select in chat	The agent shows up in the start-page picker alongside your local agents.
Fetch models	Refresh the model list the server advertises.
Chat	Send prompts, attaching files and selected workspace items as needed.
Control the run	Stop a run, queue more prompts, switch modes, attach skills.
Manage the session	Fork, revert/restore, share/unshare, summarize/compact, view file changes, or edit the server config from the conversation header.
Inspect server state	In server-tool-host mode, header pills show the connected server (with quick-switch), LSP status, and VCS branch/changes; permission and question prompts route to the Approvals tab.

Local Agent Flow

Local CLI-backed agents are a secondary path.

Feature	Behavior
Detected agents	The Agent settings page reads detected local agents and shows them as chat targets.
Custom agents	Users can define a command, args, env, icon, and advanced options for a custom agent.
Agent launch	The start page restores or preselects available agents and routes to conversation creation.
Modes and models	The start page resolves mode/model metadata from agent config, handshake data, or remote model cache where available.

OpenCode Plugin

@chisl/chisl-opencode-plugin is the control-plane bridge between a remote OpenCode server and your local Chisl instance. Install it on the OpenCode side to unlock deeper integration.

Capability	What it does
Context injection	Chislcore pushes dynamic system-prompt strings to the plugin over SSE; the plugin injects them into the chat via experimental.chat.system.transform, with a defensive synthetic-part fallback.
Tool audit	Every tool.execute.before / tool.execute.after event and a curated set of OpenCode lifecycle events are forwarded to Chislcore and stored in a per-agent ring buffer for the renderer-side status panel.
Streaming shell	A custom run_shell_streaming tool streams command output (stdout and stderr) from Chislcore back to the remote OpenCode host over SSE, gated through the same shell approver the local fs MCP uses. Default timeout is 120 s.
Permission routing	OpenCode's permission.ask hook dials Chislcore for a decision; the MVP policy is "ask" passthrough so OpenCode's native flow continues while Chisl shows the prompt in its Approvals queue.

The plugin runs in-process in the OpenCode server. All shell execution happens on the Chislcore side, behind the shell approver and audit ring buffer.

Install it from the Remote Agents panel in Chisl (click Install Plugin on the agent card) or follow the step-by-step instructions in docs/opencode-plugin/install-guide.md.

Local Filesystem MCP (Data Plane)

local_fs_mcp is the data plane for remote OpenCode sessions. Where the OpenCode plugin handles control-plane concerns (context injection, tool audit, permission routing), local_fs_mcp handles the actual file I/O and synchronous shell execution, keeping all of that work on the local host (Chislcore side) rather than on the remote OpenCode server.

Capability	What it does
File reads/writes	Serves file content to the remote OpenCode instance and writes agent-produced changes back to the local filesystem, so the remote server never needs direct disk access.
Synchronous shell	Runs shell commands locally on behalf of the remote agent. Every invocation passes through the ShellApprover mechanism, which surfaces the request in the Approvals tab before execution.
Snapshot ledger	Records a per-tool-call snapshot of every file touched during a session. This ledger is what powers the Interactive Diff revert features, letting you roll back individual hunks or whole files.

The ShellApprover gate means no shell command runs silently. You see each request in the Approvals tab, can edit and resend it, or deny it outright. Auto-approval rules apply here the same way they do for other tool calls.

Keeping execution on the Chislcore side is a deliberate security boundary: the remote OpenCode process gets file content and command results, but it never holds credentials, SSH keys, or raw filesystem access. The protected-paths hard-deny layer enforces this even if an allow rule would otherwise permit it.

Branding

Brand assets live in the repo and are shared with the application.

Asset	Path
Wordmark	packages/desktop/src/renderer/assets/logos/brand/wordmark.png
App mark	packages/desktop/src/renderer/assets/logos/brand/app.png
Gray wordmark	packages/desktop/src/renderer/assets/logos/brand/wordmark-gray.png
Packaged icon	resources/app.png

The Chisl color scheme is a muted retro palette sampled from the logo and wordmark.

Role	Light	Dark
Rust primary	#b4480c	#e07820
Parchment surface	#f0e4b4	#28241d
Ink text	#303024	#ecdfb6
Olive success	#607848	#8aa860
Gold warning	#c08418	#e4b430
Slate info	#3c786c	#6caa9c

Quick Start

Install dependencies:

bun install

Run the desktop app:

bun run dev

Build the app output:

bun run package

Create packaged desktop artifacts:

bun run dist

Development Checks

Useful local checks:

bun run lint
bun run format:check
bunx tsc --noEmit
bun run test

Documentation

Topic	Path
Contributor guide	CONTRIBUTING.md
Development setup	docs/contributing/development.md
File structure rules	docs/contributing/file-structure.md

Status

Chisl is under active development.

License

Licensed under Apache-2.0.

Attribution

Chisl is derived from an Apache-2.0 licensed project. Substantial modifications have been made, including changes to branding, UI, workflows, agent integrations, and application behavior.

Original copyright and license notices are preserved in accordance with the Apache License 2.0.

Bundled third-party components (including Monaco Editor, Pierre Diffs, React, and others) are listed in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md. The desktop app also exposes this file from Settings → About → Third-party notices.