ByteAsk CLI

An AI coding agent for your terminal, with tools for C and C++ work: build, debug, sanitize and profile.

ByteAsk CLI is a fork of OpenAI Codex CLI. It keeps Codex's terminal agent and adds native tools for C and C++ projects, a hosted model gateway with sign-in by email, support for your own provider keys and self-hosted models, and an optional connection to ByteAsk Context, a hosted code index. ByteAsk is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by OpenAI. See UPSTREAM.md.

Install

macOS and Linux

curl -fsSL https://code.byteask.ai/install.sh | sh

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://code.byteask.ai/install.ps1 | iex

pip

pip install byteask

The installers download the engine for your platform from this repository's releases and check it against the published SHA256SUMS. Supported platforms: Linux x86_64 and arm64, macOS on Apple silicon, Windows x86_64. Release binaries up to v0.2.4 were built before the source was published; this repository holds that source, cleaned for publication. To build from source, see docs/byteask/building.md.

Quick start

cd your-project
byteask

On first run ByteAsk asks how you want to run models:

• ByteAsk account: sign in with your email address; models run through the ByteAsk gateway.
• Your own provider key: OpenAI, Anthropic or Gemini; requests go from your machine to the provider.
• Your own hosted model: any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, for example vLLM or Ollama.

Then describe the task. ByteAsk reads the code, runs commands in a sandbox, and shows each change for approval.

Usage

byteask                           start an interactive session
byteask "<prompt>"                start with a prompt
byteask exec "<prompt>"           one answer, no UI, for scripts and CI
byteask review                    review the working tree
byteask resume | fork             continue an earlier session
byteask login | logout            sign in or out
byteask byok <set|status|remove>  use your own provider key
byteask models <add|test|list>    use your own hosted model
byteask context connect           connect ByteAsk Context
byteask mcp <add|list|remove>     manage MCP servers
byteask doctor                    check the install
byteask --update                  update ByteAsk

Common options: -m <model>, --effort <low|medium|high|xhigh>, -C <dir>. Run byteask --help for the full list, and see docs/byteask/usage.md for examples.

C and C++ tools

When ByteAsk detects a C or C++ project it adds tools the agent can call on your code, for example:

• build and test with the project's own build system, and select the tests a change affects;
• run clang-tidy and cppcheck, and read the compilation database;
• run AddressSanitizer, UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer and ThreadSanitizer builds;
• debug with gdb or lldb, including core files, and join a gdb session you already have open;
• record and replay with rr on Linux;
• profile with perf and run benchmarks with noise checks;
• show struct layout and padding, symbolize stack traces, and look up compiler output on Compiler Explorer.

Each tool reports the command it ran and what it found.

Configuration

Settings live in ~/.byteask/config.toml. The format follows Codex CLI's configuration, with ByteAsk's additions documented in docs/byteask/configuration.md.

What ByteAsk sends

• Signed in with a ByteAsk account: your requests, including the code context the agent sends, go to the ByteAsk gateway, which forwards them to the model provider.
• Your own key or your own hosted model: requests go from your machine to that provider. ByteAsk receives a usage record after each turn (provider, model and token counts; never the key or the prompt).
• Install: the installer reports the platform it installed for.
• Update check: the launcher asks code.byteask.ai for the latest version.

The launcher in this repository honours BYTEASK_NO_TELEMETRY=1, which turns off the install report and the usage record; it reaches installed copies with the next release. The privacy policy covers what the hosted service does with requests.

Relationship to Codex CLI

The engine under codex-rs/ is Codex CLI's Rust workspace. ByteAsk's own code lives mostly under codex-rs/ext/, plus changes to upstream files, all listed in UPSTREAM.md. The launcher (byteask, byteask.ps1) and installers (install.sh, install.ps1) are ByteAsk's. We merge upstream stable releases regularly. The directories codex-cli/, sdk/ and the upstream docs/ are kept so merges stay small; nothing is published from them.

Contributing

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome. Read CONTRIBUTING.md first; everyone taking part follows the Code of Conduct. Report security problems privately as described in SECURITY.md.

License

Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE and NOTICE. Third-party components are listed in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.