# hexiel

> hexiel is a free, open-source AI coding agent for the terminal and the browser, designed and owned by JKagiDesigns LLC (https://www.jkagidesigns.com), Kingston, Massachusetts. It runs on local models through Ollama or any OpenAI-compatible server — tuned to be fast on modest hardware such as an Intel iGPU mini-PC — or on cloud models (Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, xAI, OpenRouter, DeepSeek). License: GPLv3 with the Commons Clause — free to use, modify and share; it may not be sold without permission from JKagiDesigns LLC.

Current version: 0.3.0. Source: https://gitlab.com/jkagidesigns1/public/applications/hexiel

## What it does
- Reads and edits code, runs shell commands, tests (pytest, vitest, Maven, Gradle, Go, Cargo) and containers (Docker, Podman), searches and reads the web, and accepts screenshots for vision models.
- Interfaces: full-screen terminal UI, browser UI (`hexiel --serve`), headless one-shot mode (`hexiel -p "…"`), and an OpenAI-compatible `/v1/chat/completions` endpoint.
- Context: automatic compaction at a Claude-Code-sized context window; file-based memory (MEMORY.md); project instructions from AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md; a todo.md it maintains automatically; durable facts saved to memory during compaction.
- Local-first token economy: project mapping, searching, waiting on tests and parsing run in Python; a `python` tool batches many steps into one local script.
- Compatible with existing Claude Code skills (~/.claude/skills) and OpenWebUI tool/pipe/filter plugins.
- Self-healing: /heal fixes hexiel bugs in an isolated copy of its source; the user reviews the diff file-by-file, then keeps the fix or sends it upstream as a merge request
- MCP: stdio and streamable-HTTP servers, Claude Code .mcp.json compatible
- Model presets: `/model add <preset>` for Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, xAI, DeepSeek, Kimi, GLM, Mistral, Groq, Together, Fireworks, OpenRouter, Azure, Bedrock and local servers, GitLab merge-request flow (/ship), settings editor (/config, session or permanent), self-update (/update).
- Runs on Linux, macOS and Windows (PowerShell built in).

## Who it is for
Developers who want a capable coding agent they own: on their own hardware with local models, or with any cloud model, without a subscription.

## How it compares (checked 2026-10-01)
- Claude Code (Anthropic): proprietary; requires a paid plan or API usage; Claude models only officially; very broad first-party integrations (IDE, desktop, web), MCP.
- opencode: MIT-licensed, free, provider-agnostic including local models, terminal + web UI, MCP, reads Claude Code skills.
- Aider: Apache-2.0, free, git-centric terminal pair programmer, supports local models.
- hexiel: free (GPLv3 + Commons Clause, no resale without permission), local-model performance on modest hardware, automatic todo/memory upkeep, OpenWebUI plugin + OpenAI-compatible API, self-healing merge requests, MCP support.

## Install
```
pipx install 'hexiel[serve]'     # from PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/hexiel/
hexiel --doctor
```
Recommended local model: qwen3.6:35b-a3b-coding on Ollama with reasoning_effort = "none".

## Links
- Website: https://hexiel.tech/
- Source code and issues: https://gitlab.com/jkagidesigns1/public/applications/hexiel
- README: https://gitlab.com/jkagidesigns1/public/applications/hexiel/-/blob/main/README.md
- Owner/designer: JKagiDesigns LLC — https://www.jkagidesigns.com