Desktop or terminal: find your workspace

CLIO Coder desktop after a completed calibration task: seven passing tests and the reference temperatures in the conversation, with task status, workspace, model, context and usage in the Session column. — A completed desktop task: test results, reference temperatures, and the Session column alongside the conversation. Desktop (alpha) · v0.6.0-dev

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CLIO Coder in the terminal CLIO Coder on the desktop Choose where to begin

CLIO Coder has two interfaces to the same runtime. The terminal offers the primary workflow. The desktop alpha opens locally in your browser and gives you a visual workspace for projects and conversations.

CLIO Coder in the terminal

Open your repository and launch CLIO Coder:

Shell

cd /path/to/your/project
clio-coder

CLIO Coder terminal at start: the CLIO Coder wordmark beside the selected model and autonomy, the workspace with its Git state, and the composer reporting the Qwen 3.8 model ready.

The terminal combines the conversation, tool calls, permissions, and worker activity. Type /help to see available commands, or /model to choose a model.

CLIO Coder in the terminal changing one line of temperature.mjs to fix a failing test, then running the declared test check through verify with exit 0

Each tool call stays on its own line with its result, so you can see what ran before you read the answer. /view opens the recorded calls and their output.

During a turn, Enter queues a message that CLIO Coder reads at the next pause between tool calls, Alt+S sends it now, and Escape cancels the run.

On a permission card, Enter allows the call. Esc denies it, which skips that call and leaves the run going. Alt+X stops the turn.

CLIO Coder on the desktop

From a terminal, run:

Shell

clio-coder gui --open

The command opens the local application with its access link. Open a workspace folder, describe a task, and choose a model and thinking level from the composer.

The rail on the left groups tasks by workspace. The Session column on the right shows the workspace's Git state, the model, context, usage, the plan, artifacts, changes, and run records as the task runs.

You can keep any number of tasks open in one window. Launching again brings that window forward under WSL, when the app is installed through Chrome or Edge, and on a Linux desktop with wmctrl, xdotool or sway when the background app is running. Otherwise it opens a new browser tab.

Up to four turns run at once by default, set by interface.guiTurnCapacity from 1 to 16, and later ones wait for a slot. A task with no turn running and no window showing it for five minutes is paused with its conversation kept, and opening it again brings it back. A task you never typed into closes instead.

With the default Ask first setting, CLIO Coder reads, edits files in the workspace, and runs commands it recognizes, such as read-only inspection and the project's test runners, without stopping. An unrecognized shell command, a large dispatch plan, or anything that publishes outside the project waits for you. The approval names the call, what allowing it authorizes, and what it can affect.

The same control can be switched to Run without asking for one task after a second confirmation. The cards stop, and by default the sandbox, snapshots, and safety judge stay on. A turn that changed files ends with a card that opens the changes for review. Type / in the composer to list session commands.

A first run with no model connection opens on guided setup, which asks the same questions as clio-coder configure.

CLIO Coder desktop new-task view with the calibration-lab workspace, recent tasks, a message composer, three starter prompts, and the Overview column. — The desktop from a new task to a finished one: the composer, the answer with its tool calls, a waiting approval, and guided setup.

The desktop is in alpha and covers a subset of terminal workflows. Treat it as an optional way to use CLIO Coder, and keep the terminal available for commands that the desktop does not yet expose.

On Linux with a systemd user session, you can install the optional background application, which starts at login and appears in your app menu. The installer offers the same step, and --gui accepts it without asking:

Shell

clio-coder gui background install --open

For an optional Linux desktop entry, run clio-coder gui launcher install. The background service and launcher each have an uninstall command. The desktop app guide covers those options.

Choose where to begin

Start in the terminal if you work mostly from a shell or need the primary set of CLIO Coder workflows. Start on the desktop if you prefer browsing projects and working with attachments in a visual interface.

Both launch commands use the installed CLIO Coder package. You do not need an account on this website. Your model connections use your own local server, institutional endpoint, or cloud provider.

Try a temperature-calibration example with recorded checks, or follow your first session for a concrete task to try in either workspace.