AlphaCode: the open-source AI coding agent that builds, browses, automates and verifies

A free, Rust-native AI coding agent for your terminal. It reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands and tests, drives a real Firefox browser, controls desktop apps, and verifies its own work.

Official website · GitHub repository

What is AlphaCode? · Quick Start · Features · Browser Agent · Desktop Control · Swarm Mode · Providers · Benchmarks · Uninstall · FAQ

What is AlphaCode?

AlphaCode is an open-source AI coding agent that works inside your development environment instead of just chatting about it. Describe a goal in plain English and it investigates, plans, edits files, runs commands, uses the web, operates a real browser, interacts with desktop apps, runs your tests, and reports back with evidence.

flowchart LR
    A["You<br/>describe a goal"] --> B["Understand<br/>project + context"]
    B --> C["Plan<br/>choose actions"]
    C --> D["Act<br/>code, browser, desktop"]
    D --> E["Verify<br/>tests + evidence"]
    E --> F["Report<br/>what changed"]

Most AI assistants stop at You → AI → text. AlphaCode is built around a loop: understand → plan → execute → observe → verify.

Example tasks:

Find why the app crashes when users upload a PDF.
Fix the root cause, add a regression test, run the test suite, and review the final diff.

Open the site in Firefox, log in with my existing session,
find the account settings page, check that the new feature is visible,
and send me a screenshot.

Audit this project for security problems. Trace untrusted input to sensitive operations,
validate the realistic findings, and tell me which ones are actually reproducible.

Who it is for: beginners can use plain English, developers can give precise technical instructions, and power users can orchestrate multiple agents, skills and MCP servers.

Quick Start

1. Install

macOS / Linux

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dragonked2/alphacode/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dragonked2/alphacode/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

Prefer to read a script before running it? Download it first, inspect it, then run it. See Installation for pinned versions, PATH options, and building from source.

2. Check your setup, then run

alphacode doctor    # checks providers, terminal and paths, and tells you what's missing
alphacode           # launch the terminal UI

No API key is required to start. The built-in free AI lane works out of the box. To use your own provider, run alphacode login (see Bring your own model). The first launch shows a short onboarding wizard (telemetry choice, model defaults, key bindings), and every step can be skipped with Esc.

3. Give it a task

Explain this project and identify the main entry points.

Find the biggest bugs, fix the highest-impact one, and run the tests.

Or run a single task non-interactively:

alphacode run "fix the failing test"

4. (Optional) Connect Firefox

Install the AlphaCode Browser Agent extension, then:

alphacode browser setup
alphacode browser status

A healthy setup reports that the browser bridge is available and responding.

Features

Work with your code

Read and create files, apply targeted edits and patches, search repositories, trace code paths, run builds and tests, review diffs, and diagnose errors.

Work with the web

Combine web search and fetching with real browser automation: inspect dynamic pages, interact with web apps, handle forms and browser state, capture screenshots, and assist with QA and security testing.

Browser Agent

The AlphaCode Browser Agent is a Firefox extension that connects AlphaCode to a real Firefox session through native messaging. AlphaCode stays the reasoning and orchestration layer, while Firefox becomes an execution environment.

flowchart LR
    U["You"] --> A["AlphaCode agent"]
    A --> B["browser tool"]
    B --> C["Native messaging"]
    C --> D["Browser Agent<br/>Firefox extension"]
    D --> F["Real Firefox"]
    F --> G["Page: DOM, forms,<br/>frames, UI"]
    G --> D
    D --> A
    A --> R["Verified result"]

A plain HTTP client fetches HTML. A browser agent experiences the page the way a user does, which matters for:

• JavaScript-heavy sites and dynamic interfaces
• DOM inspection, forms, inputs and interactive controls
• Multiple tabs, frames and embedded content
• Existing authenticated browser sessions
• Scrolling, navigation, screenshots and downloads
• Browser-based testing, QA and web-app debugging
• Authorized security testing and repetitive browser workflows

Instead of pasting HTML into a chat and asking "what should I click?", you can say:

Open the application, check the login flow, go to the dashboard,
test the form validation, and report anything suspicious.

Privacy note: the agent can act inside your real browser session. Review what it is asked to do, and treat page content as untrusted input.

Desktop Control

AlphaCode drives native applications through accessibility APIs rather than relying only on screen coordinates.

Supported actions include list_windows, snapshot, find, click, type, press, scroll, focus, screenshot, toggle, expand and collapse.

Open Calculator, calculate 123 × 456, and read the result.

AlphaCode finds the app, inspects its accessibility tree, locates the controls, enters the expression, reads the result, and reports 56088.

Swarm Mode

Large goals can be split across multiple agents working in parallel.

flowchart TD
    G["Large goal"] --> P["Planner"]
    P --> A["Agent A<br/>code analysis"]
    P --> B["Agent B<br/>security review"]
    P --> C["Agent C<br/>tests"]
    P --> D["Agent D<br/>documentation"]
    A --> M["Coordinator"]
    B --> M
    C --> M
    D --> M
    M --> R["Review"]
    R --> F["Final result"]