What it is
opencode is an AI coding agent that runs in your terminal. Inside a project, you ask it to explain code, fix a bug or build a feature, and it reads files, makes edits and runs commands to get there.
It isn’t tied to one company’s models. You sign in to the providers you use, such as Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter or a local model server, and switch between their models as you go.
Why it’s here
- Open source. The agent itself is free software you can read and change.
- Any model. One tool for every provider, so you can pick the model that suits the task or the budget.
- A full terminal interface. Sessions, file changes and command output in one place, next to your editor.
On CoreDesktop
opencode is installed from pacman and runs in CoreDesktop’s AI sandbox. Typing opencode starts it sandboxed: it can change files only in the directory you start it from (plus its own settings and caches), can’t read your SSH keys, passwords, browser data or the other agents’ logins, and can reach only AI providers, opencode.ai and common developer sites. Start it from a project directory; it won’t start in your home folder. To run it without the sandbox, type unsandboxed opencode.
Before the first use, run configure opencode. It signs you in to a provider, or takes its API key, and offers to add more. Pick the model inside opencode with /models. update keeps opencode current with the rest of the pacman packages.