Hi Lucas, clnkr is in the same neighborhood as OpenCode: a free software command-line coding agent that talks to hosted APIs or self-hosted OpenAI- compatible endpoints.
OpenCode has a complex and interactive UI. The model wields a broad array of Tools. clnkr is a smaller Unix-style runner for the coding-agent loop, aimed at local-first workflows. The model gets one Tool: bash. That's intentional: models are already excellent at shell use, and the security boundary is explicit and interpretable. clnkr does not try to invent a partial permission system for filesystem, process, and network access; it leaves isolation to the surrounding system. This package installs `clnkr`, a plain terminal CLI, and `clnkrd`, a stdio JSONL adapter for other tools. I would not describe clnkr as a replacement for OpenCode. It's useful as a small local agent runner and as plumbing for other developer workflows. I don't see OpenCode in the Debian archive, so clnkr would help begin to cover this class of free software coding-agent tools. tldr; OpenCode adds. clnkr subtracts. Brian On Mon, May 4, 2026 at 1:08 AM Lucas Nussbaum <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Brian, > > On 03/05/26 at 16:18 +0000, Brian Cosgrove wrote: > > Package: wnpp > > Severity: wishlist > > Owner: Brian Cosgrove <[email protected]> > > X-Debbugs-Cc: [email protected], [email protected] > > > > * Package name : clnkr > > Version : 0.3.6 > > Upstream Contact: Brian Cosgrove <[email protected]> > > * URL : https://github.com/clnkr-ai/clnkr > > * License : Apache-2.0 > > Programming Lang: Go > > Description : CLI for model-guided coding tasks > > > > clnkr is a command-line coding agent that uses an LLM to work on local > source > > trees. It can run interactively with approval before each command batch, > or run > > a single prompt non-interactively. > > > > It ships clnkr, the terminal CLI, and clnkrd, a stdio JSONL adapter for > other > > tools. It supports Anthropic and OpenAI-compatible endpoints. > > > > The design is Unix-shaped: clnkr runs the coding-agent loop and leaves > > isolation, scheduling, and deployment to the surrounding system. > > > > I am upstream for clnkr and intend to maintain this package within the > Debian Go > > Packaging Team. > > Thanks. It would be useful to explain how it compares to other coding > agents released under a Free Software license, like OpenCode. > > Lucas > -- Brian Cosgrove
