And just to be perfectly honest in the pitch for clnkr (pronounced: "clanker") its context-management is primitive compared to more mature tools like OpenCode. I just want to own that and state that that's a high priority for future clnkr releases.
On Mon, May 4, 2026 at 9:15 AM Brian Cosgrove <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 > -- Brian Cosgrove
