CodeSharp

CodeSharp is a terminal-first coding assistant for developers who want fast answers, clean repo navigation, and a CLI that feels built for real work instead of demos.

Built as a modern C#/.NET 10 take on the original Claw Code, it brings Anthropic, NVIDIA, OpenAI, and xAI models into a sharper REPL with live streaming, readable markdown rendering, colored diff previews, clearer tool feedback, and smoother code-reading and editing workflows.

It also adds practical features that matter in daily use: slash-command suggestions, guided config management, pinned full-screen REPL layout, parallel read-only repo analysis, smarter search output with context, and better handling for queued prompts, retries, and interrupt flow.

Getting Started

Requirements:

• .NET 10 SDK

global.json currently pins SDK 10.0.100 with rollForward: latestFeature.

Install .NET 10 SDK

#### macOS (Homebrew)

brew install --cask dotnet-sdk
dotnet --list-sdks

If dotnet is not on your PATH afterwards, add the default install location for your shell:

export PATH="/usr/local/share/dotnet:$PATH"

On Apple Silicon machines installed via Microsoft's pkg installer, you may instead need:

export PATH="/opt/homebrew/share/dotnet:$PATH"

#### Linux / Windows

Install the .NET 10 SDK from the official Microsoft instructions:

• https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/core/install/linux
• https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/core/install/windows

Build

dotnet restore CodeSharp.sln
dotnet build CodeSharp.sln

Run

Interactive REPL:

dotnet run --project src/CodeSharp.Cli

Single prompt:

dotnet run --project src/CodeSharp.Cli -- "Explain this codebase"

Build a Standalone Binary

For a single self-contained binary on macOS Apple Silicon:

dotnet publish src/CodeSharp.Cli/CodeSharp.Cli.csproj \
  -c Release \
  -r osx-arm64 \
  --self-contained true \
  /p:PublishSingleFile=true

The published binary will be written to:

src/CodeSharp.Cli/bin/Release/net10.0/osx-arm64/publish/

For Intel macOS, Linux, and Windows examples, see Standalone Binary below.

Showcase

<p> <img src="assets/showcase/screen0.jpg" alt="CodeSharp REPL screenshot 1" width="49%" /> <img src="assets/showcase/screen1.jpg" alt="CodeSharp REPL screenshot 2" width="49%" /> </p>

Features

Agent & Planning

• Planning mode — the model can call EnterPlanMode and ExitPlanMode itself, or you can use /plan and /plan approve. In planning mode all mutating tools are blocked; the assistant produces a structured plan with Goal, Assumptions, Steps, Risks, and Validation sections.
• Agent tool with subagent types — Agent now spawns an isolated ConversationRuntime per call. subagent_type: "Explore" maps to a read-only analysis agent, "Plan" runs in planning mode, and the default runs a focused task agent. Each has its own session and type-specific system prompt.
• Automatic verification — after file edits the runtime detects the build system (dotnet, pnpm/npm typecheck, python -m py_compile) and runs it automatically, feeding the result back to the model as a system note.

Git Workflow

• /commit — AI-generates a conventional commit message from staged changes, shows a preview, and commits on confirmation.
• /diff — shows git diff --stat plus a colored inline diff with green additions and red removals, truncated at 200 lines.
• /branch — list branches, create and switch with /branch <name>, or checkout an existing one with /branch checkout <name>.
• /worktree — list, add, and remove git worktrees directly from the REPL.
• /pr — generates a PR title and body with the model, previews them, and calls gh pr create on confirmation.

Memory & Context

• Auto-loaded memory — CODESHARP.md, .codesharp/MEMORY.md, and all .codesharp/memory/*.md files are included in the system prompt automatically at session start.
• /memory — lists memory files; /memory <name> shows the content of a specific file. Edit files in .codesharp/memory/ to persist facts across sessions.
• Session compaction — /compact summarizes old messages via the model and rebuilds the session history to stay within context limits while preserving recent turns.

Search & Navigation

• Parallel read-only analysis — read_file, glob_search, grep_search, find_symbol, find_references, and task tools run in parallel within a single assistant step.
• Symbol and reference search — find_symbol and find_references cover C#, TypeScript, Python, C/C++, and HTML across the whole workspace without a language server.
• /symbols <name> and /refs <name> — symbol and reference search directly from the REPL with formatted output.
• Gitignore-aware search — glob_search and grep_search respect .gitignore and skip bin, obj, .git, node_modules, and similar noise folders.

REPL Experience

• Live streaming — assistant text streams into the UI while the model is still thinking, reducing dead time between tool calls.
• Slash command suggestions — typing / shows live-narrowing command completions.
• Colored diff previews — file edits show a green/red inline diff inline in the activity log.
• Queued prompts — type while the model is thinking; the next prompt is queued and sent automatically when the current turn finishes.
• Interrupt flow — Ctrl+C cancels the active turn first; a second interrupt exits.
• Session export — /export [path] saves the full session transcript as a markdown file.

System Prompt (aligned with Claude Code)

The system prompt now follows the same structure as Claude Code's leaked guidelines:

• Doing tasks — no scope creep, no added comments on untouched code, no speculative abstractions, no error handling for impossible cases.
• Output style — lead with the answer, not the reasoning; no filler; file references use path:line format.
• Git workflow — conventional commits, no force-push to main, PR format.
• Planning mode — when to use EnterPlanMode, what to produce, when to exit.
• Security — no command injection, XSS, SQL injection, or path traversal; validate only at system boundaries.

Project Structure

CodeSharp.sln
src/
├── CodeSharp.Core/                  # Core runtime, session, permissions
├── CodeSharp.Api/                   # HTTP client, API providers
├── CodeSharp.Tools/                 # Tool registry and execution
├── CodeSharp.Plugins/               # Plugin management
├── CodeSharp.Lsp/                   # LSP integration
├── CodeSharp.Commands/              # Slash commands
├── CodeSharp.Cli/                   # Main CLI application
└── CodeSharp.Server/                # HTTP server for sessions

Build & Run Details

Interactive REPL Mode

dotnet run --project src/CodeSharp.Cli

Single Prompt Mode

dotnet run --project src/CodeSharp.Cli -- "Explain this codebase"

With Specific Provider

dotnet run --project src/CodeSharp.Cli -- --provider nvidia -p "What does this function do?"

Default Model

The default model is currently moonshotai/kimi-k2.5, routed through the NVIDIA provider unless you override it.

Standalone Binary

You can build a standalone single-file binary with dotnet publish.

macOS (Apple Silicon)

dotnet publish src/CodeSharp.Cli/CodeSharp.Cli.csproj \
  -c Release \
  -r osx-arm64 \
  --self-contained true \
  /p:PublishSingleFile=true

macOS (Intel)

dotnet publish src/CodeSharp.Cli/CodeSharp.Cli.csproj \
  -c Release \
  -r osx-x64 \
  --self-contained true \
  /p:PublishSingleFile=true

Linux x64

dotnet publish src/CodeSharp.Cli/CodeSharp.Cli.csproj \
  -c Release \
  -r linux-x64 \
  --self-contained true \
  /p:PublishSingleFile=true

Windows x64

dotnet publish src/CodeSharp.Cli/CodeSharp.Cli.csproj \
  -c Release \
  -r win-x64 \
  --self-contained true \
  /p:PublishSingleFile=true

The published binary ends up under:

src/CodeSharp.Cli/bin/Release/net10.0/<RID>/publish/

If you prefer a framework-dependent build instead of bundling the runtime, replace --self-contained true with --self-contained false.

Config Files

CodeSharp now uses a few distinct config and state files. They serve different purposes:

• ~/.codesharp/settings.json

Global defaults for the CLI. This is where codesharp config stores your preferred provider, model, and provider-specific API keys.

• ./.codesharp/settings.json

Project-local config created by codesharp init. Repo-local settings including plugin config.

• ./CODESHARP.md

Project instructions for the agent. Included in the system prompt at session start. Define coding conventions, repo context, or workflow notes here.

• ./.codesharp/MEMORY.md

Memory index. Each line should be a pointer to a memory file. Included in the system prompt automatically.

• ./.codesharp/memory/*.md

Individual memory files (user, feedback, project, reference types). All .md files in this folder are loaded into the system prompt at session start. Use /memory in the REPL to browse them.

• ./.codesharp/sessions/session-*.json

Saved conversation/session files for prompt and REPL runs.

• ./.codesharp-todos.json

Todo state written by the internal plan/todo tool.

CLI flags still win over stored defaults. For example, --model and --provider override values from ~/.codesharp/settings.json for that run.

Global Config Example

{
  "Model": "moonshotai/kimi-k2.5",
  "Provider": "nvidia",
  "ApiKeys": {
    "Nvidia": "nvapi-..."
  }
}

Project Bootstrap

Run this once inside a repo to create the local project files:

codesharp init

That creates:

• .codesharp/settings.json
• CODESHARP.md

Managing Global Defaults

Interactive menu:

codesharp config

Non-interactive examples:

codesharp config show
codesharp config set provider nvidia
codesharp config set model moonshotai/kimi-k2.5
codesharp config set api-key nvidia
codesharp config unset model

Available Options

Slash Commands