BAI code Introduction

BAI code is a command-line AI programming tool that supports multi-model switching, session management, and context compression.

Supported Platforms

OS	Architecture
macOS	x86_64, arm64 (Apple Silicon)
Linux	x86_64
Windows	x86_64 (AMD64)

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10 – 3.13
• macOS / Linux: curl is required
• Windows: PowerShell 5.1+ is required

Installation

macOS / Linux

Run the following command in your terminal:

# Download the install script
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BAI-labs/BAI-tools/refs/heads/main/scripts/baicode_install.sh -o baicode_install.sh

# Run the install script
bash baicode_install.sh

The installer will ask whether to create a virtual environment (.venv). Enter y to confirm, or press Enter to skip.

Windows

Run the following command in PowerShell:

# Download the install script
iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BAI-labs/BAI-tools/refs/heads/main/scripts/baicode_install.ps1 -OutFile baicode_install.ps1

# Run the install script
.\baicode_install.ps1

The installer will ask whether to create a virtual environment (.venv). Enter y to confirm, or press Enter to skip.

tip

If script execution is blocked by the execution policy, run the following command first, then retry:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

Configuration

BAI code is configured via environment variables and supports automatic loading from a .env file (searching upward to $HOME).

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Required	Description
BAI_API_KEY	—	Yes	API key (used for any service compatible with the OpenAI protocol)
BAI_MODEL	claude-sonnet-4.6	No	Model name to use
BAI_BASE_URL	https://api.b.ai/v1	No	Custom API Base URL (used when connecting to a third-party service; defaults to OpenAI endpoint if omitted)
BAICODE_MAX_TOKENS	4096	No	Maximum tokens to generate per request
BAICODE_TEMPERATURE	0	No	Sampling temperature; 0 for deterministic output
BAICODE_MAX_CONTEXT	128000	No	Context window size in tokens; automatically compressed when exceeded

Creating a .env File

Create a .env in the project root (automatically loaded on startup without overriding existing system environment variables):

BAI_API_KEY=sk-...
BAI_MODEL=claude-sonnet-4.6
# BAI_BASE_URL=https://api.b.ai/v1
# BAICODE_MAX_TOKENS=4096
# BAICODE_TEMPERATURE=0
# BAICODE_MAX_CONTEXT=128000

Data Directory

BAI code writes the following files under the user's home directory. No manual creation is required — they are automatically generated on first use:

Path	Content	Description
~/.baicode/sessions/	session_<timestamp>.json	Saved session files, each containing full conversation history and the model name used
~/.baicode_history	Plain text	REPL input history, supports up/down arrow navigation

Session file format:

{
  "id": "session_1712345678",
  "model": "claude-sonnet-4.6",
  "saved_at": "2026-04-10 12:00:00",
  "messages": [...]
}

danger

The data directory is managed automatically by the program. Do not manually modify the JSON files inside, as this may cause session recovery to fail.

Cleaning Data

# Delete all sessions
rm -rf ~/.baicode/sessions/

# Clear REPL history
rm ~/.baicode_history

CLI Reference

Basic Usage

baicode [-h] [-m MODEL] [--base-url URL] [--api-key KEY] [-p PROMPT] [-r ID] [-v]

Options

Option	Description
-m, --model	Model name (default: $BAICODE_MODEL or gpt-4o)
--base-url	API Base URL (default: $BAI_BASE_URL)
--api-key	API Key (default: $BAI_API_KEY)
-p, --prompt	One-time prompt; exits after running in non-interactive mode
-r, --resume	Resume a saved session by ID
-v, --version	Show version number

Built-in Commands

Command	Description
/help	Show help
/reset	Clear conversation history
/model	Show current model
/model <name>	Switch model
/tokens	Show token usage and estimated cost
/compact	Manually compress context
/diff	View files modified in this session
/save	Save session to disk
/sessions	List all saved sessions
quit / exit	Exit

Input Shortcuts

Shortcut	Description
Enter	Submit message
Esc + Enter	Insert newline (useful for pasting multi-line code)
Ctrl+C	Interrupt current generation

Related Resources

• Project Homepage