1. Install
With Go 1.27.0 or newer:
go install github.com/keakon/chord/cmd/chord@latestWithout Go: download a prebuilt binary from GitHub Releases, extract it, and put chord on your PATH.
Chord
A faster, cheaper, lighter terminal coding agent.
Feature highlights
Section titled “Feature highlights”- Automatic model fallbackA failing key or model does not stop the session.
- Request trimming plus compactionLong sessions stay inside the context window and spend fewer tokens.
- Streaming tool early executionSafe tools start before the model finishes its response.
- Small memory footprint30MB empty and 39MB after 200 messages in the measured scenario.
- Import Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode sessionsKeep your history when you switch tools.
- Vim-style keyboard controlsStay in the terminal flow without reaching for the mouse.
Measured results
Section titled “Measured results”Six agent harnesses ran the same DeepSWE v1.1 task: adding streaming JSON iteration to httpx. All six runs used deepseek-v4.1-flash. Chord 0.8.1 finished first and cheapest, with the next-best run taking 1.49× as long and costing 1.51× as much.
Real-world coding task
Section titled “Real-world coding task”| Harness | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Chord 0.8.1 | 6m37s | $0.052 |
| deepseek-harness 0.1.5-rc.1 | 9m50s (1.49×) | $0.079 (1.51×) |
| pi 0.85.1 | 10m22s (1.57×) | $0.086 (1.65×) |
| codex 0.154.0 | 17m01s (2.57×) | $0.139 (2.67×) |
| mini-swe-agent 2.4.6 | 18m29s (2.79×) | $0.125 (2.40×) |
| claude code 2.1.272 | 22m25s (3.39×) | $0.166 (3.17×) |
Multipliers are relative to Chord.
App memory
Section titled “App memory”Measured on macOS 15.3.2 (arm64).
| Harness | Empty session | 200 messages | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chord 0.8.1 | 30MB | 39MB | +9MB |
| codex 0.154.0 | 27MB | 47MB | +20MB |
| claude code 2.1.273 | 143MB | 216MB | +73MB |
One measured task and one memory scenario; your numbers will differ. Full tables, methodology, and implementation notes: Performance.
Three-step setup
Section titled “Three-step setup”2. Run from your project
cd my-projectchordOn the first run, if no config.yaml is found, Chord starts the setup wizard.
3. Send your first task
Describe what you want and press Enter. Start by asking Chord to read the project:
Explain this project's main modules and how to run its tests. Do not change any files yet.Supported on macOS, Linux, and Windows (including WSL); a few system-level features are platform-specific. See Platform support.
Start quicklyInstall, connect a model, and complete your first task.
Configure modelsModels and credentials, with ready-to-copy examples for common setups.
Permissions and safetyChoose which actions need approval and understand file and command risks.
Long tasksKeep implementation, checks, and fixes moving.
Extend and customizeCustomize roles, skills, and external tools; automate checks with hooks.
TroubleshootStartup, auth, model, TUI, context, and integration symptoms.