AI Agents

e can run command-line coding agents — Elyra, Claude Code, Codex, or any CLI agent — in a dedicated side panel, so they work on your project right next to your code.

Opening the agent panel

• ⌘L toggles the agent panel on the right (it opens at 600px, resizable).
• Every agent runs in an embedded terminal by default. Elyra can optionally use Elyra Cascade, a chat panel.
• ⌘W (while the panel is focused) closes it; the agent keeps running, so ⌘L reopens the same session.

Elyra Cascade

By default the agent panel is a terminal for every agent, including Elyra. Elyra Cascade is the alternative: Elyra as a chat panel, drawn the way Devin Local and Windsurf's Cascade draw theirs. Turn it on with Settings → Agents → Elyra Cascade, the palette command Agent: Elyra Cascade on/off, or "cascade": true in config.json; the panel's ⋯ menu has Use the terminal panel instead to go back. Other agents (Claude Code, Codex) always use the terminal.

Underneath, Elyra runs headless over its RPC protocol (elyra --mode rpc), so the conversation is drawn with native views and stays fast however long it gets — and every provider and model Elyra knows is available.

The header is a session tab with ＋ (new session), ◷ (this project's earlier sessions — pick one to resume it, with the conversation redrawn), ⋯ (new session, compact context, restart, terminal panel, settings) and ✕.

The empty state shows the Elyra mark and Describe your task to Elyra; before any API key is stored it says where to add one.

The transcript: streaming replies rendered as markdown, tool-call cards (tool, one-line summary, running / done / error, a result preview), dimmed reasoning, and Copy on every code block and reply.

The composer card at the bottom:

• The input is multi-line and word-wrapped and grows as you type (then scrolls). Enter sends, Shift+Enter inserts a newline. Typing while Elyra runs steers it.
• ＋ attaches context: the active file (@path, which Elyra reads), the selection (file and line range), or all open files.
• ‹/› Code / ◇ Ask: Code lets Elyra read, edit and run; Ask asks it to answer and plan without touching anything.
• The model chip (Claude Opus 5 · high ▾) lists every model Elyra offers, grouped by provider, and the thinking level for models that have one. The choice is remembered and Elyra starts on it next time.
• ↑ sends, ■ stops the current turn.

Under the card: ⌂ Local ▭ <project> — where the agent runs and on what.

API keys

Settings → Agents has a key field for Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini and Grok (xAI). A key is stored in the macOS Keychain (elsewhere in ~/.config/e/secrets.json, mode 0600), never in config.json, and is shown masked once saved (••••1234, with Replace and Remove). Cascade hands the stored keys to Elyra as its environment variables (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY, GEMINI_API_KEY, XAI_API_KEY) when it starts, so a key entered once is all it takes; a variable already exported in your shell still wins. Elyra's own credentials (/login for Claude Pro/Max, ChatGPT or Copilot subscriptions, and ~/.elyra/agent/auth.json) keep working alongside.

Switching agents

Click the agent name in the panel header (Elyra ▾) for a menu to:

• switch to another configured agent (the active one is marked ●),
• Restart Agent,
• open Settings… (⌘,).

The header also has ⟳ (restart) and × (close) buttons. Drag the panel's left edge to resize it.

Configuration

Agents are configured in your global config.json under the agents key:

{
  "agents": {
    "default": "elyra",
    "list": [
      { "id": "elyra",  "name": "Elyra",       "command": "elyra",  "cwd": "" },
      { "id": "claude", "name": "Claude Code",  "command": "claude", "cwd": "" },
      { "id": "codex",  "name": "Codex",        "command": "codex",  "cwd": "" }
    ]
  }
}

Because the command runs through your login shell, your full environment (PATH, nvm, etc.) is available. Your selection is saved automatically when you switch agents from the menu.

Editor co-op

The agent isn't just a terminal — it gets a local Unix socket ($E_EDITOR_SOCK) to collaborate with the editor directly:

• Read context — the current file, cursor, selection, open files, and diagnostics.
• Reuse the language server — definitions, references, hover and symbols from the same server the editor runs.
• Query the database through the editor's connection (consent-gated — you approve each query; the agent never sees your credentials).
• Propose edits you review — the agent sends a new version of a file and you accept or reject each hunk before anything is written. No blind writes.
• Autonomous TDD (⌘⇧T) — run the test suite and let the agent iterate on failures (proposing edits you review) until the tests pass. The panel lists each failing test with its first assertion line; click one to open the file at the failing line. See Test results.
• Timeline (⌘⌥A) — an audit log of everything the agent did over the socket, with a 🤖 marker showing where it's looking.

See Agent Workspace Sync for the full protocol.

Editor integration

Two conveniences tie the panel to the editor (toggle Settings → Agents → “Editor integration”, on by default):

• Click file paths in the output — a path, path:line or path:line:col reference in the agent (or terminal) output is clickable and opens that file at the line in the editor.
• Send selection to agent — the Agent: Send Selection to Agent command (command palette) types a one-line reference to your current file and selected lines into the agent, so you can add your question and let it read the exact spot.

You can also drag-select any text in the panel and copy it with ⌘C (click to resume typing).

Reviewing what the agent changed

When a session has touched a lot of files, press ⌘⌥V (Review: Session Changes) for a risk-ranked review of the whole changeset — sign off file by file, ask the agent why it made a change, or revert a single file — without pushing a PR first. See Session review.

Tips

• Leave cwd empty so the agent operates on whatever project you have open.
• Add your own entries to list to run any CLI agent or script.
• The default agent is Elyra.