Agent Guide
The arcx agent is an AI coding assistant built into your workspace.
Modes
| Mode | What it does | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| Ask | Answer questions, explain code | Learning, debugging, understanding |
| Code | Write and edit code directly | Building features, fixing bugs |
| Architect | Plan without making changes | Design, planning, code review |
Built-in Tools
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
read | Read file contents |
write | Create or overwrite files |
edit | Make targeted edits to files |
bash | Run shell commands |
glob | Find files by pattern |
grep | Search file contents |
web_fetch | Fetch URLs |
web_search | Search the web |
code_search | Semantic code search |
task | Create and manage tasks |
Model Selection
Free (Ollama)
Every workspace includes free AI via Ollama running on our GPU cluster. Models: Gemma 4 (8B and 31B). No API key needed.
BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)
Add your own API keys for premium models:
- Anthropic — Claude Sonnet, Claude Opus
- OpenAI — GPT-4, GPT-5
- OpenRouter — 200+ models with one key
Keys are routed through arc-proxy. Your secrets are scrubbed from AI responses before storage.
Native Modules
The agent includes 19 native modules that run inside the agent process:
| Module | What it does |
|---|---|
| Memory | Cross-session recall, session gists, keyword search |
| Compaction | Auto-compact context at 70%, iterative summaries |
| Model Router | Route to cheapest/fastest/best model, fallback chains |
| Metrics | Per-model cost tracking, daily rollups |
| Policy Engine | Auto-approve reads, require approval for writes |
| Lane Orchestration | Parallel AI workers on git branches |
| Checkpoint Manager | Auto-snapshot before edits, per-turn rollback |
| Recovery Recipes | Auto-recover from build/test failures |
| Mixture of Agents | Fan out to multiple models, aggregate answers |
| Credential Pool | Multi-key failover per provider |
| Prompt Caching | Anthropic cache breakpoints for cost savings |
| Subagent Delegation | Spawn child agents for subtasks |
Skills (Slash Commands)
Type / in the chat to see all 32 available skills. See the Skills Reference for the full list.