CLI

FrownCode CLI options and commands.

The FrownCode CLI by default starts the TUI when run without any arguments.

frowncode

But it also accepts commands as documented on this page. This allows you to interact with FrownCode programmatically.

frown run "Explain how closures work in JavaScript"

tui

Start the FrownCode terminal user interface.

frowncode [project]

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
`--continue`	`-c`	Continue the last session
`--session`	`-s`	Session ID to continue
`--fork`		Fork the session when continuing (use with `--continue` or `--session`)
`--prompt`		Prompt to use
`--model`	`-m`	Model to use in the form of provider/model
`--agent`		Agent to use
`--port`		Port to listen on
`--hostname`		Hostname to listen on

Commands

The FrownCode CLI also has the following commands.

agent

Manage agents for FrownCode.

frowncode agent [command]

attach

Attach a terminal to an already running FrownCode backend server started via serve or web commands.

frowncode attach [url]

This allows using the TUI with a remote FrownCode backend. For example:

# Start the backend server for web/mobile access
frown web --port 4096 --hostname 0.0.0.0

# In another terminal, attach the TUI to the running backend
frowncode attach http://10.20.30.40:4096

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
`--dir`		Working directory to start TUI in
`--session`	`-s`	Session ID to continue

create

Create a new agent with custom configuration.

frown agent create

This command will guide you through creating a new agent with a custom system prompt and tool configuration.

list

List all available agents.

frowncode agent list

auth

Command to manage credentials and login for providers.

frown auth [command]

FrownCode is powered by the provider list at Models.dev, so you can use frown auth login to configure API keys for any provider you’d like to use. This is stored in ~/.local/share/frown/auth.json.

frown auth login

When FrownCode starts up it loads the providers from the credentials file. And if there are any keys defined in your environments or a .env file in your project.

list

Lists all the authenticated providers as stored in the credentials file.

frown auth list

Or the short version.

frown auth ls

logout

Logs you out of a provider by clearing it from the credentials file.

frown auth logout

github

Manage the GitHub agent for repository automation.

frowncode github [command]

install

Install the GitHub agent in your repository.

frown github install

This sets up the necessary GitHub Actions workflow and guides you through the configuration process. Learn more.

run

Run the GitHub agent. This is typically used in GitHub Actions.

frowncode github run

Flags

Flag	Description
`--event`	GitHub mock event to run the agent for
`--token`	GitHub personal access token

mcp

Manage Model Context Protocol servers.

frowncode mcp [command]

add

Add an MCP server to your configuration.

frowncode mcp add

This command will guide you through adding either a local or remote MCP server.

list

List all configured MCP servers and their connection status.

frowncode mcp list

Or use the short version.

frowncode mcp ls

auth

Authenticate with an OAuth-enabled MCP server.

frowncode mcp auth [name]

If you don’t provide a server name, you’ll be prompted to select from available OAuth-capable servers.

You can also list OAuth-capable servers and their authentication status.

frowncode mcp auth list

Or use the short version.

frowncode mcp auth ls

logout

Remove OAuth credentials for an MCP server.

frowncode mcp logout [name]

debug

Debug OAuth connection issues for an MCP server.

frowncode mcp debug <name>

models

List all available models from configured providers.

frowncode models [provider]

This command displays all models available across your configured providers in the format provider/model.

This is useful for figuring out the exact model name to use in your config.

You can optionally pass a provider ID to filter models by that provider.

frowncode models anthropic

Flags

Flag	Description
`--refresh`	Refresh the models cache from models.dev
`--verbose`	Use more verbose model output (includes metadata like costs)

Use the --refresh flag to update the cached model list. This is useful when new models have been added to a provider and you want to see them in FrownCode.

frowncode models --refresh

run

Run frowncode in non-interactive mode by passing a prompt directly.

frown run [message..]

This is useful for scripting, automation, or when you want a quick answer without launching the full TUI. For example.

frown run Explain the use of context in Go

You can also attach to a running frown serve instance to avoid MCP server cold boot times on every run:

# Start a headless server in one terminal
frown serve

# In another terminal, run commands that attach to it
frown run --attach http://localhost:4096 "Explain async/await in JavaScript"

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
`--command`		The command to run, use message for args
`--continue`	`-c`	Continue the last session
`--session`	`-s`	Session ID to continue
`--fork`		Fork the session when continuing (use with `--continue` or `--session`)
`--share`		Share the session
`--model`	`-m`	Model to use in the form of provider/model
`--agent`		Agent to use
`--file`	`-f`	File(s) to attach to message
`--format`		Format: default (formatted) or json (raw JSON events)
`--title`		Title for the session (uses truncated prompt if no value provided)
`--attach`		Attach to a running frown server (e.g., http://localhost:4096)
`--port`		Port for the local server (defaults to random port)

serve

Start a headless FrownCode server for API access. Check out the server docs for the full HTTP interface.

frown serve

This starts an HTTP server that provides API access to frowncode functionality without the TUI interface. Set FROWNCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD to enable HTTP basic auth (username defaults to frowncode).

Flags

Flag	Description
`--port`	Port to listen on
`--hostname`	Hostname to listen on
`--mdns`	Enable mDNS discovery
`--cors`	Additional browser origin(s) to allow CORS

session

Manage FrownCode sessions.

frowncode session [command]

list

List all FrownCode sessions.

frowncode session list

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
`--max-count`	`-n`	Limit to N most recent sessions
`--format`		Output format: table or json (table)

stats

Show token usage and cost statistics for your FrownCode sessions.

frowncode stats

Flags

Flag	Description
`--days`	Show stats for the last N days (all time)
`--tools`	Number of tools to show (all)
`--models`	Show model usage breakdown (hidden by default). Pass a number to show top N
`--project`	Filter by project (all projects, empty string: current project)

export

Export session data as JSON.

frowncode export [sessionID]

If you don’t provide a session ID, you’ll be prompted to select from available sessions.

import

Import session data from a JSON file or FrownCode share URL.

frowncode import <file>

You can import from a local file or an FrownCode share URL.

frowncode import session.json
frowncode import https://frown.ammar.click/s/abc123

web

Start a headless FrownCode server with a web interface.

frown web

This starts an HTTP server and opens a web browser to access FrownCode through a web interface. Set FROWNCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD to enable HTTP basic auth (username defaults to frowncode).

Flags

Flag	Description
`--port`	Port to listen on
`--hostname`	Hostname to listen on
`--mdns`	Enable mDNS discovery
`--cors`	Additional browser origin(s) to allow CORS

acp

Start an ACP (Agent Client Protocol) server.

frowncode acp

This command starts an ACP server that communicates via stdin/stdout using nd-JSON.

Flags

Flag	Description
`--cwd`	Working directory
`--port`	Port to listen on
`--hostname`	Hostname to listen on

uninstall

Uninstall FrownCode and remove all related files.

frowncode uninstall

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
`--keep-config`	`-c`	Keep configuration files
`--keep-data`	`-d`	Keep session data and snapshots
`--dry-run`		Show what would be removed without removing
`--force`	`-f`	Skip confirmation prompts

upgrade

Updates frowncode to the latest version or a specific version.

frowncode upgrade [target]

To upgrade to the latest version.

frowncode upgrade

To upgrade to a specific version.

frowncode upgrade v0.1.48

Flags

Flag	Short	Description
`--method`	`-m`	The installation method that was used; curl, npm, pnpm, bun, brew

Global Flags

The frowncode CLI takes the following global flags.

Flag	Short	Description
`--help`	`-h`	Display help
`--version`	`-v`	Print version number
`--print-logs`		Print logs to stderr
`--log-level`		Log level (DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR)

Environment variables

FrownCode can be configured using environment variables.

Variable	Type	Description
`FROWNCODE_AUTO_SHARE`	boolean	Automatically share sessions
`FROWNCODE_GIT_BASH_PATH`	string	Path to Git Bash executable on Windows
`FROWNCODE_CONFIG`	string	Path to config file
`FROWNCODE_TUI_CONFIG`	string	Path to TUI config file
`FROWNCODE_CONFIG_DIR`	string	Path to config directory
`FROWNCODE_CONFIG_CONTENT`	string	Inline json config content
`FROWNCODE_DISABLE_AUTOUPDATE`	boolean	Disable automatic update checks
`FROWNCODE_DISABLE_PRUNE`	boolean	Disable pruning of old data
`FROWNCODE_DISABLE_TERMINAL_TITLE`	boolean	Disable automatic terminal title updates
`FROWNCODE_PERMISSION`	string	Inlined json permissions config
`FROWNCODE_DISABLE_DEFAULT_PLUGINS`	boolean	Disable default plugins
`FROWNCODE_DISABLE_LSP_DOWNLOAD`	boolean	Disable automatic LSP server downloads
`FROWNCODE_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_MODELS`	boolean	Enable experimental models
`FROWNCODE_DISABLE_AUTOCOMPACT`	boolean	Disable automatic context compaction
`FROWNCODE_DISABLE_CLAUDE_CODE`	boolean	Disable reading from `.claude` (prompt + skills)
`FROWNCODE_DISABLE_CLAUDE_CODE_PROMPT`	boolean	Disable reading `~/.claude/CLAUDE.md`
`FROWNCODE_DISABLE_CLAUDE_CODE_SKILLS`	boolean	Disable loading `.claude/skills`
`FROWNCODE_DISABLE_MODELS_FETCH`	boolean	Disable fetching models from remote sources
`FROWNCODE_DISABLE_MOUSE`	boolean	Disable mouse capture in the TUI
`FROWNCODE_FAKE_VCS`	string	Fake VCS provider for testing purposes
`FROWNCODE_DISABLE_FILETIME_CHECK`	boolean	Disable file time checking for optimization
`FROWNCODE_CLIENT`	string	Client identifier (defaults to `cli`)
`FROWNCODE_ENABLE_EXA`	boolean	Enable Exa web search tools
`FROWNCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD`	string	Enable basic auth for `serve`/`web`
`FROWNCODE_SERVER_USERNAME`	string	Override basic auth username (default `frowncode`)
`FROWNCODE_MODELS_URL`	string	Custom URL for fetching models configuration

Experimental

These environment variables enable experimental features that may change or be removed.

Variable	Type	Description
`FROWNCODE_EXPERIMENTAL`	boolean	Enable all experimental features
`FROWNCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_ICON_DISCOVERY`	boolean	Enable icon discovery
`FROWNCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_DISABLE_COPY_ON_SELECT`	boolean	Disable copy on select in TUI
`FROWNCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_BASH_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS`	number	Default timeout for bash commands in ms
`FROWNCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_OUTPUT_TOKEN_MAX`	number	Max output tokens for LLM responses
`FROWNCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_FILEWATCHER`	boolean	Enable file watcher for entire dir
`FROWNCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_OXFMT`	boolean	Enable oxfmt formatter
`FROWNCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_LSP_TOOL`	boolean	Enable experimental LSP tool
`FROWNCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_DISABLE_FILEWATCHER`	boolean	Disable file watcher
`FROWNCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_EXA`	boolean	Enable experimental Exa features
`FROWNCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_LSP_TY`	boolean	Enable TY LSP for python files
`FROWNCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_MARKDOWN`	boolean	Enable experimental markdown features
`FROWNCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_PLAN_MODE`	boolean	Enable plan mode