CLI

PhysicsCode CLI options and commands.

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

physicscode

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

physicscode run "Explain how closures work in JavaScript"

tui

Start the PhysicsCode terminal user interface.

physicscode [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 PhysicsCode CLI also has the following commands.

agent

Manage agents for PhysicsCode.

physicscode agent [command]

attach

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

physicscode attach [url]

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

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

# In another terminal, attach the TUI to the running backend
physicscode 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.

physicscode agent create

This command will guide you through creating a new agent with a custom system prompt and permission configuration. Anything you don’t allow is denied in the generated agent’s frontmatter.

Flags

Flag	Description
`--path`	Directory to write the agent file to (defaults to global or `.physicscode/agent` based on the prompt)
`--description`	What the agent should do
`--mode`	Agent mode: `all`, `primary`, or `subagent`
`--permissions`	Comma-separated list of permissions to allow (default: all). Available: `bash`, `read`, `edit`, `glob`, `grep`, `webfetch`, `task`, `todowrite`, `websearch`, `lsp`, `skill`. Anything omitted is denied. Alias: `--tools`
`--model`, `-m`	Model to use, in `provider/model` format

Passing all of --path, --description, --mode, and --permissions runs the command non-interactively.

list

List all available agents.

physicscode agent list

auth

Command to manage credentials and login for providers.

physicscode auth [command]

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

physicscode auth login

When PhysicsCode 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.

physicscode auth list

Or the short version.

physicscode auth ls

logout

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

physicscode auth logout

github

Manage the GitHub agent for repository automation.

physicscode github [command]

run

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

physicscode 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.

physicscode mcp [command]

add

Add an MCP server to your configuration.

physicscode 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.

physicscode mcp list

Or use the short version.

physicscode mcp ls

auth

Authenticate with an OAuth-enabled MCP server.

physicscode 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.

physicscode mcp auth list

Or use the short version.

physicscode mcp auth ls

logout

Remove OAuth credentials for an MCP server.

physicscode mcp logout [name]

debug

Debug OAuth connection issues for an MCP server.

physicscode mcp debug <name>

models

List all available models from configured providers.

physicscode 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.

physicscode 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 PhysicsCode.

physicscode models --refresh

run

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

physicscode run [message..]

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

physicscode run Explain the use of context in Go

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

# Start a headless server in one terminal
physicscode serve

# In another terminal, run commands that attach to it
physicscode 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 physicscode server (e.g., http://localhost:4096)
`--port`		Port for the local server (defaults to random port)
`--dangerously-skip-permissions`		Auto-approve permissions that are not explicitly denied (dangerous!)

serve

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

physicscode serve

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

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 PhysicsCode sessions.

physicscode session [command]

list

List all PhysicsCode sessions.

physicscode 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 PhysicsCode sessions.

physicscode 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.

physicscode 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 PhysicsCode share URL.

physicscode import <file>

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

physicscode import session.json
physicscode import https://opncd.ai/s/abc123

web

Start a headless PhysicsCode server with a web interface.

physicscode web

This starts an HTTP server and opens a web browser to access PhysicsCode through a web interface. Set PHYSICSCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD to enable HTTP basic auth (username defaults to physicscode).

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.

physicscode 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 PhysicsCode and remove all related files.

physicscode 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 physicscode to the latest version or a specific version.

physicscode upgrade [target]

To upgrade to the latest version.

physicscode upgrade

To upgrade to a specific version.

physicscode upgrade v0.1.48

Flags

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

Global Flags

The physicscode 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

PhysicsCode can be configured using environment variables.

Variable	Type	Description
`PHYSICSCODE_AUTO_SHARE`	boolean	Automatically share sessions
`PHYSICSCODE_GIT_BASH_PATH`	string	Path to Git Bash executable on Windows
`PHYSICSCODE_CONFIG`	string	Path to config file
`PHYSICSCODE_TUI_CONFIG`	string	Path to TUI config file
`PHYSICSCODE_CONFIG_DIR`	string	Path to config directory
`PHYSICSCODE_CONFIG_CONTENT`	string	Inline json config content
`PHYSICSCODE_DISABLE_AUTOUPDATE`	boolean	Disable automatic update checks
`PHYSICSCODE_DISABLE_PRUNE`	boolean	Disable pruning of old data
`PHYSICSCODE_DISABLE_TERMINAL_TITLE`	boolean	Disable automatic terminal title updates
`PHYSICSCODE_PERMISSION`	string	Inlined json permissions config
`PHYSICSCODE_DISABLE_DEFAULT_PLUGINS`	boolean	Disable default plugins
`PHYSICSCODE_DISABLE_LSP_DOWNLOAD`	boolean	Disable automatic LSP server downloads
`PHYSICSCODE_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_MODELS`	boolean	Enable experimental models
`PHYSICSCODE_DISABLE_AUTOCOMPACT`	boolean	Disable automatic context compaction
`PHYSICSCODE_DISABLE_CLAUDE_CODE`	boolean	Disable reading from `.claude` (prompt + skills)
`PHYSICSCODE_DISABLE_CLAUDE_CODE_PROMPT`	boolean	Disable reading `~/.claude/CLAUDE.md`
`PHYSICSCODE_DISABLE_CLAUDE_CODE_SKILLS`	boolean	Disable loading `.claude/skills`
`PHYSICSCODE_DISABLE_MODELS_FETCH`	boolean	Disable fetching models from remote sources
`PHYSICSCODE_DISABLE_MOUSE`	boolean	Disable mouse capture in the TUI
`PHYSICSCODE_FAKE_VCS`	string	Fake VCS provider for testing purposes
`PHYSICSCODE_CLIENT`	string	Client identifier (defaults to `cli`)
`PHYSICSCODE_ENABLE_EXA`	boolean	Enable Exa web search tools
`PHYSICSCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD`	string	Enable basic auth for `serve`/`web`
`PHYSICSCODE_SERVER_USERNAME`	string	Override basic auth username (default `physicscode`)
`PHYSICSCODE_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
`PHYSICSCODE_EXPERIMENTAL`	boolean	Enable all experimental features
`PHYSICSCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_ICON_DISCOVERY`	boolean	Enable icon discovery
`PHYSICSCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_DISABLE_COPY_ON_SELECT`	boolean	Disable copy on select in TUI
`PHYSICSCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_BASH_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS`	number	Default timeout for bash commands in ms
`PHYSICSCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_OUTPUT_TOKEN_MAX`	number	Max output tokens for LLM responses
`PHYSICSCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_FILEWATCHER`	boolean	Enable file watcher for entire dir
`PHYSICSCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_OXFMT`	boolean	Enable oxfmt formatter
`PHYSICSCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_LSP_TOOL`	boolean	Enable experimental LSP tool
`PHYSICSCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_DISABLE_FILEWATCHER`	boolean	Disable file watcher
`PHYSICSCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_EXA`	boolean	Enable experimental Exa features
`PHYSICSCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_LSP_TY`	boolean	Enable TY LSP for python files
`PHYSICSCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_MARKDOWN`	boolean	Enable experimental markdown features
`PHYSICSCODE_EXPERIMENTAL_PLAN_MODE`	boolean	Enable plan mode