Codient — A Multi-Model AI Coding Assistant for Your Terminal (and VSCode)

Developer Hamid Samak released Codient, an open-source command-line tool that drives Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and DeepSeek through their web UIs via Selenium automation, allowing users to switch models per task without paid APIs. The tool supports file editing with automatic backups, diff reports, and a VSCode extension, and is available on GitHub.

Most AI coding assistants lock you into one model and one workflow. Codient takes a different approach: it's a command-line tool that drives Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and DeepSeek through their actual web sessions — so you use the accounts you already have, switch models per-task, and keep full control over what gets changed in your codebase. It ships two parts: Project site: codient.ir https://codient.ir Instead of routing your code through a paid API, Codient automates a real browser session via Selenium against the AI's web UI. That means: CLI Command ↓ Python Engine ↓ Selenium Automation ↓ AI Web UI Claude / ChatGPT / Gemini / DeepSeek ↓ AI Response Parsing ↓ if AI requests more files → follow-up loop, max 5 rounds File System Update / Diff / Backup Requirements: Python 3.8+, Google Chrome, and a matching ChromeDriver. git clone https://github.com/hamidsamak/codient.git cd codient python3 -m venv venv venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt Add it to your PATH so you can run codient from anywhere: bash mkdir -p ~/.local/bin cat ~/.local/bin/codient << EOF /bin/bash exec "$ pwd /venv/bin/python" "$ pwd /codient" "\$@" EOF chmod +x ~/.local/bin/codient echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' ~/.bashrc && source ~/.bashrc Using WSL Ubuntu? There's a dedicated WSL setup guide for getting Chrome/ChromeDriver working. Before using a model, open a browser session and log in once — the session is saved for future runs: codient --browser --model claude codient --browser --model gemini codient --browser --model chatgpt codient --browser --model deepseek Basic usage default model is DeepSeek : codient "Fix this code" file1.py file2.py Pick a specific model: codient --model claude "Fix this code" app.py Apply changes directly, with an automatic backup: codient --overwrite "Refactor this code" main.py Pass read-only reference files with --context ; anything after -- is an editable target: codient "Improve architecture" --context utils.py config.py -- main.py If you skip --overwrite , Codient generates a visual HTML diff report instead of touching any files, and opens it in your browser automatically. If the AI needs to see more files to finish the task, Codient detects that request, looks for the files locally, and — if it can't find one — asks you for the path. This repeats for up to 5 rounds until the AI has everything it needs. In --non-interactive mode useful for CI or the VSCode extension , missing files are skipped automatically and the AI is told to create them from scratch instead of prompting you. Keep separate logins for different accounts or purposes: codient --browser --profile work codient --profile work "Fix this code" app.py codient --list-profiles Every modified file is backed up before it's touched: codient --rollback main.py codient --rollback main.py --timestamp 20250101123000 The extension is a thin front-end over the same CLI engine. Once installed, open the Command Palette Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P and use: Settings you can configure: | Setting | Default | Description | |---|---|---| codient.model | default | claude , chatgpt , gemini , or deepseek | codient.proxy | empty | e.g. http://127.0.0.1:8080 | codient.profile | default | Chrome profile to use | npm install -g @vscode/vsce vsce package code --install-extension codient- .vsix Codient is still an early, actively developed project — feedback, issues, and stars are very welcome. If you work with multiple AI coding assistants and want one consistent CLI/editor workflow across all of them, give it a try: There's also a video walkthrough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rxg5bH-JLo covering installation and usage end-to-end.