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[ARTICLE · art-133050] src=easiest.ai ↗ pub= topic=ai-agents verified=true sentiment=↑ positive

Show HN: Vim-like TUI agent, complete tasks in 20–80k tokens instead of 300k+

A developer released My Shell, a Vim-keybinding terminal agent that completes full tasks in 20–80k tokens instead of the 300k+ prefill tokens typical of most agent sessions, according to the project's Show HN post. My Shell uses local-first compaction to keep context on the user's machine, supports on-demand subagents with isolated contexts and thread pooling for parallel runs, and ships as a single bundle with no external packages. It runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows, in Docker, in PowerShell with full rendering and keybindings, and in VGA/VESA framebuffer mode without a terminal emulator; a web chat and a wgpu desktop app are also offered or planned.

read1 min views1 publishedSep 17, 2026

A terminal agent for people who want agentic workflows without the token bills.

Most agent sessions burn 300k+ prefill tokens. My Shell is built around small contexts: local-first compaction can complete a full task in 20–80k tokens.

Small contexts also make parallelism affordable - run multiple agents at once; thread pooling keeps each session lean without cost compounding.

It runs anywhere: macOS, Linux, and Windows, in Docker, and even in VGA/VESA framebuffer mode with no terminal emulator. It runs natively in PowerShell with full rendering and keybindings, no degraded experience.

• Vim keybindings throughout

• Markdown and LaTeX rendering in the terminal

• On-demand subagents with isolated contexts

• Compaction runs locally — your context stays on your machine

• Single bundle, no external packages required

It's opinionated: terminal-first, no chat UI, Vim keys. If that's not you, there's also a web chat with your name on it (and a fresh wgpu desktop app, coming soon™).

Comments URL: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49746030](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49746030)

Points: 1

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