# Show HN: Waylou / a multi-provider CLI coding agent / fork of Gemini CLI

> Source: <https://github.com/helis-d/waylou>
> Published: 2026-07-18 19:45:35+00:00

**Your terminal. Your models. Your rules.**

**Waylou ACE CLI** is an open-source AI coding assistant that runs directly
in your terminal. It connects to multiple AI models — Gemini, OpenAI,
Anthropic, Ollama, DeepSeek — through a single, unified interface.

Forked from Google Gemini CLI, Waylou extends the foundation with multi-provider support, autonomous operation, and an architecture designed for extensibility.

Status:Active development. Core functionality works. Provider layer and CLI features are under heavy development. Contributions welcome.

| Capability | Waylou ACE CLI | Gemini CLI |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-provider (Gemini, OpenAI, Claude, local) | ✅ | ❌ |
| BYOK — Bring Your Own Key | ✅ | ❌ |
| Provider orchestration & team routing | ✅ | ❌ |
| Headless / autonomous mode | ✅ | ✅ |
| MCP (Model Context Protocol) | ✅ | ✅ |
| ACE compliance specification | ✅ | ❌ |
| VS Code companion | ✅ | ❌ |
| Apache 2.0 open source | ✅ | ✅ |

```
# Install globally
npm install -g @waylou/cli

# Or run instantly
npx @waylou/cli

# Launch
waylou
```

Use any model, any provider. Swap mid-session. Route tasks to the right model based on capability, speed, or cost.

**Supported providers:**

**Google Gemini**— Gemini 2.5, 3.0 (1M token context)** OpenAI**— GPT-4, GPT-4o** Anthropic**— Claude 3.5, Claude 4** Ollama**— Local models (Llama, Mistral, Gemma)** DeepSeek**— DeepSeek V3, R1

Form teams of models with different roles — architect, coder, reviewer. The orchestrator distributes tasks using configurable strategies (capability-best, round-robin, parallel-vote).

The **Agentic Coding Environment** specification standardizes agent
behavior across three compliance levels:

**CORE**— File operations, shell commands, web fetch** STANDARD**— MCP integration, checkpointing, sandbox, memory** ENTERPRISE**— Policy engine, audit logging, team orchestration

Run in CI/CD pipelines, scripts, and automated workflows:

```
waylou -p "Review this PR and summarize the changes" --output-format json
```

Semantic code search combining vector embeddings (SQLite-vec) with AST analysis (Tree-sitter) for precise, relevant context retrieval.

Secure execution via macOS Seatbelt, Docker, or Podman.

- Node.js 20+
- npm 9+

```
npm install -g @waylou/cli
git clone https://github.com/helis-d/waylou.git
cd waylou
npm install
npm run build
node run.js
```

Set your provider API keys:

```
export GEMINI_API_KEY="your-key"      # Google Gemini
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-key"      # OpenAI
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-key"   # Anthropic
export DEEPSEEK_API_KEY="your-key"    # DeepSeek
```

For local models, install [Ollama](https://ollama.com) and run:

```
waylou --provider ollama
CLI (Ink/React UI)
    │
    ▼
Core Engine (Agent Loop, Tools, Prompts)
    │
    ▼
Provider Layer (Gemini | OpenAI | Anthropic | Ollama | DeepSeek)
    │
    ▼
AI APIs
```

See [ARCHITECTURE.md](/helis-d/waylou/blob/main/ARCHITECTURE.md) for the full system design.

| Package | Description |
|---|---|
`@waylou/cli` |
Terminal UI & CLI binary |
`@waylou/cli-core` |
Core agent logic, tools, prompts |
`@waylou/cli-provider` |
Multi-AI provider abstraction |
`@waylou/ace-spec` |
ACE specification & validation |
`@waylou/autonomous-engine` |
Headless / autonomous operation |
`@waylou/context-engine` |
Vector & AST semantic search |
`@waylou/sandbox` |
Secure execution environment |
`@waylou/cli-sdk` |
Public SDK for extensions |

See [ROADMAP.md](/helis-d/waylou/blob/main/ROADMAP.md) for planned features and priorities.

Contributions are welcome — especially for the **provider layer**, which is
the project's biggest development need. If you have experience with AI APIs,
SDKs, or model integrations, we'd love your help.

See [CONTRIBUTING.md](/helis-d/waylou/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) for the full guide.

This project is forked from
[Google Gemini CLI](https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli). We are
grateful to the original authors and contributors for building an
exceptional foundation.

Apache License 2.0 — See [LICENSE](/helis-d/waylou/blob/main/LICENSE) for details.