Codebuff

Get started with Codebuff

1. Install Codebuff

Enter the following in your terminal, which could be inside your favorite IDE (VSCode, Cursor, etc.).

bash
npm install -g codebuff

2. Navigate to your project directory

bash
cd /path/to/your-repo

3. Run Codebuff

bash
codebuff

Codebuff has multiple modes: plan for planning without file changes, max for better results at higher cost and time. You can invoke them in the slash menu with /mode.

4. Initialize Your Project (Optional)

Run the /init command inside Codebuff to set up project-specific files:

text
/init

What /init Creates

  • knowledge.md — A starter file for documenting your project's setup commands, architecture, and coding conventions. Codebuff reads this to understand your project better.
  • .agents/types/ — TypeScript type definitions for creating custom agents.

When to Use /init

  • New projects — if you don't already have an AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md (Codebuff will also read these files).
  • Building custom agents — running /init is the first step to creating your own agents!

Troubleshooting

If you run into issues during installation:

  1. Permission issues — The best fix is to install Node.js using nvm or fnm, which avoids permission problems entirely. Then run npm install -g codebuff again.

  2. Still Having Problems?

    • On Mac/Linux, you can fix permissions with: sudo chown -R $(whoami) $(npm config get prefix)/{lib/node_modules,bin,share}
    • On Windows, run your terminal as administrator

Troubleshooting | Discord

FAQ