MyCoder

MyCoder is an AI-powered coding assistant that helps you accomplish a wide range of coding tasks through natural language commands. It's designed to understand your project context, implement features, fix bugs, and transform code based on your instructions.

What is MyCoder?

MyCoder is a command-line tool that uses AI to help you with software development tasks. By understanding your project's structure and requirements, MyCoder can autonomously execute complex coding tasks that would typically require significant manual effort.

Currently available as a research preview, MyCoder is built to work alongside developers, enhancing productivity while maintaining full control over the development process.

Key Features

AI-Powered: Leverages Anthropic's Claude API for intelligent decision-making
Extensible Tool System: Includes tools for file operations, shell commands, web browsing, and more
Parallel Execution: Can spawn sub-agents to work on different parts of a task simultaneously
Self-Modification: Capable of modifying code, including its own codebase
Smart Logging: Hierarchical, color-coded logging for clear visibility into actions
Human-Compatible: Works with standard project structures without special formatting

Getting Started

Prerequisites

OS: MacOS, Windows, or Linux
Node.js >= 20.0.0
An Anthropic API key

Installation

# Install globally
npm install -g mycoder

# Or use with npx
npx mycoder

Setting Up Your API Key

Before using MyCoder, you need to provide an Anthropic API key in one of two ways:

Set an environment variable:
```
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-api-key
```
Create a .env file in your working directory:
```
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-api-key
```

You can obtain an API key from Anthropic's website.

Basic Usage

Running with a Prompt

The simplest way to use MyCoder is to provide a natural language prompt:

mycoder "Fix all TypeScript build errors and ensure tests pass"

Interactive Mode

You can run MyCoder in interactive mode for ongoing conversation:

mycoder -i

Reading Prompts from Files

For complex tasks, you can prepare your prompt in a file:

mycoder --file=my-task-description.txt

Command Line Options

Option	Description
`[prompt]`	Main prompt text (positional argument)
`-i, --interactive`	Run in interactive mode, asking for prompts
`-f, --file`	Read prompt from a specified file
`-l, --logLevel`	Set minimum logging level (debug, verbose, info, warn, error)
`--tokenUsage`	Output token usage at info log level
`--headless`	Use browser in headless mode with no UI showing (default: true)
`--userSession`	Use user's existing browser session instead of sandboxed session (default: false)
`--pageFilter`	Method to process webpage content (simple, none, readability)
`-h, --help`	Show help
`-V, --version`	Show version number

Available Tools

MyCoder has access to a variety of tools that enable it to perform complex tasks:

Tool	Description	Use Case
readFile	Reads file content with size limits	Understanding project code and configuration
updateFile	Creates or updates files	Implementing features, fixing bugs, refactoring code
shellStart	Executes shell commands	Running builds, tests, installations, git operations
shellMessage	Interacts with running shell processes	Working with interactive CLIs, monitoring long-running processes
fetch	Makes HTTP requests	Accessing APIs, downloading resources
browseStart	Starts a browser session	Researching documentation, exploring solutions
browseMessage	Performs actions in an active browser	Navigating websites, extracting information
subAgent	Creates specialized sub-agents	Handling complex tasks in parallel
userPrompt	Requests input from the user	Getting clarification or confirmation
respawn	Resets agent context	Starting fresh after completing a subtask
sleep	Pauses execution	Waiting for asynchronous processes to complete
sequenceComplete	Finalizes the agent's work	Returning final results and summaries

Example Use Cases

MyCoder can help with a wide range of development tasks:

Code Migration & Updates

# Converting test frameworks
mycoder "Convert all Jest tests in the src/ directory to Vitest, updating any necessary configuration files and dependencies"

# Dependency updates
mycoder "Update all dependencies to their latest versions, handle any breaking changes, and ensure all tests pass"

Code Refactoring

# Class refactoring
mycoder "Refactor the UserService class in src/services/UserService.ts to use the repository pattern, update all files that use this class, and ensure tests pass"

# API modernization
mycoder "Convert all callback-based functions in the project to use async/await, update tests accordingly"

Feature Implementation

# CLI enhancement
mycoder "Add a new global --debug command line option that enables verbose logging throughout the application"

# New functionality
mycoder "Create a new caching system for API responses using Redis, including configuration options and unit tests"

Maintenance & Fixes

# Build fixes
mycoder "Fix all TypeScript build errors and ensure all tests pass"

# Test coverage
mycoder "Add unit tests for all untested functions in the src/utils directory, aiming for 80% coverage"

Documentation

# Documentation generation
mycoder "Generate comprehensive JSDoc documentation for all exported functions and update the API documentation in the docs/ directory"

# Architecture documentation
mycoder "Analyze the current codebase and create detailed architecture documentation including component diagrams and data flow"

Best Practices

Providing Context

MyCoder works best when it has clear context about your project:

Ensure your project has a descriptive README.md
Be specific about file paths in your prompts
Explain any non-standard patterns or conventions

Task Complexity

For optimal results with complex tasks:

Start with smaller, well-defined tasks
Build up to more complex changes as you get comfortable
For major refactorings, consider a step-by-step approach

Security Considerations

Since MyCoder can execute any command on your system:

Review the actions MyCoder proposes before confirming them
Use in trusted codebases and environments
Be cautious when allowing network access or third-party tool installation

Limitations

As a research preview, MyCoder has some limitations:

Context Window: Limited by Claude's context window size, which may affect reasoning about very large codebases
Language Model Limitations: May occasionally produce hallucinations or misunderstandings
Tool Constraints: Some tools have built-in constraints (like file size limits) to prevent resource issues
External Dependencies: Requires an internet connection to access the Claude API

Getting Help

If you encounter issues or have questions about MyCoder:

Join the MyCoder Discord community for support
Check the GitHub repository for documentation and updates
Use the --help command line option for quick reference

Warning: MyCoder can execute any command on your system that you ask it to. It can delete files, install software, and send data to remote servers. By using this tool, you acknowledge that the authors and contributors are not responsible for any damage that may occur as a result of using this tool.