VT Code is a Rust CLI/TUI coding agent that works semantically on code (Tree-sitter + ast-grep), routes across multiple LLMs (incl. local via Ollama), and integrates with editors via ACP and external tools via MCP. It focuses on safety (workspace boundaries, per-tool Allow/Prompt/Deny, sandboxed commands/timeouts) and reproducibility (TOML config, caching, summarization).

What’s different: - AST-aware search/refactors with preview-before-apply - Provider-agnostic routing with failover and cost/latency-aware caching - Policy-gated tools and strict workspace boundaries - Terminal-first ergonomics you can script

Install:

  cargo install vtcode
  # or
  brew install vinhnx/tap/vtcode
  npm install -g vtcode

Quick start:

  export OPENAI_API_KEY=...   # or another provider key
  vtcode
  vtcode ask "Find md5 usages across the repo and propose SHA-256 replacements (show diff)"
  vtcode ask "Search for .unwrap() on Result and suggest safer handling"

Status: research preview (MIT). Feedback welcome on ergonomics, ACP/MCP DX, safety defaults, and real-world AST refactor recipes.