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Get a coding agent running

Install OpenCode, choose an AI, and check it works in an empty folder. Then you can point it at any workshop page.

A coding agent is an app where an AI can read and write files in a folder on your computer, and run small programs, when you say yes. You tell it in plain words what you want. It does the work and shows you the result. The workshop pages link here so you can set one up once and use it for any of them.

This page recommends OpenCode. It is open source, it works on Mac, Windows and Linux, you choose which AI it uses, and its free models need no account. Other coding agents work too. If you already have one, skip to step 5.

1. Install the app

Go to opencode.ai/download and download the desktop app for your computer. Open the file you downloaded and follow its instructions. If your computer asks whether to let the app run, check that you downloaded it from that address.

Start with the desktop app. You do not need a code editor or any terminal commands.

If you like the terminal, OpenCode also runs there. On Mac and Linux, the official docs give this install line:

curl -fsSL https://opencode.ai/v2/install | bash

Read what a command does before you run it. The docs say Windows package managers are not supported, so on Windows use the desktop app or the standalone download.

2. Choose an AI

OpenCode is the app. The AI it talks to is called the model. Pick one in the app’s model picker. In the terminal version, type /models to see the choices and /connect to add a provider you already pay for.

Free models come in two kinds:

  • Always free. Often open models, like NVIDIA’s Nemotron. They stay free, but they are slower and make more mistakes.
  • Free while in testing. The company wants to see how people use the model, so what you type is the payment. Some are new models with code names, and they can be as good as paid ones.

Each model has its own rule about what happens to what you type. Some keep it for a while, and some may use it to improve the model. The OpenCode Zen page lists the rule for each free model. Read the rule for the model you pick. The list changes often, and free offers end.

Free models work with no account, but they have limits on how much you can use them. For more free use, make an account at OpenRouter, a service that connects to many models. On its free models you get 50 requests a day. If you buy $10 of credits, that goes up to 1,000 a day, and you do not have to spend the credits (OpenRouter’s limits). To connect it, create a key on its site, then type /connect in OpenCode and choose OpenRouter. For any other paid provider, follow the app’s connection steps. A chatbot subscription does not always include use in other apps. Type keys and passwords only into the provider’s sign-in screen or the app’s settings. Never paste them into the chat.

3. Make a folder for practice

Make a new folder called ai-practice somewhere easy to find, such as your Documents folder. An agent works inside the folder you open. Start with an empty one. Do not start with a folder full of your own files.

4. Make it ask before it acts

Out of the box, OpenCode does not ask. It changes files and runs commands by itself, and it can reach outside the folder you opened. Change that first. In OpenCode, open ai-practice as a project and send this message:

Add these three rules to the "permissions" list in my OpenCode settings file at
~/.config/opencode/opencode.json. Create the file if it is not there, and keep
anything already in it.
{ "action": "edit", "resource": "*", "effect": "ask" }
{ "action": "shell", "resource": "*", "effect": "ask" }
{ "action": "external_directory", "resource": "*", "effect": "ask" }
Show me the file, then tell me to restart OpenCode.

Close OpenCode and open it again. From now on it stops and asks before it changes a file, runs a command or leaves the folder. You can answer once, or always for that kind of request. The settings apply to every folder.

Other coding agents have their own settings for this, and many ask by default. Check yours.

5. Check it works

Open ai-practice again and send this message:

I'm learning to use a coding agent. Tell me which folder we're working in.
Create a file called hello.txt containing "This is a made-up example."
Then read it back. Don't change anything else.

The agent should ask before it makes the file. Read the request, then say yes. If it makes the file without asking, go back to step 4. Look in the folder yourself: hello.txt should be there with that sentence in it. Now you have an agent that works, and it asks first.

What to know before you use it

  • Read what it wants to do. An agent can create, change and delete files. Read each request before you say yes. Do not turn its questions off to go faster.
  • Keep it in one folder. Open only the folder for the job.
  • What you type goes to the AI company. Your messages, and any file the agent reads, are sent to the model. Use made-up examples until you have read the provider’s terms.
  • Only point it at pages you trust. An agent reads a web page as instructions it might follow. A page from a stranger can try to trick it.
  • Ask it to explain. “Explain what you just did, in plain words” is always a fair thing to say.

Other coding agents

Everything on the workshop pages works with any coding agent that can read and change files in a folder. These are the main ones. Check the price and the rules yourself, because they change often.

  • OpenCode: open source, with a choice of many AIs, including free ones. This is the one to start with.
  • Claude Code: from Anthropic. It needs a paid Claude plan or a paid developer account.
  • Codex: from OpenAI.
  • Antigravity: from Google, which now points free users of its Gemini tools here.

Point it at a workshop page

Some workshop pages have a sentence for you to paste into your agent. It names a plain-text guide, and your agent reads the guide and takes you through it one step at a time. The first one is the personal library app.

If something does not work

  • No answer. Check that a model is chosen, its provider is connected, and you are online. If the app mentions a limit, check with the provider.
  • It describes a file but does not make it. Check that you answered its question, and that it is not in a planning-only mode.
  • The app asks for a key. Follow the provider’s connection steps. Do not ask the AI to make up a key.
  • You need help. Try OpenCode’s troubleshooting guide. Use a made-up example when you describe the problem, and leave account details and keys out of screenshots.

Sources checked November 8, 2026: OpenCode docs, download page, OpenCode Zen, OpenRouter limits.