Right AI for the Job
fai works with 14 coding agents - CLI tools, IDEs, VS Code extensions, and background daemons. You choose the agent. fai handles session context, orient injection, and log capture regardless of which one you pick.
Launch any agent
fai --agent <name>
Every agent gets the same vault context. Your FAI-PROJECT.md is injected into the agent's native config format before the session starts.
The 14 built-in agents
CLI agents - block until you exit
These run as a blocking subprocess in your terminal. fai waits, captures logs, then exits.
| Agent | Command | Best for |
|---|---|---|
claude | claude | Deep reasoning, multi-file edits, complex tasks |
codex | codex | OpenAI Codex CLI |
opencode | opencode | TypeScript-native AI coding (SST) |
goose | goose | Agentic workflows, local AI (Block) |
aider | aider | Git-aware pair programming |
gemini | gemini | Large context windows, Google ecosystem |
amazon-q | q | AWS-native, Java/enterprise workloads |
fai --agent goose
fai --agent gemini
GUI agents - fire-and-forget, fai exits immediately
fai injects your context and opens the IDE. You take it from there.
| Agent | Opens | Best for |
|---|---|---|
windsurf | Windsurf IDE | Frontend, visual workflows (Codeium) |
cursor | Cursor IDE | Multi-file refactoring, codebase understanding |
fai --agent cursor
fai --agent windsurf
Extension agents - context injection, then your IDE
No binary to spawn. fai injects context into the extension's rules file and prints instructions.
| Agent | Rules file | Best for |
|---|---|---|
cline | .clinerules | Autonomous task execution in VS Code |
continue | .continuerules | Inline suggestions, code completion |
copilot | .github/copilot-instructions.md | GitHub Copilot Chat context |
jetbrains-ai | .aiassistant/rules/fai-context.md | JetBrains IDEs (Java, Kotlin, IntelliJ) |
fai --agent cline
fai --agent copilot
Daemon agents - hook-based, no subprocess
OpenClaw is a background daemon. fai installs hook packages; the daemon forwards events in real time.
| Agent | How it works |
|---|---|
openclaw | Hook install + daemon event forwarding |
fai --agent openclaw
Same session. Any agent.
Switching agents doesn't lose your context. Every agent session reads from the
same vault. FAI-PROJECT.md is re-injected on each fai --agent <name> call.
Your decisions, patterns, and working style travel with you.
What gets configured
| Task | How |
|---|---|
| Which coding agent | fai --agent <name> - or fai picks claude by default |
| Which synthesis model | fai synthesize - pick Ollama, OpenRouter, OpenAI, claude-code, etc. |
| Offline work | Configure a local model via fai synthesize (Ollama, LM Studio, LocalAI) |
| See what's installed | fai detect --agents |
Working offline
Capture always runs offline - zero cost, zero internet. Configure a local
synthesis model via fai synthesize (Ollama, LM Studio, LocalAI) to keep
knowledge extraction local too.