aether-agent

aether-agent

The pip/pipx front door to Aether Agent by Aether AI — an open-source terminal coding agent that edits your repository, runs your chosen checks, and reports verified results, through hosted models or local Ollama.

pipx install aether-agent
aether-agent auth login
aether-agent code --test-cmd "npm test" "fix the failing test"

Aether Agent itself is a Node program, published to npm as aether-agents. This package installs and runs it, so a Python-first machine can get the agent with the installer it already uses. It is the same agent and the same commands — not a reimplementation, and not a second interface to keep in sync.

Requires Node 24+ on PATH (the agent's own requirement) and Python 3.10+.

What it actually does

• Forwards everything. Every argument that is not in the self namespace goes to the real aether CLI unchanged, and its exit code becomes this process's exit code. aether-agent code, aether-agent doctor, aether-agent sessions, and the slash commands inside the REPL all behave exactly as documented in COMMANDS.md.
• Installs the same agent the npm route does. By default it fetches the npm latest dist-tag, so pipx install aether-agent and npm install -g aether-agents@latest land on the same agent. Pin a specific one with self install --npm-version 0.3.1 or AETHER_AGENT_NPM_VERSION. Installation goes into a private prefix under your own data directory, with --ignore-scripts, so it needs no administrator rights and runs no package lifecycle scripts.
• Defers to an agent you already have. If aether is already on PATH, that is the one it runs. It never installs a second copy behind your back.
• Adds no dependencies. It shells out to node and npm, which the agent requires anyway.

The self namespace

Launcher-owned commands are namespaced so they can never shadow an agent command — aether doctor is the agent's, aether-agent self doctor is the launcher's.

aether-agent self install              # install or update the agent CLI
aether-agent self install --npm-version 0.3.1
aether-agent self doctor               # node, npm, install root, and which aether would run
aether-agent self path                 # print that binary's path
aether-agent self uninstall            # remove only what this launcher installed

self install is optional: the first forwarded command installs the agent if it is missing. Run it again later to update to the current latest.

This package's own version tracks the repository's main, so the launcher and the agent release together; it is not the version installed. aether-agent self doctor prints both.

Environment

The agent's own variables — AETHER_API_KEY, OLLAMA_HOST, and the rest — are read by the agent, not by this launcher, and are documented in COMMANDS.md.

Which install should I use?

Use whichever matches how you manage tools. They install the same agent:

pipx install aether-agent                              # this package
npm install -g aether-agents@latest --ignore-scripts   # npm directly

pipx keeps the launcher in its own environment; the agent still lands in the launcher's prefix rather than in your Python environment.

Where the authority stays

Repository tools, permission decisions, session records, and verification run on your machine under the agent, exactly as they do for the npm install — this launcher only starts it. Hosted runs send the task and context you provide to the Aether API; the local Ollama route needs no Aether account. See the security policy.

Apache-2.0 · Aether AI · NOTICE.md