The Autonomous Agent

Automation · pro

AITerm has two Pro agent modes for multi-step tasks. Both run every command through the same security gate as everything else, and both keep you in control.

/agent <task> — manual step-through. AITerm proposes one command at a time and runs each only after you approve it. Works on any shell.
/auto <task> — Autopilot. Provably-safe in-project steps can run automatically; anything risky pauses for your approval. Autopilot needs an integrated zsh/bash shell so AITerm can track when each command finishes; if you don't have one, AITerm tells you to use /agent instead.

Agent help from the app

The following sections are generated from AgentHelpCatalog.swift.

One input, you're in control

Type a shell command and it runs. Type plain English and AITerm streams back an editable command with a risk badge — whatever sits in the bar when you press Return is exactly what runs. Return runs, Esc discards. A leading space forces a literal command; a leading ? or :, or a trailing ?, forces an AI translation.

Quick AI helpers (Free)

/fix reads the last command's failure (plus your repo, branch, language) and proposes a correction shown struck-old vs green-new — it only runs when you press Return. If the AI asks you something, reply with /fix <your answer>. /explain gives a read-only, plain-English explanation of the last command and output — it never runs anything.

The agent (Pro)

/agent <task> — manual step-through. The AI proposes each command with its risk badge; it runs only when you press Return. Works on any shell.

/auto <task> — Autopilot. It runs on its own, but only auto-executes provably-safe steps that stay inside your project folder (reading and listing files, read-only git, and similar inert steps). Anything that could delete data, reach the network, run a build or script, or act outside the folder pauses for your one-tap approval. /auto needs an integrated zsh/bash shell; without one it points you to /agent.

The Autopilot panel

On a paused step: Approve (Return) · Edit · Skip · Stop. A step counter shows n / 15. The Trust this session toggle lets your project's build and dependency commands (npm install, cargo build, make…) auto-run for the rest of this run — only exact, safe build forms, never an arbitrary command, and your Safety Profile still applies. A run ends three ways: the AI reports it's done (green summary), it hits the 15-step ceiling, or you press Stop. After 3 failures in a row it pauses and offers a fix.

Staying in control

Risk badges — green safe runs; amber caution runs; red destructive runs on Return; the red Dangerous tier is the only one that forces a 2-second confirm. Click any badge for the reason, a safer alternative, and a rollback command.

Safety Profiles (AI menu) only ever tighten the gate, never loosen it: Personal (default, never hard-blocks) → Work (confirm destructive) → Production (confirm caution and destructive, block Dangerous) → Locked Down (confirm anything above safe, block destructive and up). They apply to agent steps too — so on Production a Dangerous step is blocked, and on Locked Down anything destructive is blocked outright, even in Autopilot.

Direct terminal typing — click inside a pane's terminal to type raw on the shell line; the AI gate steps aside (an "AI gate off" indicator shows). It returns to the AI bar when you click the bar, get a proposal, or after 15s idle. Doing this during an agent run pauses the agent; returning focus to the AI bar resumes it.

Dry Run (Settings) runs nothing — every command shows "🔎 Dry run — not executed". It's a per-session Settings toggle, not a slash command.

Good to know

Switching AI providers mid-run pauses the agent ("Provider changed — run paused. Re-confirm to continue.") so the next step doesn't silently hit a different model. Free vs Pro: /fix and /explain are Free; /agent, /auto, and /runbook are Pro (using one triggers an upsell, not an error).

The agent panel

When a run starts, a panel appears above the input bar showing the task, a checklist of completed steps (green check for success, red ✗ for a failure), and a status line that changes with the run:

Planning the next step… — the agent is thinking.
"Review the command below, then press Return to run it (Esc to stop)." — the proposed command is loaded in the input bar. Edit it if you want, press Return to approve and run it, or Esc to stop the run.
Running… — the approved step is executing.
"Paused after a failure — fix the command, retry, or stop." — see below.
A green checkmark with a summary when it finishes, or "Stopped." if you stopped it.

The panel's top-right button is Stop during a run and Dismiss once the run has finished or stopped. In /auto, a Trust this session toggle lets your project's exact build/dependency commands (like npm install, cargo build, make) auto-run for the rest of that run — only those exact safe forms, never an arbitrary command, and your Safety Profile still applies.

What auto-runs vs. what pauses

In /auto, only clearly-safe, in-project steps run on their own — things like reading a file, cd within the project, creating a directory under the project, or read-only git. Anything that deletes, reaches the network, runs over SSH, uses shell operators, or is otherwise risky pauses for your approval. In /agent, every step pauses for approval by design.

Limits and failure handling

A run stops when it finishes, when you stop it, or when it reaches the 15-step ceiling (the panel shows a n / 15 counter).
After 3 failures in a row, the run pauses and offers a fix — you can edit the command, retry, ask AI to fix it, or stop.

Taking over mid-run

If you click into the terminal and start typing while an agent is running, the agent pauses and holds its current step. When you return focus to the input bar, it resumes from where it paused. Pressing Esc stops the run entirely.