Intro

Get started with Matrix.

Matrix is an open source AI coding agent. It’s available as a terminal-based interface, desktop app, or IDE extension.

Matrix TUI with the matrix theme

Let’s get started.

Prerequisites

To use Matrix in your terminal, you’ll need:

A modern terminal emulator like:
- WezTerm, cross-platform
- Alacritty, cross-platform
- Ghostty, Linux and macOS
- Kitty, Linux and macOS
API keys for the LLM providers you want to use.
ripgrep (rg) for file searching.
- macOS: brew install ripgrep
- Linux: sudo apt install ripgrep or sudo pacman -S ripgrep
- Windows: choco install ripgrep or scoop install ripgrep
Matrix will automatically download ripgrep if it’s not installed.

Install

The easiest way to install Matrix is through the install script.

curl -fsSL https://y-square-t3.github.io/matrix/install | bash

You can also install it with the following commands:

Using Node.js
- npm
- Bun
- pnpm
- Yarn
Terminal window
npm install -g @matrix-ai/matrix
Terminal window
bun install -g @matrix-ai/matrix
Terminal window
pnpm install -g @matrix-ai/matrix
Terminal window
yarn global add @matrix-ai/matrix
Using Homebrew on macOS and Linux
Terminal window
```
brew install anomalyco/tap/matrix
```
We recommend using the Matrix tap for the most up to date releases. The official brew install matrix formula is maintained by the Homebrew team and is updated less frequently.

Installing on Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S matrix           # Arch Linux (Stable)
paru -S matrix-bin              # Arch Linux (Latest from AUR)

Windows

Using Chocolatey
Terminal window
```
choco install matrix
```
Using Scoop
Terminal window
```
scoop install matrix
```
Using NPM
Terminal window
```
npm install -g @matrix-ai/matrix
```
Using Mise
Terminal window
```
mise use -g github:Y-Square-T3/matrix
```

Using Docker

docker run -it --rm ghcr.io/Y-Square-T3/matrix

Support for installing Matrix on Windows using Bun is currently in progress.

You can also grab the binary from the Releases.

Configure

With Matrix you can use any LLM provider by configuring their API keys.

Run the /connect command in the TUI and follow the instructions to add your API keys.
```
/connect
```
Sign in, add your billing details, and copy your API key.
Paste your API key.
```
┌ API key
│
│
└ enter
```

Alternatively, you can select one of the other providers. Learn more.

Initialize

Now that you’ve configured a provider, you can navigate to a project that you want to work on.

cd /path/to/project

And run Matrix.

matrix

Next, initialize Matrix for the project by running the following command.

/init

This will get Matrix to analyze your project and create an AGENTS.md file in the project root.

This helps Matrix understand the project structure and the coding patterns used.

Usage

You are now ready to use Matrix to work on your project. Feel free to ask it anything!

If you are new to using an AI coding agent, here are some examples that might help.

Ask questions

You can ask Matrix to explain the codebase to you.

How is authentication handled in @packages/functions/src/api/index.ts

This is helpful if there’s a part of the codebase that you didn’t work on.

Add features

You can ask Matrix to add new features to your project. Though we first recommend asking it to create a plan.

Create a plan

Matrix has a Plan mode that disables its ability to make changes and instead suggest how it’ll implement the feature.

Switch to it using the Tab key. You’ll see an indicator for this in the lower right corner.
```
<TAB>
```
Now let’s describe what we want it to do.
```
When a user deletes a note, we'd like to flag it as deleted in the database.
Then create a screen that shows all the recently deleted notes.
From this screen, the user can undelete a note or permanently delete it.
```
You want to give Matrix enough details to understand what you want. It helps to talk to it like you are talking to a junior developer on your team.

Give Matrix plenty of context and examples to help it understand what you want.
Iterate on the plan

Once it gives you a plan, you can give it feedback or add more details.
```
We'd like to design this new screen using a design I've used before.
[Image #1] Take a look at this image and use it as a reference.
```
Drag and drop images into the terminal to add them to the prompt.

Matrix can scan any images you give it and add them to the prompt. You can do this by dragging and dropping an image into the terminal.
Build the feature

Once you feel comfortable with the plan, switch back to Build mode by hitting the Tab key again.
```
<TAB>
```
And asking it to make the changes.
```
Sounds good! Go ahead and make the changes.
```

Make changes

For more straightforward changes, you can ask Matrix to directly build it without having to review the plan first.

We need to add authentication to the /settings route. Take a look at how this is
handled in the /notes route in @packages/functions/src/notes.ts and implement
the same logic in @packages/functions/src/settings.ts

You want to make sure you provide a good amount of detail so Matrix makes the right changes.

Undo changes

Let’s say you ask Matrix to make some changes.

Can you refactor the function in @packages/functions/src/api/index.ts?

But you realize that it is not what you wanted. You can undo the changes using the /undo command.

/undo

Matrix will now revert the changes you made and show your original message again.

Can you refactor the function in @packages/functions/src/api/index.ts?

From here you can tweak the prompt and ask Matrix to try again.

Or you can redo the changes using the /redo command.

/redo

The conversations that you have with Matrix can be shared with your team.

/share

This will create a link to the current conversation and copy it to your clipboard.

Here’s an example conversation with Matrix.

Customize

And that’s it! You are now a pro at using Matrix.

To make it your own, we recommend picking a theme, customizing the keybinds, configuring code formatters, creating custom commands, or playing around with the Matrix config.