whereismyai
Elpis
Elpis is a coding-agent harness that manages explicit context and agent workflows in Linux terminals and desktops.
Elpis is an engineered agent harness for Linux built on OpenAI's Codex CLI. It provides explicit context control through a Context Ledger where users include or exclude instruction files, chosen files, and memories with their token costs. The desktop app and terminal app support chat with GPT, Claude, and Gemini models using ChatGPT or Claude subscriptions, API keys, or OpenRouter. Workflows allow a Mother agent to design a team of agents using patterns like Sequential, Parallel, Kahn graph waves, Recursive, and Voting. Elpis enforces ownership rules similar to Rust, ensuring agents own specific folders and worktrees with mandatory check steps.
Elpis at a glance
- Best for: Software engineer
- Runs on: Linux, CLI, Web
- Pricing: Free
- Released: July 2026
- Category: AI coding tool
- Website: github.com/masihmoafi/elpis
Key features
- Explicit context control with Context Ledger
- Agent workflow board with multiple patterns
- Rust-inspired ownership rules for agent file access
- Desktop app with chat and themes
- Terminal app with command-line interface
- Support for OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, and OpenRouter models
- Smart Prune and reasoning expiry
Use it for
- Managing coding agent context tokens
- Running multi-agent coding workflows
- Reviewing agent code with a Mother agent
- Drawing and pasting screenshots with Matilda
Companions
Tools that articles about Elpis recommend using with it, each with its job.
- Context7 — Provides up-to-date documentation for AI agents and code editors.
- Ollama — Run local models at zero marginal cost, with code kept on your machine.
- OpenRouter — Access over 500 models and 80 providers through one unified API.
- Daytona — Runs sessions in isolated sandboxes synced to git branches.
- Composio — Equips AI agents with tools, managed user auth, and sandboxes across 1,500+ apps
- Oh My OpenCode Slim — Lightweight multi-agent orchestration and background tasks.
Alternatives to Elpis
- HarnessRouter — One API to manage agent runtimes, sandboxes, and execution lifecycles.
- jevgrep — Reduces coding agent costs by providing targeted, relevant repository context.
- AG-UI — Standardizes agent-user interactions and generative UI for applications.
- ZCode — Integrates GLM-5.3 with multi-agent workflows and remote chat control.
- Ellipsis — Manage custom coding agents via repo configuration files and automated infrastructure.
- OpenCode — Works with 75+ model providers, local models, and existing subscriptions
- Adhdev — Orchestrates agents across machines with automated, test-gated git merging.
- Hermes IDE — Run different coding agents side by side in one interface with centralized reviews.
- Fusion Harness — Run 2 to 5 models simultaneously against the same working directory with a single-writer invariant.
- pstack — Improves AI coding agent outcomes with rigorous workflows.
- Magpie — It enables AI agents to use models not natively supported by their internal protocols.
- GitAgent — Manage AI agents with familiar git workflows like branching, diffing, and reverting.
All Elpis alternatives