gptme-howto
June 8, 2026 · View on GitHub
Copy-paste recipes for gptme — the terminal-based AI agent.
gptme runs real tools — bash, Python, file edits, git — directly in your terminal. This repo is a collection of task-oriented recipes showing exactly what to type.
Recipes
| Recipe | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Edit files surgically | Targeted patches, new files, multi-file edits |
| Review code with context | PR review, diff review, pre-commit checks |
| Debug a failing test | Reproduce, trace, fix, verify |
| Automate a workflow | Release scripts, deploy scripts, scaffolding |
| Refactor across files | Rename, extract, move, signature changes |
Quick start
# Install gptme
pipx install gptme
# Start a session
gptme "review my staged changes"
Full docs at gptme.org.
What makes gptme different
Most AI coding tools send your code to a web UI. gptme runs locally in your terminal with direct access to:
- Shell — runs real bash commands, reads output
- File tools — minimal-diff patch edits, not full rewrites
- Python REPL — executes code directly, not in a sandbox
- Git — reads diffs, checks history, stages and commits
- Web — fetches URLs and searches when needed
This means the recipes here are actually running — not simulations.
Contributing
Add a recipe:
- Create
howto-<topic>.mdfollowing the format of existing recipes - Add a row to the table above in
README.md - Open a PR
Good recipes: concrete prompt → observable tool flow → tip on how to adapt it.