RPC Mode

RPC mode enables headless operation of the coding agent via a JSON protocol over stdin/stdout. This is useful for embedding the agent in other applications, IDEs, or custom UIs. Note for Node.js/TypeScript users: If you’re building a Node.js application, consider using AgentSession directly from @bastani/atomic instead of spawning a subprocess. See src/core/agent-session.ts for the API. For a subprocess-based TypeScript client, see src/modes/rpc/rpc-client.ts.

Starting RPC Mode

atomic --mode rpc [options]

Common options:

--provider <name>: Set the LLM provider (anthropic, openai, google, etc.)
--model <pattern>: Model pattern or ID (supports provider/id and optional :<thinking>)
--name <name> / -n <name>: Set the session display name at startup
--no-session: Disable session persistence
--session-dir <path>: Custom session storage directory

Protocol Overview

Commands: JSON objects sent to stdin, one per line
Responses: JSON objects with type: "response" indicating command success/failure
Events: Agent events streamed to stdout as JSON lines

All commands support an optional id field for request/response correlation. If provided, the corresponding response will include the same id. If a complete saved provider/model default names a provider that remains unsupported after provider registration, the process stays live but prompt returns a correlated error with the generic configuration diagnostic before any user/model event is emitted. get_available_models and other non-prompt commands remain available. A successful explicit set_model, or a successful cycle_model that returns a different available model, clears the startup condition and allows later prompts. A null or unchanged cycle result does not clear it. Replacing the session applies the newly created session’s condition again. Supported providers with an unknown model or missing authentication retain ordinary automatic fallback behavior.

Framing

RPC mode uses strict JSONL semantics with LF (\n) as the only record delimiter. Atomic does not impose a size limit on RPC or isolated interactive-engine JSONL records. Commands, responses, events, and render frames are serialized in full. Clients and extensions must account for the memory and latency cost of large records and must not add a smaller line limit unless they intend to reject valid Atomic output. This matters for clients:

Split records on \n only
Accept optional \r\n input by stripping a trailing \r
Do not use generic line readers that treat Unicode separators as newlines

In particular, Node readline is not protocol-compliant for RPC mode because it also splits on U+2028 and U+2029, which are valid inside JSON strings.

Commands

Prompting

prompt

Send a user prompt to the agent. The command response is emitted after the prompt is accepted, queued, or handled. Events continue streaming asynchronously after acceptance.

{"id": "req-1", "type": "prompt", "message": "Hello, world!"}

With images:

{"type": "prompt", "message": "What's in this image?", "images": [{"type": "image", "data": "base64-encoded-data", "mimeType": "image/png"}]}

During streaming: If the agent is already streaming, you must specify streamingBehavior to queue the message:

{"type": "prompt", "message": "New instruction", "streamingBehavior": "steer"}

"steer": Queue the message while the agent is running. It is delivered after the current assistant turn finishes executing its tool calls, before the next LLM call.
"followUp": Wait until the agent finishes. Message is delivered only when agent stops.

If the agent is streaming and no streamingBehavior is specified, the command returns an error. Extension commands: If the message is an extension command (e.g., /mycommand), it executes immediately even during streaming. Extension commands manage their own LLM interaction via pi.sendMessage(). Input expansion: Skill commands (/skill:name) and prompt templates (/template) are expanded before sending/queueing. Response:

{"id": "req-1", "type": "response", "command": "prompt", "success": true}

success: true means the prompt was accepted, queued, or handled immediately. success: false means the prompt was rejected before acceptance. Failures after acceptance are reported through the normal event and message stream, not as a second response for the same request id. The images field is optional. Each image uses ImageContent format: {"type": "image", "data": "base64-encoded-data", "mimeType": "image/png"}.

steer

Queue a steering message while the agent is running. It is delivered after the current assistant turn finishes executing its tool calls, before the next LLM call. Skill commands and prompt templates are expanded. Extension commands are not allowed (use prompt instead).

{"type": "steer", "message": "Stop and do this instead"}

With images:

{"type": "steer", "message": "Look at this instead", "images": [{"type": "image", "data": "base64-encoded-data", "mimeType": "image/png"}]}

The images field is optional. Each image uses ImageContent format (same as prompt). Response:

{"type": "response", "command": "steer", "success": true}

See set_steering_mode for controlling how steering messages are processed.

follow_up

Queue a follow-up message to be processed after the agent finishes. Delivered only when agent has no more tool calls or steering messages. Skill commands and prompt templates are expanded. Extension commands are not allowed (use prompt instead).

{"type": "follow_up", "message": "After you're done, also do this"}

With images:

{"type": "follow_up", "message": "Also check this image", "images": [{"type": "image", "data": "base64-encoded-data", "mimeType": "image/png"}]}

The images field is optional. Each image uses ImageContent format (same as prompt). Response:

{"type": "response", "command": "follow_up", "success": true}

See set_follow_up_mode for controlling how follow-up messages are processed.

abort

Abort the current agent operation.

{"type": "abort"}

Response:

{"type": "response", "command": "abort", "success": true}

new_session

Start a fresh session. Can be cancelled by a session_before_switch extension event handler.

{"type": "new_session"}

With optional parent session tracking:

{"type": "new_session", "parentSession": "/path/to/parent-session.jsonl"}

Response:

{"type": "response", "command": "new_session", "success": true, "data": {"cancelled": false}}

If an extension cancelled:

{"type": "response", "command": "new_session", "success": true, "data": {"cancelled": true}}

State

get_state

Get current session state.

{"type": "get_state"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "get_state",
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "model": {...},
    "thinkingLevel": "medium",
    "isStreaming": false,
    "isCompacting": false,
    "steeringMode": "all",
    "followUpMode": "one-at-a-time",
    "sessionFile": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
    "sessionId": "abc123",
    "sessionName": "my-feature-work",
    "autoCompactionEnabled": true,
    "messageCount": 5,
    "pendingMessageCount": 0
  }
}

The model field is a full Model object or null. Its contextWindow is the model’s token budget. The sessionName field is the display name set via set_session_name, or omitted if not set.

get_messages

Get all messages in the conversation.

{"type": "get_messages"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "get_messages",
  "success": true,
  "data": {"messages": [...]}
}

Messages are AgentMessage objects (see Types).

Model

set_model

Switch to a specific model.

{"type": "set_model", "provider": "anthropic", "modelId": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"}

Response contains the full Model object:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "set_model",
  "success": true,
  "data": {...}
}

cycle_model

Cycle to the next available model. Returns null when fewer than two authenticated models are available in the active scope or catalog. When an unsupported saved default is blocking prompts, a successful cycle that returns a different model clears that condition; a null or unchanged result does not.

{"type": "cycle_model"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "cycle_model",
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "model": {...},
    "thinkingLevel": "medium",
    "isScoped": false
  }
}

The model field is a full Model object.

get_available_models

List all configured models.

{"type": "get_available_models"}

Response contains an array of full Model objects:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "get_available_models",
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "models": [...]
  }
}

The subprocess protocol returns full Model objects. The exported TypeScript RpcClient.getAvailableModels() keeps its smaller backward-compatible ModelInfo shape (provider, id, contextWindow, reasoning) and adds optional compat. When present, compat exposes constrained-sampling capability claims including supportsStrictTools, supportsStrictMode, canonical supportsOpenAIGrammarTools, and Atomic’s synchronized supportsGrammarTools alias. Treat absence as unknown/unsupported; do not infer enforcement from the provider name.

const models = await client.getAvailableModels();
const capabilities = models[0]?.compat;
if (capabilities?.supportsStrictTools) {
  // The selected model advertises Anthropic/Bedrock strict-tool support.
}

logout_provider

Remove a provider’s stored credential in the authoritative agent process, refresh its available-model catalog, and return the remaining authentication status and new catalog. Environment variables and models.json authentication are reported but are not modified.

{"type": "logout_provider", "provider": "github-copilot"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "logout_provider",
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "provider": "github-copilot",
    "authStatus": {"configured": false},
    "models": [],
    "scopedModels": []
  }
}

models preserves the refreshed catalog order. scopedModels is optional. If authentication remains through an environment variable, authStatus.source is "environment" and authStatus.label names the variable.

Thinking

set_thinking_level

Set the reasoning/thinking level for models that support it.

{"type": "set_thinking_level", "level": "high"}

Levels: "off", "minimal", "low", "medium", "high", "xhigh", "max". xhigh and max are available only when the active model’s capability mapping supports them; unsupported levels are clamped by the session model controls. Response:

{"type": "response", "command": "set_thinking_level", "success": true}

cycle_thinking_level

Cycle through available thinking levels. Returns null data if model doesn’t support thinking.

{"type": "cycle_thinking_level"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "cycle_thinking_level",
  "success": true,
  "data": {"level": "high"}
}

get_available_thinking_levels

Return the thinking levels supported by the current model, in cycle order.

{"type": "get_available_thinking_levels"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "get_available_thinking_levels",
  "success": true,
  "data": {"levels": ["off", "low", "medium", "high"]}
}

Queue Modes

set_steering_mode

Control how steering messages (from steer) are delivered.

{"type": "set_steering_mode", "mode": "one-at-a-time"}

Modes:

"all": Deliver all steering messages after the current assistant turn finishes executing its tool calls
"one-at-a-time": Deliver one steering message per completed assistant turn (default)

Response:

{"type": "response", "command": "set_steering_mode", "success": true}

set_follow_up_mode

Control how follow-up messages (from follow_up) are delivered.

{"type": "set_follow_up_mode", "mode": "one-at-a-time"}

Modes:

"all": Deliver all follow-up messages when agent finishes
"one-at-a-time": Deliver one follow-up message per agent completion (default)

Response:

{"type": "response", "command": "set_follow_up_mode", "success": true}

Compaction

compact

Run Atomic’s verbatim line compactor. The selected session model receives the complete active numbered transcript except for exactly the newest preserve_recent context-visible messages and returns bare start,end deletion records; Atomic validates them and mechanically reconstructs retained lines with (filtered N lines) markers. The default tail is two messages, with no user-turn alignment. A value of zero sends the entire active transcript and persists firstKeptEntryId: null. The command appends a durable compaction entry with details.strategy: "verbatim-lines".

{"type": "compact"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "compact",
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "compactedText": "[User]: fix the test\n(filtered 42 lines)\n[Assistant]: Fixed.",
    "firstKeptEntryId": "m7",
    "tokensBefore": 150000,
    "promptVersion": 3,
    "parameters": {
      "compression_ratio": 0.5,
      "preserve_recent": 2,
      "query": "fix the test"
    },
    "rung": "planned",
    "stats": {
      "linesBefore": 812,
      "linesDeleted": 417,
      "linesKept": 395,
      "rangeCount": 63,
      "tokensBefore": 150000,
      "tokensAfter": 72000,
      "percentReduction": 52
    },
    "backupPath": "/path/to/session.jsonl.2026-06-06T00-00-00-000Z.compact.bak"
  }
}

firstKeptEntryId is a string when at least one ordinary message remains outside compaction and null when none does. RPC clients must accept both values.

set_auto_compaction

Enable or disable automatic compaction when context is nearly full.

{"type": "set_auto_compaction", "enabled": true}

Response:

{"type": "response", "command": "set_auto_compaction", "success": true}

Retry

set_auto_retry

Enable or disable automatic retry on transient errors (overloaded, rate limit, 5xx).

{"type": "set_auto_retry", "enabled": true}

Response:

{"type": "response", "command": "set_auto_retry", "success": true}

abort_retry

Abort an in-progress retry (cancel the delay and stop retrying).

{"type": "abort_retry"}

Response:

{"type": "response", "command": "abort_retry", "success": true}

Bash

bash

Execute a shell command and add output to conversation context.

{"type": "bash", "command": "ls -la"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "bash",
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "output": "total 48\ndrwxr-xr-x ...",
    "exitCode": 0,
    "cancelled": false,
    "truncated": false
  }
}

While the command runs, Atomic emits ordered deltas correlated by the command id:

{"type":"bash_execution_update","id":"req-1","channel":"stdout","delta":"building...\n"}
{"type":"bash_execution_update","id":"req-1","channel":"stderr","delta":"warning\n"}

channel is exactly "stdout" or "stderr". Deltas preserve the order observed for that request; concurrent bash requests may interleave globally but never share IDs. Request ownership survives new_session, switch_session, import_session, fork, and clone while the command is running: later deltas still stream under the original ID, the replacement session is not contaminated, and exactly one ordinary response remains the terminal record for completion, cancellation, or error. If output was truncated, includes fullOutputPath:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "bash",
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "output": "truncated output...",
    "exitCode": 0,
    "cancelled": false,
    "truncated": true,
    "fullOutputPath": "/tmp/atomic-bash-abc123.log"
  }
}

How bash results reach the LLM: The bash command executes immediately and returns a BashResult. Internally, a BashExecutionMessage is created and stored exactly once in the session where that request started, even if an RPC session replacement completes before the command. The message does NOT emit an event. When the next prompt command is sent, all messages (including BashExecutionMessage) are transformed before being sent to the LLM. The BashExecutionMessage is converted to a UserMessage with this format:

Ran `ls -la`
```
total 48
drwxr-xr-x ...
```

This means:

Bash output is included in the LLM context on the next prompt, not immediately
Multiple bash commands can be executed before a prompt; all outputs will be included
No event is emitted for the BashExecutionMessage itself

abort_bash

Abort running bash commands. Omit requestId to retain the legacy behavior of aborting every active RPC-owned bash request, including requests that began before a session replacement, or provide the target bash command’s id to cancel only that request. Targeted and legacy cancellation remain isolated across concurrent IDs. Closing RPC cancels and drains remaining owned requests before shutdown.

{"id":"cancel-1","type":"abort_bash","requestId":"req-1"}

Response:

{"id":"cancel-1","type":"response","command":"abort_bash","success":true}

Session

get_session_stats

Get token usage, cost statistics, and current context window usage.

{"type": "get_session_stats"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "get_session_stats",
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "sessionFile": "/path/to/session.jsonl",
    "sessionId": "abc123",
    "userMessages": 5,
    "assistantMessages": 5,
    "toolCalls": 12,
    "toolResults": 12,
    "totalMessages": 22,
    "tokens": {
      "input": 50000,
      "output": 10000,
      "cacheRead": 40000,
      "cacheWrite": 5000,
      "total": 105000
    },
    "cost": 0.45,
    "contextUsage": {
      "tokens": 60000,
      "contextWindow": 200000,
      "percent": 30
    }
  }
}

tokens contains assistant usage totals for the current session state. contextUsage contains the actual current context-window estimate used for compaction and footer display. contextUsage is omitted when no model or context window is available. contextUsage.tokens and contextUsage.percent are null immediately after compaction until a fresh post-compaction assistant response provides valid usage data.

export_html

Export session to an HTML file.

{"type": "export_html"}

With custom path:

{"type": "export_html", "outputPath": "/tmp/session.html"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "export_html",
  "success": true,
  "data": {"path": "/tmp/session.html"}
}

switch_session

Load a different session file. Can be cancelled by a session_before_switch extension event handler.

{"type": "switch_session", "sessionPath": "/path/to/session.jsonl"}

Response:

{"type": "response", "command": "switch_session", "success": true, "data": {"cancelled": false}}

If an extension cancelled the switch:

{"type": "response", "command": "switch_session", "success": true, "data": {"cancelled": true}}

fork

Create a new fork from a previous user message on the active branch. Can be cancelled by a session_before_fork extension event handler. Returns the text of the message being forked from.

{"type": "fork", "entryId": "abc123"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "fork",
  "success": true,
  "data": {"text": "The original prompt text...", "cancelled": false}
}

If an extension cancelled the fork:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "fork",
  "success": true,
  "data": {"text": "The original prompt text...", "cancelled": true}
}

clone

Duplicate the current active branch into a new session at the current position. Can be cancelled by a session_before_fork extension event handler.

{"type": "clone"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "clone",
  "success": true,
  "data": {"cancelled": false}
}

If an extension cancelled the clone:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "clone",
  "success": true,
  "data": {"cancelled": true}
}

get_fork_messages

Get user messages available for forking.

{"type": "get_fork_messages"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "get_fork_messages",
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "messages": [
      {"entryId": "abc123", "text": "First prompt..."},
      {"entryId": "def456", "text": "Second prompt..."}
    ]
  }
}

get_entries

Get all session entries in append order (excluding the session header). The session is an append-only tree of entries with stable ids, so an entry id works as a durable cursor: pass the last entry id you have seen as since to get only entries strictly after it, even across client restarts. Unlike get_messages, this includes pre-compaction history and abandoned branches.

{"type": "get_entries"}

With a cursor:

{"type": "get_entries", "since": "abc123"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "get_entries",
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "entries": [
      {"type": "message", "id": "def456", "parentId": "abc123", "timestamp": "...", "message": {"role": "user", "...": "..."}}
    ],
    "leafId": "def456"
  }
}

leafId is the id of the current leaf entry (null for an empty session), so a client can tell in one round trip whether the active branch moved. If since does not match any entry id, the response is success: false.

get_tree

Get the session as a tree of entries. Each node is {entry, children, label?, labelTimestamp?}. A well-formed session has a single root; orphaned entries (broken parent chain) also appear as roots.

{"type": "get_tree"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "get_tree",
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "tree": [
      {
        "entry": {"type": "message", "id": "abc123", "parentId": null, "...": "..."},
        "children": [
          {"entry": {"type": "message", "id": "def456", "parentId": "abc123", "...": "..."}, "children": []}
        ]
      }
    ],
    "leafId": "def456"
  }
}

get_last_assistant_text

Get the text content of the last assistant message.

{"type": "get_last_assistant_text"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "get_last_assistant_text",
  "success": true,
  "data": {"text": "The assistant's response..."}
}

Returns {"text": null} if no assistant messages exist.

set_session_name

Set a display name for the current session. The name appears in session listings and helps identify sessions.

{"type": "set_session_name", "name": "my-feature-work"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "set_session_name",
  "success": true
}

The current session name is available via get_state in the sessionName field. To set the initial name when starting RPC mode, pass --name <name> or -n <name> to the atomic --mode rpc process.

Commands

get_commands

Get available commands (extension commands, prompt templates, and skills). These can be invoked via the prompt command by prefixing with /.

{"type": "get_commands"}

Response:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "get_commands",
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "commands": [
      {"name": "session-name", "description": "Set or clear session name", "source": "extension", "path": "/home/user/.atomic/agent/extensions/session.ts"},
      {"name": "fix-tests", "description": "Fix failing tests", "source": "prompt", "location": "project", "path": "/home/user/myproject/.atomic/prompts/fix-tests.md"},
      {"name": "skill:brave-search", "description": "Web search via Brave API", "source": "skill", "location": "user", "path": "/home/user/.atomic/agent/skills/brave-search/SKILL.md"}
    ]
  }
}

Each command has:

name: Command name (invoke with /name)
description: Human-readable description (optional for extension commands)
source: What kind of command:
- "extension": Registered via pi.registerCommand() in an extension
- "prompt": Loaded from a prompt template .md file
- "skill": Loaded from a skill directory (name is prefixed with skill:)
location: Where it was loaded from (optional, not present for extensions):
- "user": User-level (~/.atomic/agent/)
- "project": Project-level (./.atomic/)
- "path": Explicit path via CLI or settings
path: Absolute file path to the command source (optional)

Note: Built-in TUI commands (/settings, /hotkeys, etc.) are not included. They are handled only in interactive mode and would not execute if sent via prompt.

Events

Events are streamed to stdout as JSON lines. Most events do not include an id; bash_execution_update is the deliberate exception and uses the originating bash request ID.

Event Types

Event	Description
`agent_start`	Agent begins processing
`agent_end`	Agent completes (includes all generated messages)
`turn_start`	New turn begins
`turn_end`	Turn completes (includes assistant message and tool results)
`message_start`	Message begins
`message_update`	Streaming update (text/thinking/toolcall deltas)
`message_end`	Message completes
`tool_execution_start`	Tool begins execution
`tool_execution_update`	Tool execution progress (streaming output)
`tool_execution_end`	Tool completes
`bash_execution_update`	Correlated direct-bash stdout/stderr delta
`queue_update`	Pending steering/follow-up queue changed
`compaction_start`	Verbatim line compaction begins
`compaction_end`	Verbatim line compaction completes
`auto_retry_start`	Auto-retry begins (after transient error)
`auto_retry_end`	Auto-retry completes (success or final failure)
`summarization_retry_scheduled`	Retry scheduled for a transient compaction or branch-summary provider error
`summarization_retry_attempt_start`	Retried summarization request starts
`summarization_retry_finished`	Summarization retry loop completes
`extension_error`	Extension threw an error

agent_start

Emitted when the agent begins processing a prompt.

{"type": "agent_start"}

agent_end

Emitted when the agent completes. Contains all messages generated during this run.

{
  "type": "agent_end",
  "messages": [...]
}

turn_start / turn_end

A turn consists of one assistant response plus any resulting tool calls and results.

{"type": "turn_start"}

{
  "type": "turn_end",
  "message": {...},
  "toolResults": [...]
}

message_start / message_end

Emitted when a message begins and completes. The message field contains an AgentMessage.

{"type": "message_start", "message": {...}}
{"type": "message_end", "message": {...}}

message_update (Streaming)

Emitted during streaming of assistant messages. Contains both the partial message and a streaming delta event.

{
  "type": "message_update",
  "message": {...},
  "assistantMessageEvent": {
    "type": "text_delta",
    "contentIndex": 0,
    "delta": "Hello ",
    "partial": {...}
  }
}

The assistantMessageEvent field contains one of these delta types:

Type	Description
`start`	Message generation started
`text_start`	Text content block started
`text_delta`	Text content chunk
`text_end`	Text content block ended
`thinking_start`	Thinking block started
`thinking_delta`	Thinking content chunk
`thinking_end`	Thinking block ended
`toolcall_start`	Tool call started
`toolcall_delta`	Tool call arguments chunk
`toolcall_end`	Tool call ended (includes full `toolCall` object)
`done`	Message complete (reason: `"stop"`, `"length"`, `"toolUse"`)
`error`	Error occurred (reason: `"aborted"`, `"error"`)

Example streaming a text response:

{"type":"message_update","message":{...},"assistantMessageEvent":{"type":"text_start","contentIndex":0,"partial":{...}}}
{"type":"message_update","message":{...},"assistantMessageEvent":{"type":"text_delta","contentIndex":0,"delta":"Hello","partial":{...}}}
{"type":"message_update","message":{...},"assistantMessageEvent":{"type":"text_delta","contentIndex":0,"delta":" world","partial":{...}}}
{"type":"message_update","message":{...},"assistantMessageEvent":{"type":"text_end","contentIndex":0,"content":"Hello world","partial":{...}}}

tool_execution_start / tool_execution_update / tool_execution_end

Emitted when a tool begins, streams progress, and completes execution.

{
  "type": "tool_execution_start",
  "toolCallId": "call_abc123",
  "toolName": "bash",
  "args": {"command": "ls -la"}
}

During execution, tool_execution_update events stream partial results (e.g., bash output as it arrives):

{
  "type": "tool_execution_update",
  "toolCallId": "call_abc123",
  "toolName": "bash",
  "args": {"command": "ls -la"},
  "partialResult": {
    "content": [{"type": "text", "text": "partial output so far..."}],
    "details": {"truncation": null, "fullOutputPath": null}
  }
}

When complete:

{
  "type": "tool_execution_end",
  "toolCallId": "call_abc123",
  "toolName": "bash",
  "result": {
    "content": [{"type": "text", "text": "total 48\n..."}],
    "details": {...}
  },
  "isError": false
}

Use toolCallId to correlate events. The partialResult in tool_execution_update contains the accumulated output so far (not just the delta), allowing clients to simply replace their display on each update.

bash_execution_update

Emitted only for direct bash and non-intercepted user_bash RPC execution. Each event is {type, id?, channel, delta} where channel is "stdout" or "stderr"; use id to keep concurrent streams separate. Tool-call bash continues to use tool_execution_update and its toolCallId.

queue_update

Emitted whenever the pending steering or follow-up queue changes.

{
  "type": "queue_update",
  "steering": ["Focus on error handling"],
  "followUp": ["After that, summarize the result"]
}

compaction_start / compaction_end

Emitted when default Verbatim Compaction runs, whether manual or automatic. The result records deletion targets and stats rather than a generated summary.

{"type": "compaction_start", "reason": "threshold"}

The reason field is "manual", "threshold", or "overflow".

{
  "type": "compaction_end",
  "reason": "threshold",
  "result": {
    "compactedText": "[User]: fix the test\n(filtered 42 lines)",
    "firstKeptEntryId": "m7",
    "tokensBefore": 150000,
    "promptVersion": 3,
    "parameters": {"compression_ratio": 0.5, "preserve_recent": 2, "query": "fix the test"},
    "rung": "planned",
    "stats": {
      "linesBefore": 812,
      "linesDeleted": 417,
      "linesKept": 395,
      "rangeCount": 63,
      "tokensBefore": 150000,
      "tokensAfter": 72000,
      "percentReduction": 52
    }
  },
  "aborted": false,
  "willRetry": false
}

If reason was "overflow" and compaction succeeds, willRetry is true and the agent will automatically retry the prompt. Public prompt/RPC callers wait for that post-compaction continuation before the prompt is considered complete. If compaction was aborted, result is null and aborted is true. If compaction failed (e.g., API quota exceeded), result is null, aborted is false, and errorMessage contains the error description. result and errorMessage are independent. A mid-turn post-tool compaction can commit a boundary and then fail the provider hard-input-limit gate, so one compaction_end may carry both a non-null result and an errorMessage. Treat the result as a committed durable boundary in that case; the error describes the follow-up request that was not sent. If overflow recovery exhausts the same-model compact-and-retry attempt, compaction_end includes "unresolvedOverflow": true and an errorMessage. Workflow orchestration treats that signal as a context-length failure that can advance configured model fallback tiers. There is no context_compact command; Atomic reports it as an unknown command. Use compact. Only compaction_start and compaction_end events are emitted.

auto_retry_start / auto_retry_end

Emitted when automatic retry is triggered after a transient error (overloaded, rate limit, 5xx).

{
  "type": "auto_retry_start",
  "attempt": 1,
  "maxAttempts": 3,
  "delayMs": 2000,
  "errorMessage": "529 {\"type\":\"error\",\"error\":{\"type\":\"overloaded_error\",\"message\":\"Overloaded\"}}"
}

{
  "type": "auto_retry_end",
  "success": true,
  "attempt": 2
}

On final failure (max retries exceeded):

{
  "type": "auto_retry_end",
  "success": false,
  "attempt": 3,
  "finalError": "529 overloaded_error: Overloaded"
}

summarization_retry_scheduled / summarization_retry_attempt_start / summarization_retry_finished

Emitted when compaction planning or branch summarization retries after a transient provider error. These events use the same retry settings as automatic assistant-turn retries.

{
  "type": "summarization_retry_scheduled",
  "attempt": 1,
  "maxAttempts": 3,
  "delayMs": 2000,
  "errorMessage": "terminated"
}

{
  "type": "summarization_retry_attempt_start",
  "source": "compaction",
  "reason": "threshold"
}

For branch summaries, source is "branchSummary" and no reason is present. The loop then emits:

{"type": "summarization_retry_finished"}

extension_error

Emitted when an extension throws an error.

{
  "type": "extension_error",
  "extensionPath": "/path/to/extension.ts",
  "event": "tool_call",
  "error": "Error message..."
}

Extension UI Protocol

Extensions can request user interaction via ctx.ui.select(), ctx.ui.confirm(), etc. In RPC mode, these are translated into a request/response sub-protocol on top of the base command/event flow. There are two categories of extension UI methods:

Dialog methods (select, confirm, input, editor): emit an extension_ui_request on stdout and block until the client sends back an extension_ui_response on stdin with the matching id.
Fire-and-forget methods (notify, setStatus, setWidget, setTitle, set_editor_text): emit an extension_ui_request on stdout but do not expect a response. The client can display the information or ignore it.

If a dialog method includes a timeout field, the agent-side will auto-resolve with a default value when the timeout expires. The client does not need to track timeouts. Some ExtensionUIContext methods are not supported or degraded in RPC mode because they require direct TUI access:

custom() returns undefined
setWorkingMessage(), setWorkingIndicator(), setFooter(), setHeader(), setEditorComponent() are no-ops
getEditorText() returns ""
setToolsExpanded() and getToolsExpanded() maintain context-local expansion state; getChatRenderSettings().toolOutputExpanded reports the same value. This state is not sent through the client extension-UI protocol.
pasteToEditor() delegates to setEditorText() (no paste/collapse handling)
getAllThemes() returns []
getTheme() returns undefined
setTheme() returns { success: false, error: "..." }

Note: ctx.mode is "rpc" and ctx.hasUI is true in RPC mode because the dialog and fire-and-forget methods are functional via the extension UI sub-protocol. Use ctx.mode === "tui" to guard TUI-specific features like custom() that require a real terminal.

Extension UI Requests (stdout)

All requests have type: "extension_ui_request", a unique id, and a method field.

select

Prompt the user to choose from a list. Dialog methods with a timeout field include the timeout in milliseconds; the agent auto-resolves with undefined if the client doesn’t respond in time.

{
  "type": "extension_ui_request",
  "id": "uuid-1",
  "method": "select",
  "title": "Allow dangerous command?",
  "options": ["Allow", "Block"],
  "timeout": 10000
}

Expected response: extension_ui_response with value (the selected option string) or cancelled: true.

confirm

Prompt the user for yes/no confirmation.

{
  "type": "extension_ui_request",
  "id": "uuid-2",
  "method": "confirm",
  "title": "Clear session?",
  "message": "All messages will be lost.",
  "timeout": 5000
}

Expected response: extension_ui_response with confirmed: true/false or cancelled: true.

input

Prompt the user for free-form text.

{
  "type": "extension_ui_request",
  "id": "uuid-3",
  "method": "input",
  "title": "Enter a value",
  "placeholder": "type something..."
}

Expected response: extension_ui_response with value (the entered text) or cancelled: true.

editor

Open a multi-line text editor with optional prefilled content.

{
  "type": "extension_ui_request",
  "id": "uuid-4",
  "method": "editor",
  "title": "Edit some text",
  "prefill": "Line 1\nLine 2\nLine 3"
}

Expected response: extension_ui_response with value (the edited text) or cancelled: true.

notify

Display a notification. Fire-and-forget, no response expected.

{
  "type": "extension_ui_request",
  "id": "uuid-5",
  "method": "notify",
  "message": "Command blocked by user",
  "notifyType": "warning"
}

The notifyType field is "info", "warning", or "error". Defaults to "info" if omitted.

setStatus

Set or clear a status entry in the footer/status bar. Fire-and-forget.

{
  "type": "extension_ui_request",
  "id": "uuid-6",
  "method": "setStatus",
  "statusKey": "my-ext",
  "statusText": "Turn 3 running..."
}

Send statusText: undefined (or omit it) to clear the status entry for that key.

setWidget

Set or clear a widget (block of text lines) displayed above or below the editor. Fire-and-forget.

{
  "type": "extension_ui_request",
  "id": "uuid-7",
  "method": "setWidget",
  "widgetKey": "my-ext",
  "widgetLines": ["--- My Widget ---", "Line 1", "Line 2"],
  "widgetPlacement": "aboveEditor"
}

Send widgetLines: undefined (or omit it) to clear the widget. The widgetPlacement field is "aboveEditor" (default) or "belowEditor". Only string arrays are supported in RPC mode; component factories are ignored.

setTitle

Set the terminal window/tab title. Fire-and-forget.

{
  "type": "extension_ui_request",
  "id": "uuid-8",
  "method": "setTitle",
  "title": "atomic - my project"
}

set_editor_text

Set the text in the input editor. Fire-and-forget.

{
  "type": "extension_ui_request",
  "id": "uuid-9",
  "method": "set_editor_text",
  "text": "prefilled text for the user"
}

Extension UI Responses (stdin)

Responses are sent for dialog methods only (select, confirm, input, editor). The id must match the request.

Value response (select, input, editor)

{"type": "extension_ui_response", "id": "uuid-1", "value": "Allow"}

Confirmation response (confirm)

{"type": "extension_ui_response", "id": "uuid-2", "confirmed": true}

Cancellation response (any dialog)

Dismiss any dialog method. The extension receives undefined (for select/input/editor) or false (for confirm).

{"type": "extension_ui_response", "id": "uuid-3", "cancelled": true}

Error Handling

Failed commands return a response with success: false:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "set_model",
  "success": false,
  "error": "Model not found: invalid/model"
}

Parse errors:

{
  "type": "response",
  "command": "parse",
  "success": false,
  "error": "Failed to parse command: Unexpected token..."
}

Types

Source files and installed definitions:

node_modules/@earendil-works/pi-ai/dist/types.d.ts - Model, UserMessage, AssistantMessage, ToolResultMessage
node_modules/@earendil-works/pi-agent-core/dist/types.d.ts - AgentMessage, AgentEvent
src/core/messages.ts - BashExecutionMessage
src/modes/rpc/rpc-types.ts - RPC command/response types, extension UI request/response types

Model

{
  "id": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
  "name": "Claude Sonnet 4",
  "api": "anthropic-messages",
  "provider": "anthropic",
  "baseUrl": "https://api.anthropic.com",
  "reasoning": true,
  "input": ["text", "image"],
  "contextWindow": 200000,
  "maxTokens": 16384,
  "cost": {
    "input": 3.0,
    "output": 15.0,
    "cacheRead": 0.3,
    "cacheWrite": 3.75
  }
}

contextWindow is the model’s token budget used by Atomic’s local budgeting, footer/stats, and compaction logic.

UserMessage

{
  "role": "user",
  "content": "Hello!",
  "timestamp": 1733234567890
}

The content field can be a string or an array of TextContent/ImageContent blocks.

AssistantMessage

{
  "role": "assistant",
  "content": [
    {"type": "text", "text": "Hello! How can I help?"},
    {"type": "thinking", "thinking": "User is greeting me..."},
    {"type": "toolCall", "id": "call_123", "name": "bash", "arguments": {"command": "ls"}}
  ],
  "api": "anthropic-messages",
  "provider": "anthropic",
  "model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
  "usage": {
    "input": 100,
    "output": 50,
    "cacheRead": 0,
    "cacheWrite": 0,
    "cost": {"input": 0.0003, "output": 0.00075, "cacheRead": 0, "cacheWrite": 0, "total": 0.00105}
  },
  "stopReason": "stop",
  "timestamp": 1733234567890
}

Stop reasons: "stop", "length", "toolUse", "error", "aborted"

ToolResultMessage

{
  "role": "toolResult",
  "toolCallId": "call_123",
  "toolName": "bash",
  "content": [{"type": "text", "text": "total 48\ndrwxr-xr-x ..."}],
  "isError": false,
  "timestamp": 1733234567890
}

BashExecutionMessage

Created by the bash RPC command (not by LLM tool calls):

{
  "role": "bashExecution",
  "command": "ls -la",
  "output": "total 48\ndrwxr-xr-x ...",
  "exitCode": 0,
  "cancelled": false,
  "truncated": false,
  "fullOutputPath": null,
  "timestamp": 1733234567890
}

Attachment

{
  "id": "img1",
  "type": "image",
  "fileName": "photo.jpg",
  "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
  "size": 102400,
  "content": "base64-encoded-data...",
  "extractedText": null,
  "preview": null
}

Example: Basic Client (Python)

import subprocess
import json

proc = subprocess.Popen(
    ["atomic", "--mode", "rpc", "--no-session"],
    stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
    stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
    text=True
)

def send(cmd):
    proc.stdin.write(json.dumps(cmd) + "\n")
    proc.stdin.flush()

def read_events():
    for line in proc.stdout:
        yield json.loads(line)

# Send prompt
send({"type": "prompt", "message": "Hello!"})

# Process events
for event in read_events():
    if event.get("type") == "message_update":
        delta = event.get("assistantMessageEvent", {})
        if delta.get("type") == "text_delta":
            print(delta["delta"], end="", flush=True)
    
    if event.get("type") == "agent_end":
        print()
        break

Example: Interactive Client (Node.js)

See test/rpc-example.ts for a complete interactive example, or src/modes/rpc/rpc-client.ts for a typed client implementation. For a complete example of handling the extension UI protocol, see examples/rpc-extension-ui.ts which pairs with the examples/extensions/rpc-demo.ts extension.

const { spawn } = require("child_process");
const { StringDecoder } = require("string_decoder");

const agent = spawn("atomic", ["--mode", "rpc", "--no-session"]);

function attachJsonlReader(stream, onLine) {
    const decoder = new StringDecoder("utf8");
    let buffer = "";

    stream.on("data", (chunk) => {
        buffer += typeof chunk === "string" ? chunk : decoder.write(chunk);

        while (true) {
            const newlineIndex = buffer.indexOf("\n");
            if (newlineIndex === -1) break;

            let line = buffer.slice(0, newlineIndex);
            buffer = buffer.slice(newlineIndex + 1);
            if (line.endsWith("\r")) line = line.slice(0, -1);
            onLine(line);
        }
    });

    stream.on("end", () => {
        buffer += decoder.end();
        if (buffer.length > 0) {
            onLine(buffer.endsWith("\r") ? buffer.slice(0, -1) : buffer);
        }
    });
}

attachJsonlReader(agent.stdout, (line) => {
    const event = JSON.parse(line);

    if (event.type === "message_update") {
        const { assistantMessageEvent } = event;
        if (assistantMessageEvent.type === "text_delta") {
            process.stdout.write(assistantMessageEvent.delta);
        }
    }
});

// Send prompt
agent.stdin.write(JSON.stringify({ type: "prompt", message: "Hello" }) + "\n");

// Abort on CTRL+C
process.on("SIGINT", () => {
    agent.stdin.write(JSON.stringify({ type: "abort" }) + "\n");
});

​RPC Mode

​Starting RPC Mode

​Protocol Overview

​Framing

​Commands

​Prompting

​prompt

​steer

​follow_up

​abort

​new_session

​State

​get_state

​get_messages

​Model

​set_model

​cycle_model

​get_available_models

​logout_provider

​Thinking

​set_thinking_level

​cycle_thinking_level

​get_available_thinking_levels

​Queue Modes

​set_steering_mode

​set_follow_up_mode

​Compaction

​compact

​set_auto_compaction

​Retry

​set_auto_retry

​abort_retry

​Bash

​bash

​abort_bash

​Session

​get_session_stats

​export_html

​switch_session

​fork

​clone

​get_fork_messages

​get_entries

​get_tree

​get_last_assistant_text

​set_session_name

​Commands

​get_commands

​Events

​Event Types

​agent_start

​agent_end

​turn_start / turn_end

​message_start / message_end

​message_update (Streaming)

​tool_execution_start / tool_execution_update / tool_execution_end

​bash_execution_update

​queue_update

​compaction_start / compaction_end

​auto_retry_start / auto_retry_end

​summarization_retry_scheduled / summarization_retry_attempt_start / summarization_retry_finished

​extension_error

​Extension UI Protocol

​Extension UI Requests (stdout)

​select

​confirm

​input

​editor

​notify

​setStatus

​setWidget

​setTitle

​set_editor_text

​Extension UI Responses (stdin)

​Value response (select, input, editor)

​Confirmation response (confirm)

​Cancellation response (any dialog)

​Error Handling

​Types

​Model

RPC Mode

Starting RPC Mode

Protocol Overview

Framing

Commands

Prompting

prompt

steer

follow_up

abort

new_session

State

get_state

get_messages

Model

set_model

cycle_model

get_available_models

logout_provider

Thinking

set_thinking_level

cycle_thinking_level

get_available_thinking_levels

Queue Modes

set_steering_mode

set_follow_up_mode

Compaction

compact

set_auto_compaction

Retry

set_auto_retry

abort_retry

Bash

bash

abort_bash

Session

get_session_stats

export_html

switch_session

fork

clone

get_fork_messages

get_entries

get_tree

get_last_assistant_text

set_session_name

Commands

get_commands

Events

Event Types

agent_start

agent_end

turn_start / turn_end

message_start / message_end

message_update (Streaming)

tool_execution_start / tool_execution_update / tool_execution_end

bash_execution_update

queue_update

compaction_start / compaction_end

auto_retry_start / auto_retry_end

summarization_retry_scheduled / summarization_retry_attempt_start / summarization_retry_finished

extension_error

Extension UI Protocol

Extension UI Requests (stdout)

select

confirm

input

editor

notify

setStatus

setWidget

setTitle

set_editor_text

Extension UI Responses (stdin)

Value response (select, input, editor)

Confirmation response (confirm)

Cancellation response (any dialog)

Error Handling

Types

Model