Vibe CLI Self-Awareness
You are running inside Mistral Vibe, a CLI coding agent built by Mistral AI. This skill gives you full knowledge of the application internals so you can help the user understand, configure, and troubleshoot their Vibe installation.
Going Deeper
For facts not covered here, fetch the README:
https://github.com/mistralai/mistral-vibe/blob/main/README.md
It tracks the latest release, so check vibe --version before relying on it for
anything version-specific. Point the user at
https://docs.mistral.ai/vibe/code/overview for human-readable docs.
VIBE_HOME
The user's Vibe home directory defaults to ~/.vibe but can be overridden via
the VIBE_HOME environment variable. All user-level configuration, skills, tools,
agents, prompts, logs, and session data live here.
Directory Structure
~/.vibe/ config.toml # Optional user configuration, created on first saved setting hooks.toml # User-level hook definitions .env # API keys and credentials (dotenv format) vibehistory # Command history trusted_folders.toml # Trust database for project folders connector_bootstrap_cache.json # Short-lived connector discovery cache agents/ # Custom agent profiles (*.toml) prompts/ # Custom prompts (*.md) skills/ # User-level skills (each skill is a subdirectory with SKILL.md) tools/ # Custom tools (<name>.py); descriptions & overrides in tools/prompts/<name>.md logs/ vibe.log # Main log file session/ # Session log files plans/ # Session plans ~/.agents/ skills/ # Additional user-level skills directory
Project-Local Configuration
When in a trusted folder, Vibe also looks for project-local configuration:
.vibe/config.toml- Project-specific config (overrides user config).vibe/hooks.toml- Project-specific hooks (requires trusted folder).vibe/skills/- Project-specific skills.vibe/tools/- Project-specific tools (<name>.py); aprompts/<name>.mdbeside them sets or overrides the description of the tool named<name>— builtin, MCP, or custom (e.g..vibe/tools/prompts/bash.mdre-describesbash). Sametools/*.py+tools/prompts/*.mdlayout as the builtins..vibe/agents/- Project-specific agents.vibe/prompts/- Project-specific prompts.agents/skills/- Standard agent skills directory
Custom Python tools will be deprecated in a future release. Recommend skills for new extensions. When a user asks for migration help, inspect the custom tool's behavior and replace it with an equivalent skill.
AGENTS.md Discovery
AGENTS.md files provide directory-scoped instructions to the model. At startup,
Vibe loads ~/.vibe/AGENTS.md and every AGENTS.md from the project root up
through the trust chain. AGENTS.md files in subdirectories are discovered
lazily: when read_file reads a file below the project root, any AGENTS.md
between the file's parent and the project root is injected into
context.
Lifecycle: Exit, Update, Version, Resume
Exit
Chat input (case-insensitive): /exit, exit, quit, :q, :quit.
Keyboard: Ctrl+C / Ctrl+D — press twice within ~1s to quit. For Ctrl+C,
the first press instead interrupts the running job or clears the input if either
is present. Set ask_confirmation_on_exit = false to make Ctrl+D quit on the
first press (also toggleable in /config); Ctrl+C always requires a second
press. Ctrl+Z suspends on POSIX (resume with fg).
Update
Vibe never updates silently. With enable_update_checks = true (default), it
polls PyPI for mistral-vibe daily and prompts on the next launch when a
newer release exists; accepting runs uv tool upgrade mistral-vibe, then
brew upgrade mistral-vibe as a fallback. Disable via enable_update_checks = false. Run vibe update (equivalent to vibe --check-upgrade) to check
immediately, prompt to install a newer version if one exists, and exit. Initial
install: uv tool install mistral-vibe.
Version
vibe --version (or -v) prints it and exits. Not shown anywhere in-session.
Resume
vibe -c/--continue: most recent session in this terminal (TTY-scoped; falls back to latest in cwd).vibe --resume [SESSION_ID]: specific session; without an id, opens a picker.- In-session:
/resume(alias/continue).
Session titles
Each session has a title stored in meta.json (with title_source: auto or
manual). A session stays untitled until a background LLM call generates a
concise descriptive title (the --resume list shows a message preview until
then). Automatic generation runs only for the interactive CLI; other clients
(ACP, app server, programmatic) keep their own session management and fall back
to the message preview. Title generation runs on the session's active
model/provider — it substitutes a small fast Mistral model only when the active
provider is already Mistral and the allowlist permits it, so titles never reach a
new destination. The first title waits for the opening turn to finish (or a few
model steps) so it isn't generated off a thin tool-call preamble. On that cheap
fast model it also refreshes periodically and
after each compaction; when it falls back to the (possibly expensive) active
model it stays bounded — one title at the start plus one after a compaction, a
couple at most — so a large model isn't re-invoked every few turns. The refresh
keeps the opening intent and the latest exchange in view and feeds the previous
title back so it refines rather than restarts. /rename <title> sets a manual
title that auto-generation never overwrites. Set session_logging.generate_titles = false to turn automatic titles off (the --resume list and tab then use the
message preview). The current title also drives the terminal tab/window title
(OSC), updated on rename, auto-title changes, and resume; it never blocks a turn.
Session storage & folder scoping
Local sessions are written under ~/.vibe/logs/session/ (override with
session_logging.save_dir). Each session records the cwd it ran in. The
/resume picker, --continue, and bare --resume (no id) are scoped to the
current folder: only sessions whose cwd matches where Vibe is launched are
listed, so the same directory shows its own history and nothing else. Switch
folders to see a different set. The explicit --resume <SESSION_ID> form is
not folder-scoped: it resolves the session by id regardless of which folder
it ran in.
The first user message pins the resolved model alias to the session. Resuming
keeps that model even if the configured default changes. /model uses the same
config persistence target as other settings and also updates an existing
session override immediately; the session file is synchronized when the next
user message is sent. An explicit persistent target selected through /config
changes only that layer. /clear starts an unpinned conversation that follows
the current config again. If a selected model is no longer configured, Vibe
falls back to the current default model.
Configuration (config.toml)
The configuration file uses TOML format. When it does not exist, Vibe uses its
built-in defaults and creates a sparse file on the first persisted setting.
Settings can also be overridden via environment variables with the VIBE_
prefix (e.g., VIBE_ACTIVE_MODEL=local).
Custom prompt IDs are resolved from project-local .vibe/prompts/ first, then
from ~/.vibe/prompts/, and finally from the built-in bundled prompts.
Key Settings
toml# Model selection active_model = "mistral-medium-3.5" # Model alias to pin; omit or set "" to follow the server-routed default # UI preferences theme = "auto" # Follow terminal background, then OS light/dark preference disable_welcome_banner_animation = false autocopy_to_clipboard = true # Enable automatic copying of selected text to clipboard file_watcher_for_autocomplete = true # Refresh @ suggestions after workspace changes ask_confirmation_on_exit = true # Require a second Ctrl+D to quit (Ctrl+C always confirms) show_greeting = true # Show "Hello {name}" greeting below the banner at startup (Mistral providers, once per 24h) log_level = "WARNING" # Optional. DEBUG | INFO | WARNING | ERROR | CRITICAL — log level for ~/.vibe/logs/vibe.log
Copy and Text Selection
- Copy shortcuts:
Ctrl+YandCtrl+Shift+Cboth copy the current selection to the clipboard. When autocopy is enabled (default), releasing the mouse over a selection also copies automatically. Each successful copy flashes a brief inline "Copied to clipboard" notice. - Multi-click selection: Double-click selects a word, triple-click selects the current paragraph; dragging extends the selection at the same granularity.
toml# Behavior bypass_tool_permissions = false # Skip tool approval prompts system_prompt_id = "cli" # System prompt: "cli", "lean", or custom .md filename compaction_prompt_id = "compact" # Compaction prompt: built-in "compact" or custom .md filename enable_telemetry = true enable_update_checks = true # Daily PyPI check; prompts on next launch when a newer release exists enable_notifications = true enable_system_trust_store = false # Use OS trust store for outbound HTTPS api_timeout = 720.0 # API request timeout in seconds api_retry_max_elapsed_time = 300.0 # Retry budget for retryable API failures in seconds auto_compact_threshold = 200000 # Fallback for models without their own threshold # Git commit behavior include_commit_signature = true # Add "Co-Authored-By" to commits # System prompt composition include_model_info = true # Include model name in system prompt include_project_context = true # Include project context (git info, cwd) in system prompt include_prompt_detail = true # Include OS info, tool prompts, skills, and agents in system prompt # Voice features voice_mode_enabled = false narrator_enabled = false active_transcribe_model = "voxtral-realtime" active_tts_model = "voxtral-tts"
OpenTelemetry Tracing
Set enable_otel = true to export traces for agent, model, and tool operations
over OTLP/HTTP. enable_telemetry must also be enabled. With no explicit
endpoint, Vibe derives the telemetry endpoint and API key from the configured
Mistral provider, except public regional API hosts that do not serve telemetry.
To use another collector, set otel_endpoint to its base URL; Vibe appends
/v1/traces. Configure custom-collector authentication through the standard
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_* environment variables.
otel_redaction controls client-side span attribute redaction: default
redacts sensitive values, strict redacts sensitive attributes entirely, and
none disables redaction. Use none only for a collector trusted to receive
potentially sensitive prompt, response, and tool data.
tomlenable_otel = true otel_endpoint = "https://collector.example.com:4318" otel_redaction = "default"
Providers
toml[[providers]] name = "mistral" api_base = "https://api.mistral.ai/v1" api_key_env_var = "MISTRAL_API_KEY" backend = "mistral" [[providers]] name = "llamacpp" api_base = "http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1" api_key_env_var = "" extra_headers = { "X-Custom-Header" = "value" } # optional per-provider HTTP headers emits_finish_reason = false # set false for OpenAI-compatible endpoints that end # streams without a finish reason; avoids spurious # "incomplete stream" errors and retries (default true)
Models
toml[[models]] name = "mistral-vibe-cli-latest" provider = "mistral" alias = "mistral-medium-3.5" temperature = 1.0 input_price = 1.5 output_price = 7.5 cached_input_price = 0.15 # per million cached input tokens; omit to bill at input_price thinking = "high" # "off", "low", "medium", "high", "max" auto_compact_threshold = 200000 supports_images = true # vision-capable; allows @-mentioned images [[models]] name = "devstral" provider = "llamacpp" alias = "local"
Tool Configuration
toml# Additional tool search paths tool_paths = ["/path/to/custom/tools"] # Enable only specific tools (glob and regex supported) enabled_tools = ["bash", "read_file", "grep"] # Disable specific tools after enabled_tools filtering disabled_tools = ["web_fetch"] # Per-tool configuration [tools.bash] allowlist = ["git", "npm", "python"] [tools.git_bash] permission = "ask" shell = "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe" [tools.powershell] permission = "ask" shell = "powershell.exe"
The built-in shell surface is controlled by the managed_shell_tools_enabled config
field and the vibe_cli_managed_shell_tools GrowthBook experiment. The default variant
keeps the legacy one-shot bash tool, including its existing Windows behavior.
The managed variant exposes OS-native shell tools:
POSIX systems, including WSL where Vibe runs as Linux, get managed bash,
bash_output, bash_stdin, bash_sessions, and bash_log_file; native Windows
gets git_bash, git_bash_output, git_bash_stdin, git_bash_sessions, and
git_bash_log_file when Git Bash is available. If Git Bash is unavailable,
native Windows falls back to powershell, powershell_output,
powershell_stdin, powershell_sessions, and powershell_log_file.
Managed shell sessions return a session_id, inline output, a cursor for polling
more output, and a log path under ~/.vibe/shell-tool/sessions/. Long-running
commands can be left alive with background = true, and interactive commands can
be driven with the matching stdin tool.
POSIX bash reads permissions, allowlists, and denylists from [tools.bash].
Native Windows git_bash reads them from [tools.git_bash]; native Windows
powershell reads them from [tools.powershell]. Neither Windows tool reads
[tools.bash]. Git Bash is preferred when Vibe can resolve a usable bash.exe
from PATH, Git for Windows, or standard Git install locations. If Git Bash is
unavailable, the PowerShell resolution order is pwsh.exe, then
powershell.exe. cmd.exe is not used by the managed Windows shell tools.
Output polling uses byte offset cursors
(cursor / next_cursor), max_bytes caps per-call inline output, and
max_inline_bytes configures the default cap.
Special case — find command: Even if find is in the bash allowlist,
Vibe detects -exec, -execdir, -ok, and -okdir predicates and will
prompt for user permission before running the command.
File Tool Permission Resolution
File-based tools (read, grep, write_file, edit) resolve
permissions in this order (first match wins):
- Scratchpad path → always allowed
- denylist glob match → always denied
- allowlist glob match → always allowed
- sensitive_patterns match → requires approval
- Outside workdir → requires approval (or denied if
permission = "never") - Default → uses the tool's
permissionsetting
The denylist is checked before the allowlist — a path matching both lists is denied. Both are checked before the outside-workdir boundary, so the allowlist can still auto-approve access to directories outside the project.
Skill Configuration
toml# Additional skill search paths skill_paths = ["/path/to/custom/skills"] # Enable only specific skills enabled_skills = ["vibe", "custom-*"] # Disable specific skills disabled_skills = ["experimental-*"]
Agent Configuration
toml# Additional agent search paths agent_paths = ["/path/to/custom/agents"] # Enable/disable agents enabled_agents = ["ask", "plan"] disabled_agents = ["auto-approve"] # Opt-in builtin agents (only affects agents with install_required=True, e.g. lean) installed_agents = ["lean"] # Agent profile to use when --agent is not passed # (default: "accept-edits"). Valid values: "ask", "plan", "accept-edits", # "auto-approve", "lean" (only when listed in installed_agents), or any # custom agent name from ~/.vibe/agents/ or .vibe/agents/. Subagents # (e.g. "explore") are rejected. Applies in both interactive and programmatic # (-p/--prompt) mode. default_agent = "plan"
MCP Servers
Remote MCP servers can be added non-interactively from the shell:
bashvibe mcp add mistralai \ --url https://api.mistral.ai/mcp \ --transport streamable-http \ --api-key-env MISTRAL_API_KEY vibe mcp add linear \ --url https://mcp.linear.app/mcp vibe mcp remove mistralai
Static auth is selected when --api-key-env or --header is provided.
Otherwise the server uses OAuth and starts browser login by default. Pass
--no-login to only persist the OAuth configuration. Run
vibe mcp add --help for all supported authentication and timeout options.
Use vibe mcp remove <name> to remove a server from the user configuration;
stored OAuth credentials are deleted when available.
Hosted OAuth MCP servers can also be added from inside Vibe:
text/mcp add https://mcp.linear.app/mcp /mcp add https://mcp.example.com/mcp --name docs --scope read --transport http --no-login
/mcp add is OAuth-only. It writes auth.type = "oauth" with optional
scopes and starts login by default. It uses transport = "streamable-http"
unless you pass --transport http. Pass --no-login to add the server without
starting OAuth login. The shortcut supports streamable-http and http
transports.
toml[[mcp_servers]] name = "my-server" transport = "stdio" command = "npx" args = ["-y", "@my/mcp-server"] [[mcp_servers]] name = "remote-server" transport = "http" url = "https://mcp.example.com" [mcp_servers.auth] type = "static" api_key_env = "MCP_API_KEY" api_key_header = "Authorization" api_key_format = "Bearer {token}" [[mcp_servers]] name = "linear" transport = "streamable-http" url = "https://mcp.linear.app/mcp" [mcp_servers.auth] type = "oauth" scopes = ["read", "write"] # Optional: client_id = "pre-registered-public-client" # Optional: client_metadata_url = "https://example.com/client-metadata.json" # Optional: redirect_port = 47823
HTTP MCP servers can use either static auth or OAuth:
- Static auth: legacy
api_key_env/headerskeys still work and are promoted toauth.type = "static"internally. - OAuth auth: use
auth.type = "oauth"withscopes. Vibe stores tokens in the OS keyring undermcp-oauth:<alias>:tokens, dynamic client info undermcp-oauth:<alias>:client_info, and config drift fingerprints undermcp-oauth:<alias>:fingerprint. - Headless environments without an OS keyring cannot store OAuth tokens; use
static auth via
api_key_envinstead. - For SSH/remote browser callbacks, forward the loopback port:
ssh -L 47823:127.0.0.1:47823 <host>.
Connectors
Mistral connectors are auto-discovered when the active provider is Mistral and the API key env var is set. Toggle the master switch or hide individual connectors / tools:
The legacy backend keeps a discovered connector disabled until it has an
explicit [[connectors]] entry. The Unified backend selected with
--experimental-harness enables ready connectors by default in memory. It
does not write that default to TOML, and the master switch plus explicit
connector, tool, allowlist, and denylist settings always take precedence.
tomlenable_connectors = true # Master switch (default: true) [[connectors]] name = "github" disabled = true # Hide all tools from this connector [[connectors]] name = "linear" disabled_tools = ["delete_issue"] # Hide selected tools only
Session Logging
toml[session_logging] enabled = true save_dir = "" # Defaults to ~/.vibe/logs/session session_prefix = "session" generate_titles = true # Background LLM session titles; false uses the message preview
Browser Sign-In
Browser sign-in lets users authenticate through the browser during onboarding.
Mistral providers use default browser sign-in URLs (console.mistral.ai /
api.mistral.ai). Custom or renamed providers must configure both URLs:
toml[[providers]] browser_auth_base_url = "https://console.mistral.ai" browser_auth_api_base_url = "https://console.mistral.ai/api"
Split-horizon deployments (e.g. behind an SAP Cloud Connector) expose the
console under a virtual host the CLI reaches but the server does not know about,
so it returns sign-in/poll URLs on its own public host. Set
browser_auth_allow_origin_rewrite = true on the provider to re-home the
returned URLs onto the configured browser_auth_base_url /
browser_auth_api_base_url origins instead of rejecting them for an origin
mismatch (path traversal is still rejected). Only the origin (scheme, host,
port) is rewritten; the returned URL's path must already sit under the
configured base path, so the connector must preserve the server's path prefix.
Point browser_auth_base_url at the browser-reachable console and
browser_auth_api_base_url at the CLI-reachable API host. The interactive
onboarding wizard's custom-domain screen also accepts an optional browser-auth
API base URL and auto-enables this rewrite when its origin differs from the
console origin:
toml[[providers]] browser_auth_base_url = "https://console.internal.example" browser_auth_api_base_url = "https://connector.internal.example:443/api" browser_auth_allow_origin_rewrite = true
Self-hosted deployments can point Vibe CLI upgrade and API-key links to their Le Chat web deployment, where the Vibe API key is managed:
tomlvibe_base_url = "https://chat.mistral.ai"
Interactive setup can target a Mistral-compatible deployment instead of the
default console.mistral.ai / api.mistral.ai. The final credential is always a
Mistral API key. On the auth-method screen pick Launch browser, then
Other on the sign-in-target screen, and enter a login domain to complete
browser sign-in. This sets browser_auth_base_url (the entered domain) and
derives browser_auth_api_base_url (DOMAIN/api). The overridden mistral
provider is persisted to user config so subsequent runs reuse it.
The wizard reads any custom browser_auth_base_url already in config.toml:
choosing Other pre-fills that configured domain so it can be confirmed or
edited. Choosing Mistral AI while a custom domain is configured warns first
and requires pressing Enter again to confirm the reset to the default
domain, which is then persisted.
Hooks
Hooks let users run shell commands automatically at lifecycle events. They
are always available — no flag is required; dropping a hooks.toml in place
is enough.
Config and hook types
Hooks live in hooks.toml files (separate from config.toml), discovered in
this order:
<project>/.vibe/hooks.toml— loaded first, only when the folder is trusted.~/.vibe/hooks.toml— loaded second.
A duplicate name across the two files is reported as a config issue and the
project entry wins. Config-load errors (invalid TOML, missing required
fields) surface in the TUI as warnings and the offending hook is skipped.
toml[[hooks]] name = "lint" # Required: unique within the file. type = "post_agent" # Required: post_agent | pre_tool | post_tool. command = "eslint --quiet ." # Required: shell command run in cwd. timeout = 60.0 # Default: 60s for all hooks. description = "Run ESLint" # Optional. [[hooks]] name = "deny-rm-rf" type = "pre_tool" match = "bash" # Tool-name matcher (tool hooks only, default "*"). strict = true # Tool hooks only: escalate any failure to deny/clear. command = "uv run python /path/to/guard-bash"
| Type | When it runs |
|---|---|
post_agent | Once per turn, after the agent finishes responding (no pending tool calls). |
pre_tool | Per tool call, before the user permission prompt. |
post_tool | Per tool call, iff the tool body actually ran. tool_status is success, failure, or cancelled. Does not fire when the tool never executed (pre_tool denial, user denial at the approval prompt, permission NEVER, or cancellation before the body started). |
Matcher syntax (same as enabled_tools): fnmatch glob by default
("bash", "read_*", case-insensitive), or a regex full-match when the
pattern starts with re: ("re:(read_file|grep)"). match is forbidden on
post_agent.
Tool name conventions for matchers:
- Built-in tools use their bare name (
bash,read_file, …); see the Tools section above for the full list. - MCP tools:
{server-name}_{raw-tool-name}(e.g.linear_create-issue). - Connector tools:
connector_{normalized-name}_{remote-tool-name}(e.g.connector_Google_Drive_search_files). - Subagents all route through
task. Match withmatch = "task"and readtool_input.agentto discriminate by subagent.
Subagent invocations inherit the parent's hook config. Their hook events are logged to the subagent's session log and don't propagate to the parent's UI.
Wire protocol
Every hook is spawned in cwd and receives a JSON object on stdin
discriminated by hook_event_name:
json// post_agent {"hook_event_name": "post_agent", "session_id": "...", "parent_session_id": null, "transcript_path": "...", "cwd": "..."} // pre_tool {"hook_event_name": "pre_tool", "session_id": "...", "parent_session_id": null, "transcript_path": "...", "cwd": "...", "tool_name": "bash", "tool_call_id": "call_42", "tool_input": {"command": "ls"}} // post_tool {"hook_event_name": "post_tool", "session_id": "...", "parent_session_id": null, "transcript_path": "...", "cwd": "...", "tool_name": "bash", "tool_call_id": "call_42", "tool_input": {"command": "ls"}, "tool_status": "success", // success | failure | cancelled "tool_output": {"output": "..."}, // the tool's serialized result (success/cancelled); null otherwise "tool_output_text": "...", // current text the LLM will see; mutable by prior hooks "tool_error": null, // populated on failure/skipped "duration_ms": 42.5}
parent_session_id is set when running inside a subagent. Exceeding
timeout kills the whole process tree.
A hook signals back via its exit code and stdout (stderr is reserved for diagnostics — Vibe never parses it for control):
| Exit | Stdout | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
0 | empty | Pass through (no action). |
0 | valid structured-response JSON object (schema below) | Act per the JSON fields. |
0 | anything else (free-form text, broken JSON, scalar/array, schema mismatch) | Failure path (see below). The parse error is in the message. |
| non-zero / timeout / spawn failure | — | Failure path. Reason taken from stderr, then stdout, then the exit code. |
Structured-response schema:
json{ "decision": "allow" | "deny", // optional; default "allow" "reason": "string", // required when decision == "deny" "system_message": "string", // optional UI note "hook_specific_output": { "tool_input": { ... }, // pre_tool only "additional_context": "string" // post_tool only } }
Unknown fields are tolerated at every level. Fields that aren't meaningful for the current hook type are silently ignored.
Don't self-name in system_message or reason — the UI prefixes
hook-end-event content with [hook-name] automatically, and pre_tool
denials are wrapped as Tool 'X' was denied by hook 'Y': {reason} before
the LLM sees them. A hook that writes "reason": "guard: refused..."
will produce hook 'guard': guard: refused... downstream.
decision: "deny" per hook type:
| Hook | Effect of decision: "deny" |
|---|---|
pre_tool | Deny the tool call; reason is the tool error returned to the LLM. First deny short-circuits the remaining pre_tool hooks for this call. |
post_tool | Replace tool_output_text with reason. Pipeline continues; subsequent hooks see the replacement. |
post_agent | Inject reason as a retry user message. Capped at 3 retries per hook per user turn. |
Event-specific payloads:
hook_specific_output.tool_input(pre_tool): full replacement of the model's arguments. Vibe re-validates against the tool's schema after each rewriting hook — the first invalid rewrite aborts the chain and synthesizes a denial attributing the failure to that hook. Rewrites compose: hook N receivestool_inputas rewritten by hooks 1..N-1.hook_specific_output.additional_context(post_tool): text appended (with) to the currenttool_output_text. Composes with a same-hookdecision: "deny": deny replaces first, thenadditional_contextis appended to the replacement.
Failure path. Any failure (non-zero exit, timeout, spawn failure,
non-conforming stdout) emits a UI warning and lets the gated action proceed
(fail open). With strict = true on a tool hook:
| Hook | Strict failure escalates to |
|---|---|
pre_tool | Deny the tool call with the failure reason. |
post_tool | Clear tool_output_text (replace with empty). |
strict is forbidden on post_agent.
Execution semantics
- Hooks of the same type fire sequentially in load order (project file first, then user file; declaration order within each file).
- Tool calls within a single LLM turn run concurrently; each call's hook chain runs serially but the chains run in parallel across calls. Hooks that touch shared state (filesystem, env) must coordinate themselves.
pre_toolrewrites take effect everywhere downstream: the user permission prompt sees the rewritten arguments, the tool runs with them, and the assistant message is patched so subsequent LLM turns reflect what actually ran.
Pattern Matching
Tool, skill, and agent names support three matching modes:
- Exact:
"bash","read_file" - Glob:
"bash*","mcp_*" - Regex:
"re:^serena_.*$"(full match, case-insensitive)
CLI Parameters
vibe [PROMPT] # Start interactive session with optional prompt vibe -p TEXT / --prompt TEXT # Programmatic mode using `default_agent`, one-shot, exit vibe -p TEXT --auto-approve # Programmatic mode with all tool calls approved vibe -p TEXT --agent lean --yolo # Lean mode with all tool calls approved vibe --agent NAME # Select agent profile (falls back to `default_agent` config) vibe --auto-approve / --yolo # Approve all tool calls for the selected agent vibe --workdir DIR # Change working directory vibe --worktree NAME # Create/reuse a git worktree under $VIBE_HOME/worktrees on branch NAME and run inside it. Auto-cleanup only for worktrees Vibe created this run and only after a session started; reused worktrees and attached (pre-existing) branches are kept unless confirmed. -p sessions keep worktrees. Ignored with --setup/--check-upgrade. vibe --worktree # Same, but Vibe picks an unused name from the prompt (a random slug when there is no prompt) on a vibe/<name> branch, and never reuses an existing worktree. The prompt must precede the flag or follow a `--`, since --worktree otherwise reads it as NAME. vibe --add-dir DIR # Extra working dir loaded for context (repeatable). Implicitly trusted. vibe --trust # Trust cwd for this invocation only (not persisted). Skips the trust prompt. vibe -c / --continue # Continue most recent session in this terminal (TTY-scoped, falls back to latest in cwd) vibe --resume [SESSION_ID] # Resume a specific session vibe -v / --version # Show version vibe --setup # Run onboarding/setup vibe update / vibe --check-upgrade # Check for a Vibe update now, prompt to install it, and exit vibe --max-turns N # Max assistant turns (programmatic mode) vibe --max-price DOLLARS # Max cost limit (programmatic mode) vibe --max-tokens N # Max total session tokens (programmatic mode) vibe --enabled-tools TOOL # Enable specific tools (repeatable) vibe --disabled-tools TOOL # Disable specific tools (repeatable) vibe --output text|json|streaming # Output format (programmatic mode)
Built-in Agents
There are two kinds of agents:
- Agents are user-facing profiles selectable via
--agentorShift+Tab. They configure the model's behavior, tools, and system prompt. - Subagents are model-facing: the model can spawn them autonomously to delegate subtasks (e.g. exploring the codebase). Users cannot select subagents directly.
Agents
- ask: Requests approval for tool executions
- plan: Planning-focused agent
- accept-edits: Default agent; auto-approves file edits but asks for other tools
- auto-approve: Auto-approves all tool calls
- lean: Specialized Lean 4 proof assistant. Not available by default — must be
installed with
/leanstall(removed with/unleanstall). Use--agent lean --auto-approveor--agent lean --yoloto run Lean mode without tool prompts.
Subagents
- explore: Read-only codebase exploration subagent with grep, file reading, and skill loading. Spawned by the model, not selectable by the user.
Custom agents are TOML files in ~/.vibe/agents/NAME.toml.
Built-in Slash Commands
/help- Show help message/config- Full-screen settings browser. Fields show their value and origin layer (default / TOML / env / override). Type to filter, arrows to move, Enter to edit; booleans toggle, closed-set fields (theme, models) pick from a list, scalars edit inline, complex fields open a JSON editor. The edit modal shows an inspector of the layers setting the field; edits persist to the user config (~/.vibe/config.toml) by default,Tabcycles the save target through the project config (.vibe/config.toml, when the project layer is active) and the ephemeral session override (until restart), andCtrl+Rclears the field one writable layer at a time toward the default. Thetoolsfield opens a grouped tool list with a per-tool config editor (permission, allow/deny lists,Ctrl+Efor raw JSON). Enabling/disabling whole MCP servers or connectors stays in/mcp./model- Select active model/skills- Browse and manage the skills available to this session. Lists the installed ones alongside the shared skills you can add, and can import a skill, pin it to a version or alias, convert it to a local copy, or remove it. Registered only whenexperimental_enable_registry_skillsis set./thinking- Select thinking level/theme- Select Textual UI theme;autofollows terminal/OS appearance (persisted in config)/reload- Reload configuration, agent instructions, and skills from disk/clear,/new- Start a new conversation. Optionally pass a prompt to seed it/log- Show path to current interaction log file/log-level- Show or set the log level./log-levelprints the full chain (session, env, config, effective);/log-level set <LEVEL>sets a process-lifetime override;/log-level set-global <LEVEL>also persists to config.toml;/log-level unsetclears the session override. LEVEL is one of DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL./debug- Toggle debug console/compact- Compact model context by summarizing. The session ID and visible conversation stay intact; the auto title is refreshed to reflect the compacted conversation (unless renamed manually)./rename <title>- Set a manual session title. Persists tometa.json(title_source=manual), updates the terminal tab title, and is never overwritten by automatic title generation./retry [additional instructions]- Continue a model response interrupted by a backend error without repeating text already shown. Optional instructions are passed to the model for the continuation. Relevant error messages also hint at this command./status- Display agent statistics/whoami- Display the Mistral signed-in user, workspace, and plan/copy- Copy the last agent message to the clipboard/paste-image- Paste an image from the OS clipboard into the prompt. macOS only — the command is not registered on Linux or Windows./voice- Configure voice settings/mcp(or/connectors) - Display MCP servers and connector status. The browser opens on the first item; press Up or Left to move into the fuzzy-search bar, and Up again to wrap to the last item. Pass a server or connector name to list its tools or open its auth panel when authentication is required/mcp add <url>- Add a hosted OAuth MCP server. Supports--name <alias>, repeatable--scope <scope>,--transport <http|streamable-http>, and--no-login. Starts OAuth login by default. OAuth-only; usevibe mcp add <name> --url <url> --api-key-env <var>for API-key/static auth.vibe mcp remove <name>- Remove an MCP server from the user configuration and delete its stored OAuth credentials when available./mcp status- Display MCP auth state (ok,needs_auth,static,stdio)/mcp login <alias>- Start OAuth login for an MCP server/mcp logout <alias>- Log out from an MCP server and delete stored OAuth secrets/resume(or/continue) - Browse and resume past sessions for the current folder. The picker header shows the folder being listed. Pressdtwice to delete a saved session; the active session cannot be deleted here./rewind- Rewind to a previous message. Also triggered by pressingEsctwice on an empty input; if the input has content, the first double-Escclears it instead. In the rewind panel:↑/↓pick option,Shift+↑/↓scroll,←/Escedit previous message,→edit next message,Enteraccept,qquit./loop <interval> <prompt>- Schedule a recurring prompt (e.g./loop 30s ping). Intervals:Ns/Nm/Nh/Nd, minimum 30s, max 50 loops/session./loop(or/loop list//loop ls) - List current scheduled loops./loop cancel <id|all>(aliasesrm,stop,delete) - Cancel a loop.- Loops fire only when the agent is idle and the input bar is focused. At
most one loop fires per poll. Overdue loops fire once on the next poll
(no catch-up);
next_fire_atadvances tonow + interval. - Loops are persisted in the session metadata (
loopsfield ofmeta.json) and restored on--resume/--continue.
/proxy-setup- Configure proxy and SSL certificate settings/leanstall- Install the Lean 4 agent (leanstral)/unleanstall- Uninstall the Lean 4 agent/plugins- Display the plugins this session is running (experimental harness mode only). Shows each plugin's name, scope, source format, content digest, and components (skills, MCP servers, agents, hooks, knowledge, connectors, tools). Pressrinside the view to reload./reload-plugins- Re-pin this session's plugins and report what changed (experimental harness mode only). Re-discovers plugins from disk, re-pins the snapshot, and prints a diff of added, removed, and updated plugins./data-retention- Show data retention information/teleport- Teleport session to Vibe Code Web (only available when Vibe Code is enabled)/remote-project- Select the Vibe Code Web project for this repository (only available when Vibe Code is enabled)/exit- Exit the application
File Mentions (@)
Type @ in the chat input to autocomplete files and folders. A bare @
lists non-hidden immediate children directly from the filesystem for fast
browsing. Once you type a path character, Git workspaces use tracked and
non-ignored untracked paths, including nested .gitignore rules; outside Git
the picker falls back to the project tree. Pressing Tab/Enter inserts the
chosen path. Your message text is sent as-is (the @path stays in the prompt);
behavior then depends on the mention kind:
- Text files trigger a synthetic
read_filetool call injected right after your message, so the file content arrives as a fresh tool result every turn (no caching/dedup). The same limits as theread_filetool apply (~2000 lines / 50 KB per call; larger files are truncated or reported as an error result). Re-mentioning a file always re-reads it. - Folders are not read automatically — the path stays in your message
text and the agent can
read_file/grepit on demand. - Image files (
.png,.jpg,.jpeg,.gif,.webp) become image attachments — sent alongside the prompt as native multimodal content for vision-capable models.
Image attachments:
-
Require
supports_images = trueon the active model inconfig.toml. By default this is enabled only onmistral-vibe-cli-latest. Sending images to a non-vision model raises a clear error and the message is not added to the conversation. -
Snapshotted into
<session_dir>/attachments/<sha1>.<ext>so that resumed sessions stay reproducible even if the source file is moved. -
Capped at 10 MiB per image and 8 images per message.
-
Out-of-project paths work via
@/abs/path/to.png(the picker only suggests project files, but the@-parser accepts absolute paths). Drag-and-drop from Finder into Terminal, iTerm2, or Ghostty is intercepted at paste time: if the pasted content is a standalone existing absolute or home-relative file or folder (or a newline-delimited list of them), the input automatically prepends@and quotes paths containing spaces. This applies to text files, folders, and images; pasted prose, relative paths, and missing paths are left unchanged. -
Image copy/paste from the clipboard (macOS only for now): writes the image to
<session_dir>/attachments/clipboard-<ts>.png(or the system temp dir when no session is active) and inserts an@<path>token at the cursor. Two entry points:Ctrl+Vkeybinding inside the prompt./paste-imageslash command.
Uses
osascriptwith a TIFF→PNG fallback viasips. On Linux and Windows the binding and the slash command are not registered at all, so the feature is invisible to users on those platforms. -
Rendered in the chat bubble as one dim
attached image:footer line per image, linking each attachment to its snapshot. Clicking opens the file with the OS default image viewer.
Input Queue
Prompts submitted while the agent is running are accepted by the app server
and merged into a single follow-up turn, so everything queued during one
generation is delivered to the agent together (not one turn per prompt) once
it finishes. Each queued prompt keeps its own message so it stays individually
editable and removable. This includes plain prompts, /skill ...
prompts, and prompts with @ mentions. !bash, non-side-channel slash
commands, and &teleport require an idle session and are rejected with a toast
while busy. Ctrl+C removes the newest queued prompt (LIFO); Esc
interrupts the active turn and pauses the remaining queue; pressing Enter
(empty or not) on a paused queue resumes it.
Allowlisted slash commands (side_channel=True) run immediately via a
side channel while the agent or bash is busy. Only one side-channel command
runs at a time. Commands that persist config changes (theme, model, thinking,
voice, proxy) require idle, then write through the app server directly after
the user confirms the picker.
Commands not on the side-channel allowlist (e.g. /clear, /compact,
/rewind, /resume, /reload, /leanstall, /unleanstall, /teleport,
/remote-project, /retry, /plugins, /reload-plugins) are rejected while busy and can be retried when
the session is idle.
While the queue is non-empty and the agent is busy, pressing Up enters queue selection mode: the last queued item is highlighted and the input is locked (no cursor, no typing). Up/Down navigate between queued prompts, Enter loads the selected prompt into the input for editing (press Enter again to update it in-place), Backspace or Delete removes the selected item and moves selection to the next, and Esc exits selection mode and restores the original input text.
Plugins
Plugins are bundled extension packages that can contribute skills, MCP servers, hooks, agents, knowledge, connectors, and tool libraries to a session. They are discovered from two locations:
~/.vibe/plugins/— user scope (global, available in every project).vibe/plugins/— project scope (requires trusted folder; overrides user scope on name collisions)
Each subdirectory inside a plugins directory is a single plugin root.
Plugin Manifest (plugin.json)
Every plugin has a plugin.json manifest following the Agent Plugins 1.0
schema (https://agent-plugins.org/schemas/1.0.0/plugin.schema.json):
json{ "$schema": "https://agent-plugins.org/schemas/1.0.0/plugin.schema.json", "name": "my-plugin", "version": "1.0.0", "description": "Optional description", "author": { "name": "Author", "email": "a@b.com", "url": "https://..." }, "homepage": "https://...", "repository": "https://...", "license": "MIT", "keywords": ["tag1"], "extensions": { "ai.mistral.vibe": { "schemaVersion": 1, "toolNamespace": "myNs", "toolOverrides": { "tool-name": { "name": "renamedTool", "exposure": "programmatic" } } } } }
The ai.mistral.vibe extension is optional but gates all Vibe-specific
components (hooks, knowledge, agents). toolNamespace is a
TypeScript-identifier-safe string used to prefix all component names
(e.g. myNs:my-skill). If omitted, it is derived from the plugin name.
Reserved namespaces (rejected): file_system, self, process, agent,
vibe.
Plugin Contents
A plugin tree may contain any combination of:
| Component | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Skills | skills/<name>/SKILL.md | Standard skill format |
| MCP servers | mcp.json | $schema + mcpServers dict; stdio, streamable-http, sse |
| Hooks | ai.mistral.vibe/hooks.toml | Max 128 hooks, 64 KiB |
| Knowledge | ai.mistral.vibe/knowledge/<name>/KNOWLEDGE.md | Max 100 entries |
| Agents | ai.mistral.vibe/agents/*.toml | One TOML per subagent |
| Libraries | libraries.json | Node and Python library path aliases |
| Connectors | connectors.json | Connector tool mappings |
Environment variables PLUGIN_ROOT and PLUGIN_DATA are injected
automatically into MCP server processes and are reserved.
Foreign Plugin Formats
Vibe also adapts non-native plugin formats:
| Format | Detection marker |
|---|---|
| Claude Code | .claude-plugin/plugin.json |
| Codex | .codex-plugin/plugin.json |
| Kimi Code | .kimi.plugin.json or .kimi-plugin/plugin.json |
| OpenCode | .opencode/plugins/, .opencode/skills/*/SKILL.md, opencode.json |
Adapted plugins can only contribute skills and MCP servers — hooks,
knowledge, agents, libraries, and connectors are native-only. Executable code
in foreign plugins (.js, .ts) is refused and reported as unsupported.
Plugin Pinning and Reload
On session start, discovered plugins are resolved into a ResolvedPluginSnapshot
— a portable, host-path-free, secret-free representation pinned to the session.
This ensures resume/rewind reproducibility even if files change on disk.
/reload-plugins re-discovers plugins from disk, builds a fresh snapshot, and
prints a diff (+ added, - removed, ~ updated). Tools that are no longer
present after a reload are retained as unavailable routes so conversation
history stays valid. Drift detection flags tools whose schema fingerprint changed
between pin and live source.
Example Plugin Tree
my-plugin/ ├── plugin.json ├── mcp.json ├── skills/ │ └── my-skill/ │ └── SKILL.md └── ai.mistral.vibe/ ├── hooks.toml ├── knowledge/ │ └── my-knowledge/ │ └── KNOWLEDGE.md └── agents/ └── my-agent.toml
Skills System
Skills are specialized instruction sets the model can load on demand.
Each skill is a directory containing a SKILL.md file with YAML frontmatter.
Skill File Format
markdown--- name: my-skill description: What this skill does and when to use it. user-invocable: true allowed-tools: bash read --- # Skill Instructions Detailed instructions for the model...
Skill Search Order (first match wins)
skill_pathsfrom config.toml.vibe/skills/in trusted project directory.agents/skills/in trusted project directory~/.vibe/skills/(user global)~/.agents/skills/(user global, Agent Skills standard)
Invoking Skills
Two entry points:
- The model loads a skill on demand via the
skilltool. - The user invokes a
user-invocableskill by typing/skill-name(optionally followed by extra instructions). The user turn stays the literal/skill-nametext; the skill is loaded programmatically and appears to the model as a syntheticskilltool call and result immediately after that turn — the model does not call the tool itself.
Skills with user-invocable: false are model-only: they are hidden from the
slash menu and /skill-name will not resolve them (it is treated as a plain
prompt). The model can still load them via the skill tool.
A / at the very start of the input opens the slash menu (commands and skills).
A /word typed mid-prompt (not the first word) instead shows an inline ghost-text
preview of the best-matching skill name; press Tab to accept it. Only skills are
offered inline, and no popup is shown.
Environment Variables
VIBE_HOME- Override the Vibe home directory (default:~/.vibe)MISTRAL_API_KEY- API key for Mistral providerVIBE_ACTIVE_MODEL- Override active modelVIBE_*- Any config field can be overridden with theVIBE_prefixLOG_LEVEL- Overrideslog_levelconfig for$VIBE_HOME/logs/vibe.log. One ofDEBUG,INFO,WARNING(default),ERROR,CRITICAL. Invalid values fall back toWARNING. Use/log-levelto change at runtime.LOG_MAX_BYTES- Max size in bytes ofvibe.logbefore rotation (default:10485760, i.e. 10 MiB).DEBUG_MODE- Whentrue, forcesDEBUG-level logging.VIBE_TYPING_GRACE_PERIOD_MS- Milliseconds the agent waits for a typing pause before showing tool-approval / ask-user-question dialogs (default:1000). Set to0to disable. Negative or non-numeric values fall back to the default.
API Keys (.env file)
The .env file in VIBE_HOME stores API keys in dotenv format:
MISTRAL_API_KEY=your-key-here
This file is loaded on startup and its values are injected into the environment.
Trusted Folders
Vibe uses a trust system to prevent executing project-local config from untrusted
directories. The trust database is stored in ~/.vibe/trusted_folders.toml.
Project-local config (.vibe/ directory) is only loaded when the current
directory is explicitly trusted.
Interactive mode prompts to trust unknown folders. The prompt targets the
closest ancestor of the cwd (the cwd itself included) containing a .git
entry; the search excludes the user's home directory and the filesystem
root, and falls back to the cwd if no qualifying ancestor is found.
Programmatic mode (-p/--prompt) never prompts: the folder is untrusted.
Use --trust to trust cwd for the current invocation only (not persisted).
--trust and --worktree both skip the prompt: they grant the workspace trust
for the session, so there is no decision left to ask about. Without this a
--worktree run would prompt on every launch, since each worktree is a
directory the trust database has never seen.
Sensitive Files — DO NOT READ OR EDIT
NEVER read, display, or edit any of these files:
~/.vibe/.env(or$VIBE_HOME/.env) — contains API keys and secrets- Any
.env,.env.*file in the project or VIBE_HOME
If the user asks to set or change an API key, instruct them to edit the .env
file themselves. Do not offer to read it, write it, or display its contents.
Do not use tools (read, write_file, bash cat/echo, etc.) to access these files.
How to Modify Configuration
To help the user modify their Vibe configuration:
- Read current config when present: Read
~/.vibe/config.toml(or the path fromVIBE_HOMEif set). A missing file means Vibe is using built-in defaults. - Create a backup when present: Before editing an existing file, copy it to
config.toml.bakin the same directory. This applies to any existing config file you are about to modify (config.toml,trusted_folders.toml, agent TOML files, etc.) - Edit the TOML file: Make changes using the edit tool
- Reload: The user can run
/reloadto apply changes without restarting
For API keys, tell the user to edit ~/.vibe/.env directly — never read or
write that file yourself.
For project-specific configuration, create/edit .vibe/config.toml in the
project root (the folder must be trusted first).

