OpenCode — How-to Guide (set up, use & best practices)

Step by step

Follow along

1

Install OpenCode

Run 'curl -fsSL https://opencode.ai/install | bash' in your terminal. You can also install via npm ('npm install -g opencode-ai'), Homebrew ('brew install anomalyco/tap/opencode'), or grab a binary from the GitHub releases page.
2

Configure a model provider

Launch OpenCode by running 'opencode' in any project directory. Inside the TUI, type '/connect', select 'opencode' (the OpenCode Zen service), and follow the link to opencode.ai/auth to sign in and get an API key. Alternatively, select any other provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, etc.) and paste your own key.
3

Initialize OpenCode for your project

With OpenCode open in your project directory, run the '/init' command. OpenCode analyzes the codebase and creates an 'AGENTS.md' file at the project root that captures structure and conventions, improving the quality of future suggestions.
4

Ask questions about your codebase

Type a question in plain English — for example, 'How is authentication handled in this project?' — and OpenCode searches the relevant files and explains the code. It has LSP support enabled automatically, so it understands symbols and types.
5

Ask OpenCode to make code changes

Describe the change you want — for example, 'Add a rate-limit middleware to the Express router in src/server.ts' — and OpenCode proposes an edit. Review the diff shown in the TUI and approve or reject it.
6

Run multiple sessions in parallel

OpenCode supports multi-session mode so you can work on separate tasks simultaneously. Open a new session from within the TUI to start a second agent working on a different part of the codebase without losing context from the first.

Do it like a pro

✦ Always run '/init' in a new project first — the generated AGENTS.md significantly improves response quality by giving OpenCode context about how the project is structured.

✦ Use a modern terminal emulator (WezTerm, Ghostty, Kitty, or Alacritty) for the best TUI experience; basic terminals may not render the interface correctly.

✦ Start with OpenCode Zen (the curated model list at opencode.ai/zen) if you are unsure which model to use — these have been tested specifically for coding agent tasks.

✦ Keep your prompts specific and file-scoped when asking for code changes; mentioning the exact file path reduces the chance of edits landing in the wrong place.

✦ Use '/compact' inside a session when the context grows large to summarize earlier messages and free up token budget for continued work.

✦ OpenCode does not store your code remotely by default — review the privacy docs at opencode.ai/docs/enterprise if you need to verify this for your organization's policies.