Code FlowAsk code-flow
Get help with setup, workflows and troubleshooting from the documentation, using a coding CLI already installed on your machine. The assistant is available in the local app's documentation.
Open the assistant
- Start Code Flow and open the owner app using the link printed in the terminal.
- Choose Application menu → Help & documentation, or search for it in the command palette.
- Use the Ask code-flow side panel, or open it from the header, and choose an installed CLI.
- Ask a question such as “Which workflow should I use to fix a failing test?”
- Continue with follow-up questions or open source guides without losing the conversation. Press Enter to send and Shift + Enter for a new line.
The companion sits beside the guide on desktop and expands to a full-width panel on a phone. Close and reopen it to switch between reading and chatting. New chat clears the conversation and draft.
The assistant supports Claude Code, Codex and Antigravity. It uses the provider's existing CLI authentication. Model and effort preferences saved in the local app's Settings → Agents & models are forwarded; when unset, the CLI's defaults apply. ACP and extension providers are not offered in this help flow. ACP currently requires Full access for normal runs.
What it receives
Each question includes excerpts from up to five relevant bundled guides, the page you are viewing as a retrieval hint, and up to three earlier question/answer pairs from the chat. Questions are limited to 4,000 characters; answers to 12,000. Source excerpts are capped at 10,000 characters each. Engineering records are excluded from answer retrieval so historical decisions do not substitute for current instructions.
The latest 12 messages, up to three completed question/answer pairs and the current draft are stored in this tab’s session storage. They survive guide navigation and reloads. New chat clears them; the browser manages their lifetime when the tab closes or is restored. Code Flow does not add it to run history or project memory. The selected provider processes the prompt under its own account and logging behavior. Requests consume the same CLI usage allowance as other invocations.
Execution boundaries
Help runs with read-only, Safe adapter settings in a fresh temporary Git directory. No selected repository, run transcript, attachment, secret file or project configuration is copied into it. The prompt instructs the assistant to answer from the supplied text without tools; this instruction is not an additional OS sandbox. Provider-level settings, integrations and hooks remain subject to the normal CLI trust boundary described in Security.
Help does not expose merge, terminal, configuration or publishing actions. Source links are chosen by the server from the retrieved guides. Answers are displayed as text, not executed as HTML. Treat generated answers as guidance and check the sources before running suggested commands.
Help currently supports macOS and Linux, with absolute, nonempty PATH entries. Only an authenticated owner on the main application listener can use help. Shared-project accounts, runner credentials and the phone listener cannot invoke it. Filesystem restrictions pause help as they do other host CLI execution. Two simultaneous help requests are allowed, with a two-minute limit per turn. Stop, New chat or leaving the page cancels the request. Closing the panel lets an active answer finish; the disposable directory is removed after the adapter exits.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | Next step |
|---|---|
| No supported CLI found | Install a supported CLI on the application host and sign in through its terminal command. |
| Not signed in | Open the owner app using its current terminal link, then reopen the docs. |
| Provider signed out | Sign in through that provider's CLI and retry. |
| Usage limit reached | Choose another installed provider or wait for your plan's limit to reset. |
| CLI took too long | Ask a smaller question, or check the CLI directly in a terminal. |
| Documentation unavailable | Run npm run build:docs from the Code Flow checkout. |
| Filesystem restrictions pause execution | Read the guides directly; review policy in the main app if execution is needed. |
Hosted documentation
GitHub Pages serves the same searchable guides. It cannot launch your local CLIs. The deployed site omits the companion panel and its controls. It does not connect to localhost or request credentials. To chat, open Help & documentation from your running local app.