Chat Command

Overview

The routa chat command provides an interactive REPL-style interface for communicating with agents. It creates an ACP (Agent Client Protocol) session and allows you to send prompts, receive responses, and monitor agent activities in real-time.

Usage

routa chat [OPTIONS]

Options:

--workspace-id <ID> - Workspace ID (default: default)
--provider <NAME> - ACP provider to use (default: opencode)
--role <ROLE> - Agent role: ROUTA, CRAFTER, GATE, or DEVELOPER (default: DEVELOPER)

Starting a Chat Session

Basic Usage

Start a chat with default settings (DEVELOPER role, opencode provider):

routa chat

Output:

Routa CLI Chat
══════════════════════════════════════
Agent: cli-developer (DEVELOPER)
Agent ID: agent_abc123
Workspace: default
Provider: opencode
══════════════════════════════════════
Session started: session_xyz789

Type your message and press Enter. Type /quit to exit.
Commands: /agents, /tasks, /status, /quit

>

With Specific Role

Start a chat with a CRAFTER agent:

routa chat --role CRAFTER --workspace-id my-project

With Different Provider

Use Claude as the provider:

routa chat --provider claude --role ROUTA

Chat Commands

Within the chat session, you can use several commands:

Send Messages

Type any message and press Enter to send it to the agent:

> Implement a user authentication system with OAuth 2.0
Sending prompt... sent.
(Agent is processing. Use /status to check progress.)

View Agents

List all agents in the workspace:

> /agents
[
  {
    "id": "agent_abc123",
    "name": "cli-developer",
    "role": "DEVELOPER",
    "status": "working",
    "workspaceId": "default",
    "createdAt": "2026-03-03T12:00:00Z"
  }
]

View Tasks

List all tasks in the workspace:

> /tasks
[
  {
    "id": "task_def456",
    "title": "Implement user authentication",
    "status": "IN_PROGRESS",
    "assignedTo": "agent_abc123",
    "createdAt": "2026-03-03T12:05:00Z"
  }
]

Check Status

Get the current agent’s status:

> /status
{
  "id": "agent_abc123",
  "name": "cli-developer",
  "role": "DEVELOPER",
  "status": "working",
  "currentTask": "task_def456",
  "completedTasks": 0,
  "lastActivity": "2026-03-03T12:10:00Z"
}

Exit Chat

Quit the chat session:

> /quit
Goodbye!

Aliases: /exit, /q

Example Sessions

Solo Development Session

Using a DEVELOPER agent to work independently:

$ routa chat --role DEVELOPER

Routa CLI Chat
══════════════════════════════════════
Agent: cli-developer (DEVELOPER)
Agent ID: agent_solo_001
Workspace: default
Provider: opencode
══════════════════════════════════════
Session started: session_123

Type your message and press Enter. Type /quit to exit.
Commands: /agents, /tasks, /status, /quit

> Add a REST API endpoint for user registration
Sending prompt... sent.
(Agent is processing. Use /status to check progress.)

> /status
{
  "id": "agent_solo_001",
  "name": "cli-developer",
  "role": "DEVELOPER",
  "status": "working",
  "currentTask": "task_reg_001",
  "completedTasks": 0
}

> /tasks
[
  {
    "id": "task_reg_001",
    "title": "Add REST API endpoint for user registration",
    "status": "IN_PROGRESS",
    "assignedTo": "agent_solo_001"
  }
]

> /quit
Goodbye!

Coordinator Session

Using a ROUTA coordinator to plan and delegate:

$ routa chat --role ROUTA --workspace-id project

> Build a complete user management system with CRUD operations
Sending prompt... sent.
(Agent is processing. Use /status to check progress.)

> /tasks
[
  {
    "id": "task_001",
    "title": "Design database schema for users",
    "status": "COMPLETED",
    "assignedTo": "agent_routa_001"
  },
  {
    "id": "task_002",
    "title": "Implement user CRUD endpoints",
    "status": "IN_PROGRESS",
    "assignedTo": "agent_crafter_001"
  },
  {
    "id": "task_003",
    "title": "Add validation and error handling",
    "status": "PENDING",
    "assignedTo": null
  }
]

Implementation Session

Using a CRAFTER to execute tasks:

$ routa chat --role CRAFTER

> Complete the user authentication task: task_auth_001
Sending prompt... sent.
(Agent is processing. Use /status to check progress.)

> /status
{
  "id": "agent_crafter_001",
  "name": "cli-crafter",
  "role": "CRAFTER",
  "status": "working",
  "currentTask": "task_auth_001",
  "completedTasks": 2
}

Review Session

Using a GATE agent to review work:

$ routa chat --role GATE

> Review task_auth_001 and verify all acceptance criteria are met
Sending prompt... sent.
(Agent is processing. Use /status to check progress.)

> /status
{
  "id": "agent_gate_001",
  "name": "cli-gate",
  "role": "GATE",
  "status": "working",
  "currentTask": "task_auth_001"
}

Offline Mode

If the ACP session cannot be created (provider not available), the chat runs in offline mode:

Session creation failed: provider 'opencode' not found
Note: Could not create ACP session (provider not available). Running in offline mode.
Commands will still work for agent/task/workspace management.

Type your message and press Enter. Type /quit to exit.
Commands: /agents, /tasks, /status, /quit

In offline mode:

Agent/task/workspace commands (/agents, /tasks, /status) still work
Message sending is not available
You can still inspect workspace state

Provider Options

Supported ACP providers:

Provider	Description
`opencode`	OpenCode AI agent (default)
`claude`	Claude Code agent
`codex`	Codex agent
`gemini`	Gemini CLI agent
`kimi`	Kimi agent
`augment`	Augment Code agent
`copilot`	GitHub Copilot agent

Environment Setup

Ensure your environment is configured for the chosen provider:

# For OpenCode (default)
export OPENCODE_API_KEY=your_key_here

# For Claude
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_key_here

# For Gemini
export GOOGLE_API_KEY=your_key_here

Session Management

Each chat session:

Creates a new agent in the workspace
Establishes an ACP connection
Registers the agent with the orchestrator
Maintains conversation history
Cleans up on exit

The session ID and agent ID are shown when the chat starts.

Integration with Other Commands

You can inspect chat session results using other CLI commands:

# In another terminal, while chat is running

# View the chat agent
routa agent list --workspace-id default | jq '.result.agents[] | select(.name | startswith("cli-"))'

# Check tasks created during chat
routa task list --workspace-id default

# Get detailed task info
routa task get --id task_xyz789

Troubleshooting

Provider Not Found

If you see “provider not found”:

# Check installed ACP agents
routa acp installed

# Install missing provider
routa acp install opencode

Connection Issues

If the ACP session fails to start:

# Check runtime status
routa acp runtime-status

# Ensure Node.js or uv is available
routa acp ensure-node
routa acp ensure-uv

Session Cleanup

If a session wasn’t properly closed:

# List agents to find orphaned chat agents
routa agent list | jq '.result.agents[] | select(.name | startswith("cli-"))'

# Sessions are automatically cleaned up when you /quit

Advanced Usage

Scripting Chat Interactions

Pipe commands to chat:

echo -e "Implement feature X\n/status\n/quit" | routa chat --role DEVELOPER

Monitoring Multiple Sessions

Run multiple chat sessions in different terminals:

# Terminal 1: Coordinator
routa chat --role ROUTA --workspace-id project

# Terminal 2: Implementor
routa chat --role CRAFTER --workspace-id project

# Terminal 3: Reviewer
routa chat --role GATE --workspace-id project

Next Steps

Learn about Agent commands to manage agents programmatically
Explore Task commands to track work
Try Prompt mode for quick one-off commands

Command Reference

Chat Command

Overview

Usage

Starting a Chat Session

Basic Usage

With Specific Role

With Different Provider

Chat Commands

Send Messages

View Agents

View Tasks

Check Status

Exit Chat

Example Sessions

Solo Development Session

Coordinator Session

Implementation Session

Review Session

Offline Mode

Provider Options

Environment Setup

Session Management

Integration with Other Commands

Troubleshooting

Provider Not Found

Connection Issues

Session Cleanup

Advanced Usage

Scripting Chat Interactions

Monitoring Multiple Sessions

Next Steps

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Command Reference

​Overview

​Usage

​Starting a Chat Session

​Basic Usage

​With Specific Role

​With Different Provider

​Chat Commands

​Send Messages

​View Agents

​View Tasks

​Check Status

​Exit Chat

​Example Sessions

​Solo Development Session

​Coordinator Session

​Implementation Session

​Review Session

​Offline Mode

​Provider Options

​Environment Setup

​Session Management

​Integration with Other Commands

​Troubleshooting

​Provider Not Found

​Connection Issues

​Session Cleanup

​Advanced Usage

​Scripting Chat Interactions

​Monitoring Multiple Sessions

​Next Steps

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Usage

Starting a Chat Session

Basic Usage

With Specific Role

With Different Provider

Chat Commands

Send Messages

View Agents

View Tasks

Check Status

Exit Chat

Example Sessions

Solo Development Session

Coordinator Session

Implementation Session

Review Session

Offline Mode

Provider Options

Environment Setup

Session Management

Integration with Other Commands

Troubleshooting

Provider Not Found

Connection Issues

Session Cleanup

Advanced Usage

Scripting Chat Interactions

Monitoring Multiple Sessions

Next Steps