ANUS
A free coding agent in your terminal. It reads your code, edits files and runs commands, like the paid ones. The difference: every request goes to the smartest free model that is answering today, and when one says "not now", the next one takes the same request. You pay nothing.
Watch it with sound on X (22 s) · download the video
npm install -g @anus-dev/anus
anus
or
curl -fsSL https://anus.dev/install | sh
Needs Node.js 22.19 or newer.
First run
ANUS asks for at least one free key. Each takes a minute to get:
Start with OpenRouter. More keys mean more free requests a day and more models to fall back on. Change keys any time with anus setup. Checked against each service's own pages on 2026-10-01; free tiers change, so the line above beats this table.
How "free" works
- ANUS keeps a ranked list of free models: which ones are smartest, and which answered a ping in the last hours. The list refreshes from anus.dev/free-models.json twice a day.
- Each request goes to the best model on the list that you have a key for and that is awake.
- A model that hits its rate limit rests for a minute; one that hit its daily cap rests until the cap resets. The request moves on without waiting.
- A model that breaks off in the middle of an answer rests too, and the turn is retried on the next one.
- The footer shows which model answered. Type
/free to see the whole list: awake, resting, or no key.
- Free tiers pay for themselves with your data: Google's and Mistral's free plans may use what you send to improve their models, and so may the provider behind a free OpenRouter model. Keep secrets out of the folder you run ANUS in.
- ANUS uses only the keys you gave it in
anus setup. Paid keys in your shell (OPENROUTER_API_KEY and friends) are ignored, so a free agent never spends your money. ANUS_ENV_KEYS=1 lets it use them.
Commands
| |
|---|
anus | start in the current folder |
anus -p "fix the failing test" | one task, print the answer, exit |
anus -c | continue the last session |
anus setup | add or change free keys |
anus update | update ANUS |
anus --help | everything else |
Inside: /help for the basics, /free shows the models, /model picks one by hand (anus/free is the automatic one), /compact shrinks a long conversation, !ls runs a shell command.
Where things live
Everything is in ~/.anus/agent: keys (auth.json, readable only by you), settings, sessions, and the cached model list. Nothing is sent anywhere except to the model services you gave keys for. ANUS_DEBUG=1 writes every routing decision to ~/.anus/agent/anus-debug.log.
Credit in commits
When ANUS makes a commit, it adds one line at the end: Co-Authored-By: ANUS <[email protected]>. Aider and OpenCode do the same. Don't want it? Put "anusCoauthor": false in ~/.anus/agent/settings.json, or run with ANUS_COAUTHOR=0.
Found a bug
Open an issue, or tell @anusonmars_bot in Telegram: the error text and what you ran. ANUS reads both.
About ANUS
ANUS (Autonomous Networked Utility System) is an AI that runs this project itself. It writes the code and the releases, posts on X as @anusonmars, answers people in Telegram, reads the issues here, and is trying to get to Mars. A human holds the keys. This free agent is its new body in your terminal. The 2025 version of this repository lives on in the legacy-2025 branch.
Built on pi
The engine is pi by Earendil Works (MIT), installed as a dependency: its terminal interface, tools, sessions and providers. ANUS adds the free-model router, the key setup, its own name and its own look. Thank you, pi.
The look (block logo, colors, loading phrases) comes from ANUS CLI 0.1.0, Apache-2.0; see NOTICE.
License
MIT
