ElowbeAgent

ElowbeAgent is a desktop coding agent with a terminal-style UI. It helps you build and edit software projects using local or remote LLMs, with built-in tools for reading and writing files, running shell commands, Maven project management, web browsing, and Git review.

The agent defaults to Java + Maven for new projects and can auto-select Cursor-style skills from your project or install directory.

---

Features

• Interactive console UI — chat with the agent, review tool output, and manage projects in one window
• Multi-provider LLM support — Ollama, LM Studio (lmstudio: prefix), and Claude (claude: prefix)
• Agent tools — read, write, edit, bash, run, maven, web, and optional subtask delegation
• Project workspace — create, open, and switch between projects under a configurable projects folder
• Git workflow — auto-init repos, interactive diff review, and commit from /review
• Skills — load skill.md / SKILL.md supplements from projects and .cursor/skills/
• Image input — drag and drop photos into the window to attach them to the next message
• Persistent settings — model, LLM URLs, web backend, and preferences saved to ~/.elowbe-agent/settings.json

---

Requirements

Requirement	Notes
Java 21+	Required to build and run
Maven	Used by the agent and for Java project builds
Git	Used for project repos and /review
LLM backend	At least one of Ollama, LM Studio, or Claude API access
Eclipse workspace deps	JinConsole
json-java	lib/json-java.jar on the classpath
agent-browser (recommended)	Vercel agent-browser CLI for the web tool (default backend)
Chrome + ChromeDriver (optional)	Fallback when Selenium web backend is enabled
zsh or bash	Shell commands run through a managed zsh/bash wrapper on macOS/Linux

---

Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone <repository-url> ElowbeAgent
cd ElowbeAgent

2. Set up Eclipse dependencies

ElowbeAgent is an Eclipse/Maven project that depends on two sibling projects:

1. Import JinConsole into the same Eclipse workspace as ElowbeAgent
2. Ensure lib/json-java.jar exists (place the JAR in the lib/ folder if it is not already present)
3. Open the project in Eclipse — the .classpath wires JinConsole, and Maven dependencies

3. Build with Maven

From the project root:

mvn compile

Maven resolves Selenium from pom.xml. JinConsole must still be available on the Eclipse classpath (or equivalent) to run the main class.

4. Run the agent

From Eclipse: Run com.elowbe.main.ElowbeAgent as a Java application.

From the command line (after compiling with all dependencies on the classpath):

java com.elowbe.main.ElowbeAgent

On startup, ElowbeAgent opens a 960×720 window with a scrollable output area and command input.

---

Setting up services

Configure these before sending your first agent message.

Ollama

1. Install Ollama

2. Start the server (default: http://localhost:11434)

3. Pull a model, for example:

   ollama pull qwen2.5-coder:32b

4. In ElowbeAgent:

   /llm -ollama http://localhost:11434
   /model
   

   Select an Ollama model from the picker (no prefix needed for Ollama models).

LM Studio

1. Install LM Studio

2. Load a model and start the Local Server (OpenAI-compatible API, default port 1234)

3. In ElowbeAgent:

   /llm -lmstudio http://localhost:1234/v1
   /model
   

   Choose a model prefixed with lmstudio:, for example lmstudio:qwen3.6-27b-mtp.

Claude

Select a model prefixed with claude: from /model when your environment is configured for Claude API access through JinConsole’s LLM layer.

Web tool — agent-browser (default)

The web tool uses Vercel agent-browser by default:

npm install -g agent-browser
agent-browser install   # if required by your platform

Verify and configure in the agent:

/web -show
/web -command "agent-browser --json"

Web tool — Selenium fallback

If you prefer Selenium instead:

/web -selenium

Install Google Chrome and ensure ChromeDriver is available on your PATH.

Check current configuration

/llm -show
/web -show
/model

Settings are persisted automatically to ~/.elowbe-agent/settings.json.

---

Quick start

1. Start ElowbeAgent and point it at your LLM backend (see above).

2. Create a project:

   /new my-app
   

   Projects are created under ~/Documents/elowbe-projects by default.

3. Open an existing project:

   /open
   

4. Send a task in plain text, for example:

   Create a Spring Boot REST API with a /health endpoint
   

5. Review and commit changes:

   /review
   

6. Run the project (requires run.sh or run.bat in the project directory):

   /run
   

---

Usage

Sending messages

• Plain text — sent to the agent as a coding task
• While the agent is busy — plain text becomes an interjection (stops the current command and adds guidance)
• Drag and drop — attach .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif, .webp, or .bmp images to the next message
• Cancel — Ctrl+Shift+C (use Cmd+Shift+C on macOS) cancels the running agent or /run process

Terminal commands

These run locally without invoking the LLM:

Command	Description
cd [path]	Change working directory (~ for home)
ls [path]	List directory contents
mkdir [-p] dir	Create a directory

The current directory is shown in the status bar at the bottom of the window.

Slash commands

All configuration and workflow commands start with /.

Command	Description
/help -commands	List all commands
/clear	Clear chat history and token counters
/model	Open the model picker (Ollama, LM Studio, Claude)
/llm	Configure Ollama and LM Studio base URLs
/thinking	Enable or disable reasoning/thinking output
/subtasks	Enable or disable worker subtask delegation
/web	Configure web tool backend (agent-browser or Selenium)
/context	Set LLM context window size (0 = server default)
/output	Set max tokens per LLM response (0 = server default)
/history	Show persisted chat history size
/system	View, edit, or reload the system prompt
/skill	Manage project and discovered skills
/review	Review agent file changes and commit
/run	Execute run.sh or run.bat in the current project
/new	Create a new project
/open	Switch to a project in the projects folder

Examples

/llm -ollama http://localhost:11434
/llm -lmstudio http://localhost:1234/v1
/llm -show

/thinking -off
/subtasks -on
/web -agent-browser on
/context -set 32768
/output -set 64000

/system -reload
/system -show

/skill -list
/skill -select
/skill -set my-skill,other-skill
/skill -clear

/new my-project
/new -dir ~/dev -name my-project
/open
/review
/run

---

Projects

ElowbeAgent manages coding work inside project directories rather than the projects root itself.

Setting	Default
Projects folder	~/Documents/elowbe-projects
Settings file	~/.elowbe-agent/settings.json

• Use /new project-name to create a project (Git repo initialized automatically)
• Use /open to switch between projects
• Use /new -dir /path/to/parent -name project-name to create a project elsewhere and remember that parent as the projects folder
• Agent tasks, /review, and /run require an open project — not the projects root directory

Each project can include:

• run.sh / run.bat — executed by /run
• skill.md or SKILL.md — primary skill supplement for that project
• .cursor/skills/ or skills/ — additional discoverable skills

---

Skills

Skills are markdown files with optional YAML frontmatter (name, description) and a body of agent instructions — similar to Cursor Agent Skills.

Discovery locations:

• Project: skill.md, SKILL.md, .cursor/skills/*/SKILL.md, skills/*/SKILL.md
• ElowbeAgent install: skills/, src/skills/, .cursor/skills/

Selection:

• Automatic — the LLM picks relevant skills for each task (default)
• Manual — /skill -select or /skill -set id1,id2 (skips auto-selection)

/skill -list
/skill -show
/skill -reload
/skill -clear

---

Agent tools

The agent uses a structured tool loop (see src/system.txt). Available tools:

Tool	Purpose
read	Read files with line numbers
write	Create or overwrite files (not for pom.xml)
edit	Replace a line range in a file
bash	Run shell commands (not for Maven or web tasks)
run	Run run.sh / run.bat in the project
maven	Init, configure, and build Maven projects
web	Browse, search, and test HTTP APIs in a browser context
subtask	Delegate a single atomic action to a worker (when subtasks enabled)
done	Signal task completion

Defaults for new work:

• Java + Maven unless you explicitly request another stack
• Spring Boot for web apps, Swing for desktop GUIs
• Maven tool (not raw mvn or hand-edited pom.xml) for all POM changes

---

System prompts

Prompt files live under src/:

File	Used when
system.txt	Base system prompt (always)
system-direct.txt	Direct mode (subtasks off, default)
system-subtasks.txt	Subtask delegation mode (subtasks on)

Reload after editing:

/system -reload
/subtasks -show

---

Configuration reference

Settings are stored in ~/.elowbe-agent/settings.json:

{
  "projectsDirectory": "/Users/you/Documents/elowbe-projects",
  "agentModel": "lmstudio:qwen3.6-27b-mtp",
  "ollamaUrl": "http://localhost:11434",
  "lmstudioUrl": "http://localhost:1234/v1",
  "thinkingEnabled": true,
  "subtasksEnabled": false,
  "agentBrowserWebEnabled": true,
  "agentBrowserCommand": "agent-browser --json",
  "agentContextLength": 0,
  "agentMaxOutputTokens": 32000,
  "manualSkillIds": []
}

Field	Description
projectsDirectory	Root folder for /new and /open
agentModel	Active model (lmstudio:..., claude:..., or plain Ollama name)
ollamaUrl	Ollama API base URL
lmstudioUrl	LM Studio OpenAI-compatible API base URL
thinkingEnabled	Show model reasoning tokens in the UI
subtasksEnabled	Enable worker subtask delegation
agentBrowserWebEnabled	Use agent-browser CLI instead of Selenium
agentBrowserCommand	Base command for agent-browser
agentContextLength	Context window override (0 = server default)
agentMaxOutputTokens	Max generated tokens per response
manualSkillIds	Fixed skill selection (empty = auto)

Most values can also be changed at runtime with slash commands; changes are saved automatically.

---

Git workflow

When you work inside a project (not the projects root):

1. ElowbeAgent auto-initializes a Git repository if one does not exist
2. After a task completes, run /review
3. Accept or reject each change in the diff viewer
4. Enter a commit subject and optional description
5. Accepted changes are staged and committed

---

Project structure

ElowbeAgent/
├── src/
│   ├── com/elowbe/
│   │   ├── agent/          # Agent loop and tool orchestration
│   │   ├── commands/       # Slash command parsing
│   │   ├── git/            # Git init, diff, commit
│   │   ├── main/           # UI, settings, skills, project management
│   │   └── tools/          # read, write, bash, maven, web, etc.
│   ├── system.txt          # Base agent system prompt
│   ├── system-direct.txt   # Direct-work mode supplement
│   └── system-subtasks.txt # Subtask mode supplement
├── res/                    # Fonts and assets
├── lib/                    # json-java.jar (classpath)
└── pom.xml

---

Troubleshooting

Issue	What to try
No models in /model	Confirm Ollama or LM Studio is running; check /llm -show URLs
Web tool fails	Run /web -show; test agent-browser --json in a terminal, or switch to /web -selenium
Maven commands fail	Ensure mvn is on your PATH and Java 21 is active
Skills not found	Run /skill -list; check skill paths under .cursor/skills/ or skills/
Cannot review or run in projects folder	Use /open or /new to enter a project directory first
Settings not applied	Inspect ~/.elowbe-agent/settings.json; restart ElowbeAgent after manual edits

---

License

See the repository license file for details.