Codebuff is a terminal-native AI code assistant distributed as a globally installable npm package. It functions as a project-aware code editor that indexes entire codebases to understand dependencies, patterns, and architecture before making changes, enabling context-aware code generation and surgical file editing.
The tool operates through a command-line interface that accepts natural language instructions to directly read and modify files in the local filesystem. It uses per-project configuration files to guide how the AI assistant understands and edits the codebase, and builds a complete structural map of the project in seconds to inform AI-driven edits. Codebuff makes precise, targeted changes to files while preserving existing codebase structure, style, and formatting.
The tool is installed via npm and launched in a terminal, where it provides an interactive assistant for codebase modifications. It supports initializing project-specific agent configuration files and generating context-aware solutions tailored to the specific project's dependencies and architecture.