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Terminal Agentic Coding Tools — OpenCode, Aider, OpenHands & Goose
The terminal is the new IDE. Four open-source tools have emerged as the dominant agentic coding platforms, each with a distinct philosophy. OpenCode brings a full TUI with split panels and LSP integration. Aider is the minimalist git-first pair programmer. OpenHands runs autonomous agents in Docker sandboxes. Goose, now under the Linux Foundation, connects to 70+ MCP servers as a universal agent harness. This course covers all four.
Four days, one tool per day. Each tool is covered end-to-end: installation, configuration, daily workflow, advanced features, and production deployment. Every command and feature is verified against the current documentation and codebase. These are fast-moving projects — the resource links at the end of each lesson are the authoritative reference for features that have evolved since publication.
Before you start
| Tool | Language | Stars | Install | Philosophy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenCode | Go | 30K+ | curl -fsSL https://opencode.ai/install | bash | Full TUI, LSP, 75+ providers |
| Aider | Python | 47.6K | pip install aider-chat | Git-first, minimal, model-agnostic |
| OpenHands | Python/TS | 81.5K | docker pull ghcr.io/openhands/openhands | Autonomous, sandboxed, multi-agent |
| Goose | Rust | 10K+ | curl -fsSL https://goose.ai/install | bash | MCP-native, Linux Foundation |
To get started, you will need to install these tools on your local machine. Ensure your system meets the basic requirements for Python and Docker before running these setup commands.
bash
# Install all four
curl -fsSL https://opencode.ai/install | bash
pip install aider-chat
docker pull ghcr.io/openhands/openhands
curl -fsSL https://goose.ai/install | bashThe arc
Day 1 — OpenCode: The TUI Powerhouse covers the Go-based terminal agent with its split-panel TUI, 75+ provider support, LSP-integrated code safety checking, plan/build modes, AGENTS.md context, and desktop/IDE surfaces.
Day 2 — Aider: The Git-First Pair Programmer covers the Python-based minimalist agent that edits files and auto-commits with descriptive messages, repomap for codebase understanding, architect mode, and multi-model workflows.
Day 3 — OpenHands: The Autonomous Agent Platform covers the Docker-sandboxed autonomous agent with a web UI, Agent Canvas for multi-agent teams, skills system, and cloud deployment.
Day 4 — Goose: The MCP-Native Agent Harness covers the Linux Foundation agent with 70+ MCP extensions, local-first architecture, cross-platform support, and the Block-to-AAIF transition story.
Then you build it for real
The Capstone: Multi-Tool Dev Workflow uses all four tools in a single workflow: OpenCode for exploration and planning, Aider for precise edits, OpenHands for autonomous refactoring, and Goose for infrastructure automation via MCP.
Resource links:
- OpenCode: opencode.ai | github.com/opencode-ai/opencode
- Aider: aider.chat | github.com/Aider-AI/aider
- OpenHands: openhands.dev | github.com/OpenHands/OpenHands
- Goose: aaif.io/projects/goose | github.com/aaif-goose/goose