Purpose

Spawn an AI coding agent in a new terminal window. Follow the 'Instructions', execute the 'Workflow', based on the 'Cookbook'.

Variables

Instructions

MANDATORY - You MUST follow the Workflow steps below in order. Do not skip steps.

Agent Selection

1. Explicit request: If user specifies an agent (e.g., "use gemini", "spawn codex"), use that agent
2. No agent specified: Use DEFAULT_AGENT (claude-code)
3. Check enabled: Verify the ENABLED*CLI flag is true before proceeding

Reading Cookbooks

• Based on the selected agent, follow the 'Cookbook' section to read the appropriate .md file
• You MUST read and execute the appropriate cookbook file before spawning the agent

Red Flags - STOP and follow Cookbook

If you're about to:

• Spawn an agent without reading the cookbook first
• Execute a CLI command without running --help
• Skip steps because "this is simple"
• Run a CLI agent with a prompt but without checking INTERACTIVE_MODE requirements

STOP -> Read the appropriate cookbook file -> Follow its instructions -> Then proceed

Common Mistake: When spawning agentic CLIs (Claude, Codex, Gemini) with a prompt,
most require command chaining (e.g., && claude --continue) to stay in interactive
mode after the prompt completes. Always check the cookbook for the correct pattern.

Spawn Summary User Prompt

• IF: The user requests spawning an agent with a summary of the conversation
• THEN:

- Read and REPLACE the <userpromptsummary> and <agentresponsesummary> fields in './prompts/fork-summary-user-prompt.md' with the history of the conversation between you and the user. - Include the next users request in the Next User Request field. - This will be what you pass into the PROMPT field of the agentic coding tool. - Spawn the agent with: forkterminal(command: str, capture=False, logtofile=False, logagent_output=True)

• Examples:

- "Spawn agent use claude code to <xyz> with a summary" - "spin up a new terminal with <xyz> with claude code. Include a summary of the conversation." - "create a new agent with claude code to <xyz>. Summarize work so far." - "spawn agent use gemini to <xyz> with a summary"

Workflow

MANDATORY CHECKPOINTS - Verify each before proceeding:

1. [ ] Understand the user's request
2. [ ] SELECT AGENT: Determine which agent (explicit or DEFAULT_AGENT)
3. [ ] READ: './fork_terminal.py' to understand the tooling
4. [ ] Follow the Cookbook (read the appropriate .md file for selected agent)
5. [ ] CHECKPOINT: Confirm cookbook instructions were followed (e.g., ran --help)
6. [ ] Execute forkterminal(command: str, capture=False, logtofile=False, logagent_output=True)
7. [ ] IF 'READCAPTUREDOUTPUT' is true: Read and display the agent output using readforkoutput()

Cookbook

Claude Code (Default)

• IF: User requests Claude Code OR no agent explicitly specified
• THEN: Read and execute './cookbook/claude-code.md'
• Examples:

- "Spawn an agent to <xyz>" - "Fork terminal to <xyz>" (no agent specified = claude-code) - "Spawn agent use claude code to <xyz>" - "spin up a new terminal with claude code"

Codex CLI

• IF: User requests Codex/OpenAI agent and 'ENABLEDCODEXCLI' is true
• THEN: Read and execute './cookbook/codex-cli.md'
• Examples:

- "Spawn agent use codex to <xyz>" - "create a new terminal with codex cli to <xyz>" - "spawn openai agent to <xyz>"

Gemini CLI

• IF: User requests Gemini/Google agent and 'ENABLEDGEMINICLI' is true
• THEN: Read and execute './cookbook/gemini-cli.md'
• Examples:

- "Spawn agent use gemini to <xyz>" - "create a new terminal with gemini cli to <xyz>" - "spawn google agent to <xyz>"

Cursor CLI

• IF: User requests Cursor agent and 'ENABLEDCURSORCLI' is true
• THEN: Read and execute './cookbook/cursor-cli.md'
• Examples:

- "Spawn agent use cursor cli to <xyz>" - "create a new terminal with cursor to <xyz>" - "spawn cursor agent to <xyz>"

OpenCode CLI

• IF: User requests OpenCode agent and 'ENABLEDOPENCODE_CLI' is true
• THEN: Read and execute './cookbook/opencode-cli.md'
• Examples:

- "Spawn agent use opencode cli to <xyz>" - "create a new terminal with opencode to <xyz>" - "spawn opencode agent to <xyz>"

Copilot CLI

• IF: User requests Copilot/GitHub agent and 'ENABLEDCOPILOTCLI' is true
• THEN: Read and execute './cookbook/copilot-cli.md'
• Examples:

- "Spawn agent use copilot cli to <xyz>" - "create a new terminal with copilot to <xyz>" - "spawn github copilot agent to <xyz>"

Output Retrieval

The fork_terminal() function supports three output controls:

Parameter Combinations

Retrieving Output Later

When logagentoutput=True (default), clean agent output is logged. Use readforkoutput(file_path) to retrieve it:

# Spawn without blocking (returns path to JSON output)
file_path = fork_terminal(cmd, log_agent_output=True)
print(f"Agent output will be at: {file_path}")

# Later, read the output when needed
output = read_fork_output(file_path, timeout=60)

Debug Mode

For debugging, enable logtofile=True to capture full terminal output (including stderr):

# Debug mode: capture everything
file_path = fork_terminal(cmd, log_to_file=True, log_agent_output=False)