Plandex is a powerful terminal-based AI development tool designed to handle large and complex coding tasks that span multiple steps and files. With an impressive 2M token context window (~100k per file), it can efficiently manage and index directories containing up to 20M tokens using tree-sitter project maps.
Key features include:
- Cumulative diff review sandbox: Keeps AI-generated changes separate from your project files until ready for integration
- Multi-model support: Combine models from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and open-source providers
- Full autonomy: Capable of loading files, planning changes, executing commands, and debugging automatically
- Large project resilience: Designed to work reliably with large projects and files where other tools might struggle
- Context caching: Reduces costs and latency for OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google models
- Automated debugging: For terminal commands and browser applications (with Chrome installed)
- Version control: Full-fledged tracking for every plan update with branching capabilities
- Git integration: Includes commit message generation and optional automatic commits
Plandex offers flexible deployment options including cloud hosting with integrated models, BYO API key options, and self-hosted/local modes via Docker. It supports over 30 programming languages and includes a project-aware chat mode for discussing ideas before implementation.
The tool is particularly valuable for developers working on complex features or applications who want to leverage AI assistance without creating project messes. Its step-by-step review process and fine-grained control make it suitable for both autonomous operation and carefully supervised development workflows.