Pixir Open Beta Quickstart

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Pixir's first open beta is a developer preview. The supported public surface is the Pixir runtime, terminal CLI, and ACP over stdio. Hex distribution, when used, installs the same CLI/ACP runtime and does not imply a stable public Elixir library API.

What You Need

  • Elixir compatible with mix.exs.
  • A local checkout of this repository for source installs, or Hex package access for escript installs.
  • Either ChatGPT subscription login through pixir login or an OPENAI_API_KEY.

See docs/adr/0016-open-beta-scope.md for the open beta scope and docs/adr/0025-hex-package-scope.md for the CLI/ACP-only Hex package contract.

Install From Hex

mix escript.install hex pixir
pixir help
pixir doctor --json

Install From Source

mix deps.get
mix escript.build
./pixir help
./pixir doctor --json

doctor is local-only and no-network. It checks the runtime version, source-install binary, workspace/session-log writability, local credential presence, config.json shape, and ACP command availability. It may create .pixir/sessions and remove a temporary probe file. It does not prove that the Provider accepts your selected model; use a smoke task for that.

After a Session exists, use local replay diagnostics when another agent, ACP client, or operator needs evidence about replay continuity. Use pixir for package installs and ./pixir for source checkouts:

pixir inspect-replay <session-id> --json
pixir diagnose session <session-id> --json

These commands read the local Log. They do not call the Provider.

Sign In

pixir login

Follow the printed device-code instructions. The subscription credential is stored under ~/.pixir/auth.json with local file permissions. As a fallback, set OPENAI_API_KEY.

Run A First Turn

From a project directory:

pixir "inspect this repo and summarize the architecture"

Pixir writes the model answer to stdout and activity/session details to stderr. Session Logs are stored under .pixir/sessions/ in the workspace and can be resumed:

pixir resume <session-id> "continue from there"

Permission Modes

pixir --read-only "inspect this repo"
pixir --ask "make a small change and test it"

--read-only denies mutations. --ask prompts before writes and unsafe shell commands.

ACP Clients

Point an ACP client at the installed or built escript:

pixir acp

ACP is the beta UI transport contract. Pixir still executes tools internally and reports tool lifecycle through ACP updates.

Subagents And Workflows

Pixir supports supervised Subagents and structural Workflows. For beta users, the honest contract is operational but narrow:

  • bounded Subagents run as supervised child Sessions and record durable terminal evidence;
  • wait_agent can return structured partial outcomes when only some children complete;
  • completed Subagents and Workflow steps may produce useful checkpoint bundles;
  • partial Workflow outcomes are not success;
  • timed-out, failed, cancelled, or detached children must be reported honestly with child ids and actionable state;
  • direct CLI fanout and parent-led Subagent fanout are covered by the no-network fanout regression gauntlet;
  • long-running non-blocking Subagent status/result retrieval remains an experimental client UX surface, especially in ACP clients that choose their own presentation model.

Use mix pixir.bench.fanout_gauntlet --dry-run --json from a source checkout when you need reproducible evidence for those claims. The gauntlet is a correctness and honesty gate, not a performance benchmark.

Local Verification

For a package install, start with:

pixir doctor --json

For a source checkout, maintainers can run the broader local gate:

mix check

Networked smoke tasks are manual/opt-in and belong to source-checkout verification, not normal package use.

Pixir treats image attachments as durable local Session Resources. The original resource is local Pixir evidence; OpenAI input_image is only the Provider projection used when the Turn needs the image. Later Turns should replay descriptors or digests by default unless resource_view explicitly rehydrates the original image.

ACP resource_link blocks are also accepted as Session Resource descriptors. Readable local file:// links are copied into Pixir's local resource store; remote links are recorded as references but are not fetched automatically.

Provider-hosted Web Search is opt-in. It is not MCP and not a local browser tool: OpenAI runs the hosted search and Pixir records bounded source evidence in provider_usage.