Getting started
Zagens is a desktop agent harness for the DeepSeek V4 ecosystem. One product family covers chat, coding, and document workflows — with separate tool surfaces for engineering and office tasks.
Current public release: v0.8.9 — on the Kernel V3 engine (event-sourced, log-first resume). Highlights:
- Streaming UX polish — live transcript stays visible during deep tool loops; SSE reconnect; compact Hold panel
- Harness file-changes card — live session edit list with +/- stats; click through to Diff
- Tool evidence & intent composites —
investigate/answer_from_repo/change_and_verify; citation auditor - Desktop Browser + Diff Git — in-app browser tools; workspace status / changes / file-diff / read-only PRs
- Moonshot / Kimi K3 — first-class provider in the model panel (shared model catalog SSOT)
- Night queue + Gate-as-Code — batch jobs, predicate gates, morning briefing
Ships as the Windows desktop app plus full-screen zagens-tui on every platform.
What you need
- Windows desktop: Windows 10/11 x64
- Terminal TUI or CLI: Windows, macOS, or Linux — download
zagens-tui/zagens(latestzagens-v0.8.9) - A DeepSeek API key
- A folder to use as your workspace (code repo or office inbox)
Choose your surface
| Surface | When to use |
|---|---|
| Desktop app | Windows GUI — diff, replay, terminal, Browser, Office mode |
| Terminal TUI | Full-screen terminal agent on any OS |
| Headless CLI | Scripts, CI, serve --http, night queue |
All three run Kernel V3 — see Kernel V3 engine.
First launch (desktop)
Download the latest Windows installer.
Follow the install guide if Windows SmartScreen blocks the unsigned build.
Open Zagens, paste your API key (or configure providers under Settings → Models), and pick a task type:
- Code — terminal, diffs, refactors, tests, Browser
- Office — spreadsheets, web research, DOCX / XLSX / PPTX / PDF output
See Task types for when to pick each.
Select a workspace folder for the session.
(Code mode recommended) Open Sandbox in the sidebar and complete the first-run wizard — elevated (UAC) or unelevated. See Windows sandbox.
First launch (TUI)
zagens-tui # onboarding + resume last session
zagens-tui --fresh # new session
See Terminal TUI for layout, composer shortcuts, and slash commands.
Learn the UI
- Desktop: UI tour — icon rail, chat timeline, workspace, Browser, night queue.
- TUI: three-column shell — sessions, transcript/composer, inspector + LHT pane.
Next steps
| Goal | Read |
|---|---|
| Engine & resume | Kernel V3 |
| Safety & shell | Windows sandbox · Execution policy |
| Engineering | Code mode · Built-in Browser · Embedded terminal |
| Batch & gates | Night queue · Gate-as-Code |
| Documents | Office mode · P0 demos |
| Terminal-first | Terminal TUI · Headless CLI |
| Automation | Hooks · Scheduled tasks |
| Troubleshooting | FAQ · Agent health |