Nova CLI - Compass AI

Nova CLI

Compass AI · Terminal & CLI Agents · Updated Sep 1, 2026

Nova is an AI-powered, terminal-first development assistant designed for planning, editing, verifying, and shipping software. It features deep codebase understanding, guarded execution for safe operations, and multi-model support, allowing developers to manage entire workflows directly from their command line.

Recent Updates

Recent releases introduced a local live observability dashboard and the nova doctor command for system health checks and safe automated repairs.

As of Sep 1, 2026

Key Features

Three-tier approval system for secure file and shell operations
Persistent codebase indexing with a 200K token context window
Multi-model support including Anthropic, Ollama, and GLM
Agentic workflows with specialized subagents and reusable skills
Git-native operations with worktree isolation and commit management

Who It's For

✓ Best For

Professional software developers working in production repositories who require deep codebase context, safe automated tooling, and long-running agentic sessions.

✗ Not Ideal For

Developers looking for a simple, stateless chat-only interface without codebase integration or repository-level file manipulation.

Pricing

Freemium

Subscription-based platform; offers a unified subscription for CLI, Desktop, Web, and Excel components.

Verdict

A robust, production-ready AI agent that bridges the gap between chat assistants and actual software engineering by prioritizing safety, context, and developer workflow control.

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