Agent Mode

Release status

RightNow Agent is coming soon for Windows, macOS and Linux. Installation commands and workflows in these guides are reference material until the public release is available.

Agent mode runs RightNow as a server for editors and applications that speak the Agent Client Protocol (ACP) over JSON-RPC.

stdio

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rightnow agent stdio

The stdio transport reads JSON-RPC from standard input and writes it to standard output.

WebSocket server

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rightnow agent serve --bind 127.0.0.1:2419

The default bind address is 127.0.0.1:2419.
Set --secret or RIGHTNOW_AGENT_SECRET to choose the token; otherwise the agent generates one.
Startup writes the address, secret, and WebSocket URL to standard error.
Clients connect to /ws with Authorization: Bearer <token> or ?server-key=<token>. A missing or wrong token gets HTTP 401.
Sessions survive client reconnects.

Options

Agent options go between agent and the transport; server options such as --bind go after serve.

Option	What it does
-m, --model <MODEL>	Select a configured model-entry ID.
--reasoning-effort, --effort <EFFORT>	Set reasoning effort for a reasoning model.
--always-approve, --yolo	Approve offered tool executions without prompting.
--agent-profile <PATH>	Load an agent profile file. A session _meta.agentProfile takes precedence.
--plugin-dir <DIR>	Load a plugin for this process only; repeatable. Its hooks and MCP servers start without a trust prompt. Ignored in leader mode.
--leader / --no-leader	Use the warm agent service, or force a new local agent. Default: [cli] use_leader, off when unset.
--reauth	No effect with stdio or serve.

A requested sandbox profile other than off prevents leader mode so tools remain in the confined process.

Automatic tool approval

Always-approve automatically approves offered tool executions; deny rules and hooks still apply.

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rightnow agent --always-approve stdio

Client lifecycle

Send initialize with the client capabilities.
Send session/new with the working directory.
Send session/prompt with the user message.
Read session/update notifications and handle permission requests when the selected mode requires them.

sessionUpdate	Carries
agent_message_chunk	Response text.
agent_thought_chunk	Reasoning.
tool_call	A new tool call.
tool_call_update	Tool status or result.
plan	The execution plan.

session/new _meta

Field	Effect
yoloMode	true approves offered tool executions for this session. Default: --always-approve.
autoMode	true requests auto permission mode where it is enabled; yoloMode wins.
rules	Extra rules appended to the system prompt.
systemPromptOverride	Replaces the system prompt; a blank value is ignored.
agentProfile	Agent profile name or JSON object.

Troubleshooting

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rightnow doctor

Then see Troubleshooting. Related: Providers, Permissions and Safety, Headless Mode.