AI Coding Tools | CloudForge Documentation

AI Coding Tools

Setup guides for popular AI coding assistants

CloudForge works with any CLI tool

Since CloudForge provides a standard terminal, you can use any command-line tool - not just the ones listed here.

Using a Managed Environment?

With the AI Coding template, all these tools are already installed! Just create a managed server and start coding.

Codex CLI

by OpenAI

npm install -g @openai/codex

Set your OpenAI API key:

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-xxx

codex

To persist, add to your shell profile:

echo 'export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-xxx' >> ~/.bashrc

codex "Create a React component for a login form"

by Google

npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

gemini auth login

Or use an API key:

export GOOGLE_API_KEY=AIza...

gemini

gemini "Explain this codebase and suggest improvements"

Open Source

Popular

pip install aider-chat

Or with pipx (recommended):

pipx install aider-chat

Aider supports multiple LLM providers. Set your API key:

For Anthropic (Claude)

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-xxx

For OpenAI

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-xxx

cd your-project

aider

Start with specific files:

aider src/main.py src/utils.py

Open Source (VS Code Extension CLI)

npm install -g cline

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-xxx

cline "Add dark mode support to this app"

Tool	Provider	Pricing	Best For
Claude Code	Anthropic	$20-200/mo (subscription)	Best overall experience
Codex CLI	OpenAI	Pay-as-you-go (API)	GPT-4 users
Gemini CLI	Google	Free tier available	Google ecosystem
Aider	Open Source	Free (bring your own API)	Git integration, flexibility
Cline	Open Source	Free (bring your own API)	VS Code users

1. Keep your API keys in ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc so they persist across sessions
2. Use tmux or screen for long-running AI sessions that survive disconnects
3. Create a CLAUDE.md or .aider file in your project for context
4. Use Git frequently - AI tools can make big changes!