Skip to content
xtralab

Getting started

This tutorial starts xtralab in a project folder, runs a coding agent, and reviews the changes that the agent makes.

Before you start:

Start xtralab

Section titled “Start xtralab”

In a terminal, go to the project folder and start xtralab. If you installed it with conda, first activate the environment with conda activate xtralab (or the name of the environment you used).

Terminal window
cd my-project
xtralab

For a Pixi project, use pixi run xtralab. To run in a temporary environment, use pixi exec --channel conda-forge xtralab or uvx xtralab.

JupyterLab opens in your browser. The file browser shows the project folder, and the launcher opens in the main area.

The workspace

Section titled “The workspace”
Area Contents
Top bar The menu button (☰), the sidebar toggles, and the omnibox (Search…)
Left sidebar Terminals, the file browser, the Git panel, and search and replace
Main area The launcher, editors, notebooks, terminals, and diffs
Right sidebar The Prompt Queue panel, after you queue a prompt

Start an agent

Section titled “Start an agent”

  1. In the launcher, type a prompt in the Start an agent box. For example: Add type hints to src/acme/metrics.py.

  2. Select an agent, for example Claude.

    The agent starts in a new terminal tab with your prompt.

The launcher: a prompt box, one button per installed agent, the Open section, and the list of changed files

Review the changes

Section titled “Review the changes”

  1. Go back to the Launcher tab. The Changes list shows the modified and untracked files in the repository.

  2. Select a file. Its diff opens in a new tab.

  3. To correct a line, edit it on the right side of the diff. xtralab saves the change to the file.

A side-by-side diff of metrics.py with added lines highlighted on the right

Ask about a selection

Section titled “Ask about a selection”

  1. Open a file and select some lines.

  2. Press Cmd/Ctrl+..

  3. Type an instruction, then select the running agent as the destination.

  4. Press Enter.

    The prompt, with the file path, the line range, and the selected code, goes to the agent in its terminal.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”