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Show HN: Plandex v2 – open source AI coding agent for large projects and tasks
61–70 of 85 posts
Re: Show HN: Plandex v2 – open source AI coding agent for large projects and tasks
#62I like the idea but it did not quite work out of box. There was some issue with sign-in, it seems pin requested via web does not work in console (so the web suggesting using --pin option is misleading). I tried BYO plan as I already have openrouter API key. But it seems like default model pack splits its API use between openrouter and openai, and I ended up stuck with "o3-mini does not exist". And my whole motivation…
The installation process for the FOSS version includes both the CLI (which is also used for the cloud version) and a docker-compose file for the server components. Last time I tried it (v1) it was quite clunky but yesterday with v2 it was quite a bit easier, with an explicit localhost option when using plandex login.
Re: Show HN: Plandex v2 – open source AI coding agent for large projects and tasks
#63Nice! I tried it out when you launched last year but found it pretty expensive to use. I believe I spent $5 for half an hour of coding or so. Can you share what the typical costs are now, since the model prices have changed significantly?
It's a bit hard to give "typical" costs because it's so dependent on how you use it. The project map size (which scales with overall project size) and the number/size of relevant files are the main drivers of cost, so working in large existing codebases will be a lot more expensive than generating a new app from scratch. Taking Plandex's codebase as an example, it's certainly not huge but is getting to be decent-size…
Thanks! Quite a bit more money than Cursor (probably better quality, as Cursor's context is limited) but still peanuts compared to hiring someone :)
Re: Show HN: Plandex v2 – open source AI coding agent for large projects and tasks
#64I like the idea but it did not quite work out of box. There was some issue with sign-in, it seems pin requested via web does not work in console (so the web suggesting using --pin option is misleading). I tried BYO plan as I already have openrouter API key. But it seems like default model pack splits its API use between openrouter and openai, and I ended up stuck with "o3-mini does not exist". And my whole motivation…
Yeah, I noticed that (needing a dedicated OpenAI key) as well for the BYO key plan. It's a little bit odd considering that open router has access to the open AI models. https://openrouter.ai/openai
OpenRouter charges a bit extra on credits, and adds some latency with the extra hop, so I decided to keep the OpenAI calls direct by default.
I hear you though that it's a bit of extra hassle to need two accounts, and you're right that it could just use OpenRouter only. The OpenRouter OpenAI endpoints are included as built-in models in Plandex (and can be used via \set-model or a custom model pack - https://docs.plandex.ai/models/model-settings).
I'm also working on allowing direct model provider access in general so that OpenRouter can be optional.
Maybe a quick onboard flow to choose preferred models/providers would be helpful when starting out (OpenRouter only, OpenRouter + OpenAI, direct providers only, etc.).
Re: Show HN: Plandex v2 – open source AI coding agent for large projects and tasks
#65I like the idea but it did not quite work out of box. There was some issue with sign-in, it seems pin requested via web does not work in console (so the web suggesting using --pin option is misleading). I tried BYO plan as I already have openrouter API key. But it seems like default model pack splits its API use between openrouter and openai, and I ended up stuck with "o3-mini does not exist". And my whole motivation…
The installation process for the FOSS version includes both the CLI (which is also used for the cloud version) and a docker-compose file for the server components. Last time I tried it (v1) it was quite clunky but yesterday with v2 it was quite a bit easier, with an explicit localhost option when using plandex login.
I'm glad to hear it went smoothly for you. It was definitely clunky in v1.
Re: Show HN: Plandex v2 – open source AI coding agent for large projects and tasks
#66I like the idea but it did not quite work out of box. There was some issue with sign-in, it seems pin requested via web does not work in console (so the web suggesting using --pin option is misleading). I tried BYO plan as I already have openrouter API key. But it seems like default model pack splits its API use between openrouter and openai, and I ended up stuck with "o3-mini does not exist". And my whole motivation…
Thanks for trying it!
Could you explain in a bit more detail what went wrong for you with sign-in and the pin? Did you get an error message?
On OpenRouter vs. OpenAI, see my other comment in this thread (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43719681). I'll try to make this smoother.
On Gemini 2.5 Pro: the new paid 2.5 pro preview will be added soon, which will address this. The free OpenRouter 2.5 pro experimental model is hit or miss because it uses OpenRouter's quota with Google. So if it's getting used heavily by other OpenRouter users, it can end up being exhausted for all users.
On the cloud BYO plan, I'd say the main benefits are:
- Truly zero dependency (no need for docker, docker-compose, and git).
- Easy to access your plans on multiple devices.
- File edits are significantly faster and cheaper, and a bit more reliable, thanks to a custom fast apply model.
- There are some foundations in place for organizations/teams, in case you might want to collaborate on a plan or share plans with others, but that's more of a 'coming soon' for now.
If you use the 'Integrated Models' option (rather than BYO), there are also some useful billing and spend management features.
But if you don't find any of those things valuable, then the FOSS could be the best choice for you.
Re: Show HN: Plandex v2 – open source AI coding agent for large projects and tasks
#67CLI is the worst possible interface for coding llms. Especially for "larger" projects.
Are you saying GUI IDEs are best? Or is there an ideal kind of interface we haven't yet seen?
Re: Show HN: Plandex v2 – open source AI coding agent for large projects and tasks
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can read the script before installing. It's pretty straightforward—just grabs the appropriate binary from GitHub and puts it in /usr/local/bin. Installing via package managers or installers also runs remote 3rd party code on your machine, so I don't see much difference from a security perspective. You should make sure you trust the source before installing anything.
Of course one can and should read the script before running it, but the instructions promote just the opposite. Even if we skip a step ahead and consider that this script then installs a binary blob... the situation doesn't get any better, does it? If you find any of this as something normal and acceptable, I can only strongly disagree. Such bad practices should be discouraged. On the other hand, using a distro's pac…
The instructions presume that one would follow best practices when installing something where the source is available, and doesn't need to explicitly include all the steps to do so in this context. You are correct in that it would be bad practice to blindly install something, but knowing what you are installing is the first step to installing when you are following best practices. That onus is on the person doing the installing, not the installation instructions.
Re: Show HN: Plandex v2 – open source AI coding agent for large projects and tasks
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
The installation process for the FOSS version includes both the CLI (which is also used for the cloud version) and a docker-compose file for the server components. Last time I tried it (v1) it was quite clunky but yesterday with v2 it was quite a bit easier, with an explicit localhost option when using plandex login.
I'm glad to hear it went smoothly for you. It was definitely clunky in v1.
I would get rid of the email validation code for localhost, though. That remains the biggest annoyance when running it locally as a single user. I would also add a $@ to the docker-compose call in the bash start script so users can start it in detached mode.
Re: Show HN: Plandex v2 – open source AI coding agent for large projects and tasks
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm glad to hear it went smoothly for you. It was definitely clunky in v1.
I would get rid of the email validation code for localhost, though. That remains the biggest annoyance when running it locally as a single user. I would also add a $@ to the docker-compose call in the bash start script so users can start it in detached mode.
It should already be skipping the email validation step in local mode. Is it showing up for you?
I’ll look into the detached mode, thanks!