★ 621
August 2026
Apache-2.0
AI agents
What we checked ourselves
Not copied from the project's own blurb. These are things we opened and verified, with the date.
- 9 Sept 2026We checked that the link to the project still resolves.
- 13 Sept 2026We read the licence text itself (LICENSE). No unusual restrictions were stated.
- 2 Sept 2026We read the project's own documentation and found no sign that development has stopped.
Where this sits among the 114 tools we list in AI agents
- Commercial use confirmed as allowed95 of 114
- Requires terminal commands21 that do not →
- Requires an API key29 that do not →
- Sends your input to the provider11 that do not →
Counted from our own checks: every tool we list is examined against the same criteria.
What it does
A Rust coding agent from OVH built to behave like a Unix tool: pipe into it, pipe out of it, chain one invocation into the next, or run it as an HTTP service exposing OpenAI-compatible endpoints for other apps to call. That composability is also the caution — chained invocations edit files without a person between the steps, so keep a checkpoint in the loop. Your code goes to whichever provider you configure. Quiet since December 2025. Apache-2.0.
Summary based on the project's own description. The Japanese page has a fuller beginner guide: setup difficulty, what to prepare, and a step-by-step start.
Screenshots & visuals
Before you start
- Setup difficultySome setup needed
- Command lineRequired
- API keyRequired
- Sends data onlineYes
Judged automatically from the project's own metadata. Always confirm on the official page.
shai FAQ
- Is shai free?
- shai itself is free, but it needs an API key for an external AI service. That service charges separately, though some have a free tier.
- Do I need to install anything or write code to use shai?
- It needs the command line. If you are not comfortable typing commands, expect to get stuck during setup.
- Does shai work on a phone?
- No. It needs a computer.
- Can I use shai commercially?
- The licence is Apache-2.0, which permits commercial use. Conditions such as keeping the copyright notice still apply, so read the licence text before shipping it inside something.
How it compares
The conditions that decide whether you can actually use it, side by side.
| Tool | Command line | API key | Sends data out | Phone | Commercial use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| shai (this page) | Required | Required | Yes | No | Yes |
| Aider | Required | Required | Yes | No | Yes |
| gpt-pilot | Required | Required | Yes | No | With conditions |
| plandex | Required | Required | Yes | No | Yes |
"Sends data out" means your input is uploaded to someone's server. Pick "No" when the material cannot leave your organisation.