Limitcode

Limitcode is an AI pair programming agent for Sublime Text.

It works the way a pair programmer works: the agent only sees and touches the files you have open in your editor. You steer the session, you choose what it reads, and every edit lands in a file you can review immediately.

No hidden filesystem scans. No shell access. No autopilot.

Why pair programming

Limitcode exposes exactly three tools:

• read_file
• write_to_file
• edit_file

These tools can only operate on files that already have a path and are open in the active Sublime Text window. Closed files cannot be read or modified, and write_to_file cannot create new files.

That constraint is the product: the agent works with you, inside the code you show it, one step at a time. If you want an autonomous agent that searches the project, runs commands, and manages its own context, see Limitcode Pro.

Features

• Side-by-side streaming chat inside Sublime Text
• Persistent conversation history per session
• Model and provider selection with per-session control
• Configurable reasoning effort and visible thinking
• Prompt history and @-file references
• A deliberately small, reviewable tool surface

LSP integration (optional)

If you have the LSP package installed, Limitcode will use its diagnostics after each edit to give the agent feedback on syntax and type errors, so it can catch and fix issues before continuing. This is optional and automatic — it only activates if LSP is already installed.

Providers

Limitcode supports:

• OpenAI
• DeepSeek
• Anthropic
• Gemini
• OpenRouter
• Moonshot AI (Kimi)
• Ollama
• LM Studio

Ollama and LM Studio run locally without an API key. Cloud providers require a key configured through Limitcode: Setup Provider API Key or the api_keys object in Limitcode.sublime-settings. Model lists are fetched live from each provider's /models endpoint (with a cached fallback), so new models appear automatically.

Quick start

1. Place the repository in Sublime Text's Packages/Limitcode directory.
2. Restart Sublime Text.
3. Run Limitcode: Setup Provider API Key from the Command Palette.
4. Run Limitcode: Open Chat from the Command Palette.

Open every file you want the agent to read or edit before sending a request.

Demo

Watch Limitcode build a Pomodoro timer app end to end — including the lo-fi melody it composed and exported as an audio file.

A typical session

1. Open the file you want to work on.
2. Select the code you care about and run Limitcode: Send to Agent, or just describe the change in the chat.
3. Review the edit the agent applies to your open file.
4. Ask for adjustments, or move on.

The agent never leaves the files you opened, and it never runs commands on your machine.

Commands

• Limitcode: Open Chat
• Limitcode: New Chat
• Limitcode: Chat History
• Limitcode: Rename Session
• Limitcode: Delete Session
• Limitcode: Send to Agent
• Limitcode: Change Provider
• Limitcode: Change Model
• Limitcode: Increase Chat Font Size
• Limitcode: Decrease Chat Font Size
• Limitcode: Reset Chat Font Size
• Limitcode: Set Reasoning Effort
• Limitcode: Toggle Show Thoughts
• Limitcode: Setup Provider API Key
• Limitcode: Open Settings
• Limitcode: Open Key Bindings
• Limitcode: Clear Chat
• Limitcode: Cancel Active Response
• Limitcode: Stop Agent

Keyboard shortcuts

Limitcode does not claim global shortcuts when installed. Inside the chat, Enter, Shift+Enter, Escape, Up, and Down are context-specific controls.

To add your own global shortcuts, run Limitcode: Open Key Bindings and place bindings in the user pane. For example:

[
    { "keys": ["ctrl+alt+l"], "command": "limitcode_open_chat" },
    { "keys": ["ctrl+alt+a"], "command": "limitcode_send_to_agent" },
    { "keys": ["ctrl+alt+x"], "command": "limitcode_cancel_request" }
]

Optional chat font shortcuts

The chat has its own font size and does not change the editor font size. It is disabled by default in the configuration with "chat_font_size": "auto", which makes the chat inherit Sublime's global font_size.

To use a fixed size, add a numeric value to the user settings:

{
    "chat_font_size": 11
}

The Increase Chat Font Size, Decrease Chat Font Size, and Reset Chat Font Size commands are available from the Command Palette. They only work when the Limitcode chat view is active and save the selected chat size for future chats.

Limitcode does not assign Ctrl+Plus or Ctrl+Minus by default. To add your own shortcuts, use Limitcode: Open Key Bindings and add bindings such as:

[
    {
        "keys": ["ctrl+="],
        "command": "limitcode_increase_chat_font_size",
        "context": [
            { "key": "setting.limitcode_chat_view", "operator": "equal", "operand": true }
        ]
    },
    {
        "keys": ["ctrl+-"],
        "command": "limitcode_decrease_chat_font_size",
        "context": [
            { "key": "setting.limitcode_chat_view", "operator": "equal", "operand": true }
        ]
    }
]

Configuration

{
    "default_provider": "openai",
    "default_model": "gpt-5.5",
    "api_keys": {
        "openai": ""
    },
    "provider_base_urls": {},
    "temperature": "auto",
    "max_tokens": 8192,
    "max_iterations": 50,
    "chat_font_size": "auto",
    "reasoning_effort": "off",
    "show_thoughts": false
}

temperature accepts "auto" or a number. max_tokens accepts a positive integer or "auto". Reasoning effort can be off, low, medium or high; unsupported models ignore it. chat_font_size accepts "auto" or a positive number and applies only to the Limitcode chat view.

Chat style customization

The chat status bar can follow your Sublime Text theme without changing the rest of the editor.

Quick option: chat_style

Adjust only what you need in Limitcode.sublime-settings:

"chat_style": {
    "chip_background": "",
    "chip_border": "",
    "chip_text": "",
    "link_color": "",
    "muted_text": "",
    "muted_opacity": 0.4,
    "chip_radius": 4,
    "chip_padding": "3px 9px"
}

Empty values inherit the active theme.

Example for dark themes with low contrast:

"chat_style": {
    "link_color": "#ffcc66",
    "muted_opacity": 0.8,
    "chip_radius": 3
}

Advanced option: chat.css

Create Packages/User/Limitcode/chat.css to override anything not exposed in the settings:

#limitcode-status {
    --limitcode-chip-background: #252a34;
    --limitcode-chip-border: #88c0d0;
    --limitcode-chip-link: #ffcc66;
    --limitcode-chip-muted: #c8d3e0;
}

#limitcode-status .chip {
    border-radius: 6px;
}

The file belongs to the user and is not overwritten on updates.

Priority order:

Package base CSS
      |
      v
chat_style (settings)
      |
      v
Packages/User/Limitcode/chat.css

Limitcode Pro

Limitcode Pro

Limitcode Pro is the fully autonomous version of Limitcode. It keeps the same editor-native workflow and adds:

• Project-wide file listing, searching, and targeted edits
• Approved shell command execution
• Web search and page fetching
• Reusable skills and MCP server connections
• Focused subagents and batched workflows
• Account sign-in for GitHub Copilot, OpenAI Codex, and Google Antigravity
• Automatic context compaction and snapshot-based undo/redo
• License-gated activation on up to three devices

Pro runs entirely inside Sublime Text with a configurable permission model, and is distributed as a packaged release rather than source.

Development

Run the test suite from the repository root:

python -B -m unittest discover -s tests -p "test_*.py"

License

Licensed under the GNU General Public License, Version 3. See LICENSE.