Pool is an AI coding agent developed by Poolside (poolsideai) designed to execute software engineering tasks directly in developer environments. Built as both an interactive terminal application and a modular agent service, Pool interfaces with local repositories to read, modify, and manage codebase changes. In day-to-day use, Pool operates in two primary modes: as an interactive terminal UI/CLI tool and as an Agent Client Protocol (ACP) server that integrates into compatible code editors and IDEs. Developers can prompt the agent to inspect context, make code modifications, and execute tasks across the project workspace, while retaining the ability to intervene during execution. What distinguishes Pool is its native adoption of the Agent Client Protocol (ACP) along with features like mid-turn steering, custom hooks, and an autonomous 'Auto' execution mode. By decoupling the core agent logic from the interface via ACP, Pool allows developers to switch seamlessly between standalone terminal workflows and IDE-driven client environments without changing the underlying agent setup. Pool is released under an open-source license on GitHub with ongoing development and versioning. It serves as Poolside's core client harness for developer-driven AI agent workflows.
Tags: ai agent, cli, coding agent, developer tools, terminal