MathCode

MathCode: A Frontier Mathematical Coding Agent

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Project Page: math-ai-org/mathcode

English | 中文

MathCode is a terminal AI coding assistant with built-in Lean capabilities. The agent can inspect goals, check candidates, search declarations, and verify a finished proof interactively.

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/math-ai-org/mathcode.git
cd mathcode
bash setup.sh --with-lean
codex auth login
mathcode

For a smaller installation without Lean/Mathlib, use bash setup.sh --without-lean. You can add it later with bash setup.sh --install-lean; the first approved local Lean feature call also offers to install it. Running bash setup.sh interactively asks which mode to use and defaults to the full installation.

setup.sh prepares the release checkout for daily use. It downloads or repairs the bundled runtime, prepares local configuration, and installs a user-local mathcode launcher for future shells. On Linux it also requires bwrap (package bubblewrap) and socat before bootstrapping the Lean workspace.

If your current shell has not reloaded its profile yet, use ./run as the bundle-local fallback.

Setup Responsibilities

Runtime files:

downloads the matching mathcode-vX.Y.Z-<os>-<arch>.tar.gz asset when bundled runtime files are missing, stale, unverified, or invalid for the current platform
restores ./mathcode, ./mathcode-webui, and vendor/ripgrep/ from that archive when repair is needed
verifies the current-platform SHA256SUMS.txt entry with shasum or sha256sum
validates downloaded runtime files before replacing an existing working install
records release metadata for the CLI and WebUI helper so later setup.sh and setup.sh --status runs can detect stale or unverified binaries

Local configuration:

creates .env from .env.example when needed
installs a managed user-local mathcode launcher in ~/.local/bin/ by default
creates tools/ and plugins/ extension directories plus the bundled skills/ reference-doc directory; project skills load from .mathcode/skills/<name>/SKILL.md
ships a bundled rg binary under vendor/ripgrep/ for MathCode's internal search paths

Lean toolchain:

can be installed with --with-lean, deferred with --without-lean, and added later with --install-lean or on the first approved local Lean use
ships the versioned lean-workspace/lake-manifest.json so setup and local runs use the dependency graph locked by the release
setup materializes an empty managed VaultLibs/UserVaultLibs/ skeleton when needed; source-host local vault mirrors, test fixtures, and scratch Lean files are not packaged
materializes that locked graph during setup without running lake update or rewriting the manifest
requires a local MathCodeLean readiness build after the optional Mathlib cache fetch; cache skips and download failures fall back to that build, and a build failure aborts setup
uses a complete bundle-local .local/elan Lean/Lake pair by default
accepts lean.exe / lake.exe pairs from Git Bash/MSYS
repairs partial local elan tool-file installs before bootstrapping the Lean workspace
uses system Lean/Lake only when MATHCODE_SETUP_USE_SYSTEM_LEAN=1 and both tools are available, preserving your existing ELAN_HOME

Launcher And PATH Behavior

Setup only overwrites launcher files it previously created. This avoids clobbering an unrelated existing mathcode command.

If MATHCODE_INSTALL_BIN_DIR is set, setup resolves relative paths against the bundle root before writing the launcher, recorded state, or managed PATH block. It also refreshes the managed profile block even when the chosen directory is already on the current shell's PATH, so future shells keep resolving mathcode.

If the selected launcher directory cannot be used, setup skips only the launcher step and continues the rest of the installation.

When MATHCODE_SETUP_USE_SYSTEM_LEAN=1, setup captures system lean and lake before changing into the bundle root and records their validated absolute paths in .env. Runtime resolution validates and uses that exact pair even when a later process has a different PATH. These managed system paths use strict base64: UTF-8 encoding so Bun dotenv parsing and ./run shell sourcing both preserve literal backslashes, quotes, and backticks. Without that opt-in, setup removes any stale managed system-toolchain selection and --status reports the default local .local/elan path instead of treating system Lean as installed.

Generated .env path values are shell-quoted, so bundle paths containing characters such as $ or single quotes remain literal when ./run sources the file; the managed system Lean/Lake values use the dual-parser encoding above.

Maintenance Commands

bash setup.sh --install-lean  # add or repair optional Lean/Mathlib support
bash setup.sh --status   # check whether the binary/tooling look healthy
bash setup.sh --clean    # remove install artifacts, keep proofs/vault data
bash setup.sh --help     # show all setup flags

setup.sh --status checks that:

./mathcode --version and checksum match this release tag's metadata
./mathcode-webui matches the recorded release metadata
the current platform's bundled rg is executable and reports a ripgrep version banner
optional Lean support is ready, deferred, incomplete, or not yet installed

setup.sh --clean preserves user outputs in LeanFormalizations/, vault data, and the release's locked Lake manifest. If setup previously recorded a managed launcher, later --status and --clean runs keep tracking it even when MATHCODE_INSTALL_BIN_DIR is unset.

Requirements

macOS (arm64) or glibc-based Linux (x86_64 with AVX2, built on Ubuntu 22.04)
curl for setup/bootstrap downloads
shasum or sha256sum for release archive verification and metadata
enough disk space for the bundle, plus the Lean toolchain and Mathlib caches when Lean support is enabled
codex CLI if you want the default backend and default math flow
Python 3.12+ (optional, only needed for analysis tools in tools/)

Common Commands

CLI

mathcode -p "prove that the square of an even number is even"
echo "hello" | mathcode -p
mathcode --help

MCP XAA IdP setup requires a nonblank HTTPS issuer URL. mathcode mcp xaa setup --issuer ... rejects http://, including loopback URLs, before writing settings.

If you have not reloaded your shell yet, use the bundle-local fallback:

./run -p "prove that the square of an even number is even"
echo "hello" | ./run -p
./run --help

The agent edits Lean files in the selected workspace. The atomic Lean tools do not create a separate run directory or write proof-library artifacts.

Browser UI

./run webui

./run webui sources the bundle .env, starts the local daemon, and prints the browser authentication URL.

If launched directly, the packaged ./mathcode-webui helper re-enters the sibling ./run webui wrapper first. Direct and wrapper launches therefore use the same .env, local Lean toolchain, and bundle defaults. A present but broken wrapper is reported as a launch failure.

Inside an interactive ./run session, /webui and /webUI launch or manage the same local daemon. The slash command supports --no-browser, --port <port>, --status, and --stop; source-only --rebuild is not available in release bundles. The full authenticated URL is written only to the local terminal, while command result/status text redacts it as token=<redacted>. For slash-command launches, the selected port and workspace override same-named WebUI keys from the bundle .env.

Goal And Command Limits

MATHCODE_GOAL_MAX_TOKEN_BUDGET caps token budgets accepted by source /goal, /goal daemon commands, and /api/v1/sessions/:id/goal. It accepts the same positive integer, integer-valued decimal, and k/m/b compact formats as /goal; unset or invalid values fall back to 1000000000.
MATHCODE_MAX_CHAINED_COMMAND_INPUTS caps nested local slash-command next-input submissions before QueryEngine aborts. Unset or invalid values fall back to 25.

Goal Command Syntax

Interactive release sessions support:

/goal <token-budget> <objective>
/goal --budget <token-budget>
/goal --budget=<token-budget>
optional --max-continuations N or --max-continuations=<N>
/goal pause, /goal resume, /goal status, and /goal clear
bare /goal, /goal help, /goal -h, and /goal --help

The command continues the same session; it does not spawn a separate agent. Objectives that begin with / are submitted as plain goal text, not parsed as another slash command.

After a budget, --help can be the first objective token. Once objective parsing has started, flag-looking tokens remain objective text unless a valid later --budget is being used to supply the required explicit budget.

Invalid --budget values are rejected when --budget is parsed as the budget option, including numeric-expression objectives like:

1 + 1 ... --budget nope

Model Effort

Use --effort <level> or interactive /effort <level> with low, medium, high, max, or a positive integer; /effort auto and /effort unset return the session to the model default. For CLI model overrides, the reserved default value is matched case-insensitively; custom model IDs keep their original casing.

Custom Agents

Custom agent definitions trim description, JSON prompt, markdown prompt bodies, initialPrompt, and JSON enum fields such as effort, permissionMode, memory, and isolation; blank required descriptions/prompts are rejected, and blank optional initial prompts are ignored. JSON skills lists are normalized like markdown frontmatter.

Session Diagnostics, Compaction, And Tasks

Interactive context displays keep diagnostic context intact:

/context uses the same visible markdown transcript output in interactive and non-interactive sessions
/config includes a default-on Show tool-use warnings toggle. Disabling it suppresses only non-error runtime warning transcript events that are not stream parser/drop diagnostics; tool errors, permission denials, validation failures, stream-json parser diagnostics, and actionable tool-call diagnostics remain visible to the agent.
markdown table cells are escaped
slash-command and deferred built-in tool details remain visible
MCP loaded/available status is shown
deferred categories are excluded from current-usage tables
manual compact reserve is shown as reserved buffer
free/reserved rows stay visible when current usage is empty
malformed token rows and zero-token synthetic windows do not produce invalid suggestion percentages
server-side and MCP tool blocks are counted in message breakdowns

Compact and autocompact paths:

clamp malformed thresholds, token counts, legacy content shapes, and blank tool IDs
preserve singleton tool-result pairs
scope statusline, away summary, survey, and sticky-prompt UI to the active post-compact transcript
suppress stale warnings after partial compact
coalesce duplicate remote compacting statuses

Task handling:

/tasks, TaskStop, and SDK stop_task do not count the selectable leader row as a running teammate
pending remote agents and running in-process teammates can be stopped
task tools and SDK stop_task trim task IDs
deprecated shell_id and TaskOutput agentId/bash_id aliases can backfill blank task_id values
legacy wait_up_to seconds are normalized
legacy persisted task statuses are recovered across user-visible status shapes
legacy TaskUpdate status aliases are accepted
blank task text fields are rejected
task metadata keys are trimmed, and blank or unsafe __proto__ metadata keys are rejected
TaskOutput timeouts must be integer-valued
idle in-process teammate output is treated as ready instead of waiting for timeout
mixed text/structured TaskOutput and TaskStop results replay correctly
legacy TaskOutput output replay preserves tag-looking text such as <error>
trimming command whitespace does not create false TaskStop truncation markers
recently completed rows expire on schedule, while hidden summaries remain visible in very short terminals

Shell sleep auto-backgrounding and path validation recognize:

decimal, suffixed, signed, exponent, and trailing-dot durations, such as sleep 2s, sleep 2m, sleep +2, and sleep 2e0
wrapped shell forms such as env ... sleep 2s
PowerShell quoted, commented, redirected, and module-qualified sleep commands, such as & 'sleep' 2, Start-Sleep -Seconds:2 > $null, and Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility\Start-Sleep -Seconds 2
TimeSpan -Duration values, PowerShell parameter abbreviations and common parameters
short, fractional, signed, and exponent timeout wrappers

Features

Persistent Lean feedback backends

Eligible generic compile callers can opt into the in-process Lean REPL:

MATHCODE_LEAN_REPL=1

An external Kimina Lean Server can additionally serve atomic exploration:

MATHCODE_KIMINA_SERVER=1
MATHCODE_KIMINA_CMD="/absolute/path/to/kimina-lean-server/.venv/bin/python -m server"
MATHCODE_KIMINA_CWD=/absolute/path/to/kimina-lean-server
MATHCODE_KIMINA_PROJECT_ROOT=/absolute/path/to/served-lean-project

On macOS, LeanGoal and LeanCheck reuse that server only when the declared project matches the resolved project and a live guard confirms its Lean version. Otherwise they fall back to the pinned subprocess and expose the reason as a warning. Kimina feedback is not a completion certificate. LeanVerify and isolated paper agents always use fresh isolated subprocesses. MathCode launches Kimina loopback-only inside its fail-closed Lean sandbox, with a random bearer key that never enters the Lean REPL environment, no provider credentials, and scratch-only writes. A virtualenv, when used, must live below MATHCODE_KIMINA_CWD, and MATHCODE_KIMINA_CMD must start directly with that Python executable rather than a command wrapper. Manifest roots that contain the project or another protected host scope are rejected, and remote-package storage stays inside the project. A standard-library-only Python guardian lives in a separate read-only support root and reuses the selected Kimina interpreter, so no MathCode source tree or second runtime is exposed to the sandbox. Python site, .pth, and sitecustomize loading are disabled before the handoff path enters that interpreter. It mediates supported setsid Lake launches, deletes the mode-0600 auth handoff and strips both Kimina key names plus its private environment before Lean starts, and kills its separately owned Lake group through an independent owner-pipe HUP observer, even when Lake stops reading input. Parent exit and SIGINT/SIGTERM/SIGHUP also clean the complete owned tree. Current /api/check caller cancellation preserves the shared service; legacy /verify cancellation or uncertain backend/transport state cleans up the complete service tree before restart. Linux and Windows use pinned subprocesses.

Plan Files

/plan stores session plan markdown in the active user config-home plans/ slot by default (~/.mathcode/plans/ unless MATHCODE_CONFIG_DIR relocates the config home). To keep plan files under the project tree, set plansDirectory in project or local settings to a custom directory relative to the project root. Nested directories are created as needed, and symlink escapes fall back to the user config-home plans/ directory.

Theorem Library

Manage an explicit library of proved theorems:

/theorem-store store <file> <qualified-declaration> # verify and store one theorem
/theorem-store sync   # inspect candidates and ask which declarations to store
/theorem-store check  # compile-check the assembled library
/theorem-store status # show stored count and vault info

/theorem-store store calls LeanTheoremLibrary for one explicit fully qualified declaration. The tool performs fresh strict verification, rechecks the source and dependency snapshot immediately before persistence, then strictly verifies the exact renamed declaration in the assembled Stored.lean. The elaborated proposition must remain identical, and success immediately builds an importable workspace module. The library, workspace mirror, compiled artifacts, and index update as one rollback-capable transaction. Private theorem compilation and public Lake publication each have a separate bounded 300-second build budget; a timeout still rolls the transaction back without exposing incomplete artifacts. /theorem-store sync is optional agent guidance: it discovers candidates, asks which declarations to store, then uses the same one-declaration tool call for each confirmed candidate. Atomic Lean feedback tools never append to the theorem library as a hidden effect.

Axiom Library

Store conversational assumptions as persistent, consistency-checked declarations:

/axiomatize "A is faster than B"     # formalize + store
/axiomatize list                     # show all active axioms
/axiomatize check                    # consistency review
/axiomatize remove <name>            # remove a declaration

Axioms are stored per vault with Lean formalization and compile checks. Atomic Lean tool calls do not inject them implicitly; import or reference the stored declarations explicitly when they are part of the intended proof context.

Obsidian Theorem Graph

Generate an Obsidian vault that visualizes theorem dependencies as a knowledge graph:

/obsidian on       # enable + generate from existing formalizations
/obsidian off      # disable
/obsidian generate # regenerate now

Use /obsidian generate after changing proofs to refresh the vault explicitly. Atomic Lean tool calls never update it as a hidden side effect. Open it in Obsidian and use Graph View to see theorem-to-lemma relationships. Refreshes overwrite MathCode-managed notes and exact legacy MathCode projections from before the managed marker existed; those legacy notes gain the marker. If a theorem, lemma, index, or blueprint filename is occupied by any other user note, generation fails and preserves that note.

Each lemma stub includes the full Lean definition queried from Mathlib via #print.

Agentic Lean

For ordinary Lean work, the agent can choose among four atomic tools:

LeanGoal inspects one explicit source position.
LeanCheck compiles a file or ephemeral candidate and returns structured feedback.
LeanSearch queries one explicit provider without hidden fan-out.
LeanVerify performs the strict final check for one fully qualified declaration; only data.verified=true certifies completion.

The optional /lean skill offers guidance without imposing a fixed phase, tactic order, retry budget, or planner. The former fixed controllers have been removed and are not release entrypoints or model-visible tools. The fixed scheme is retired, not the useful methods: the agent may still choose subgoal decomposition, helper lemmas, branching, milestones, stuck detection, diagnostic repair, and theorem reuse, then reorder or abandon them freely. Axiom and theorem libraries are separate explicit actions, never hidden effects of an atomic Lean call. Strict verification resolves Lean/Lake executables outside the project tree, preserves Lake's canonical source/module context, and obtains target axiom usage plus direct module axioms through Lean's environment API rather than source-controlled macros or output.

Scheduled Agent Loops

The bundled CLI ships with recurring prompt scheduling enabled out of the box.

Inside interactive MathCode sessions you can use:

/loop 10m check the deploy
/loop 1h /standup 1

Use short-lived loops for reminders and monitoring. When you want a schedule to survive restarts, create a durable schedule from the interactive session.

Extensibility

MathCode supports three extension mechanisms:

Skills (`.mathcode/skills/`)

Add project-local skills at .mathcode/skills/<name>/SKILL.md. Each skill uses its own directory; standalone skills/*.md files are not loaded.

Tools (`tools/`)

Drop Python .py scripts with YAML frontmatter to add analysis tools. Auto-discovered at startup.

3 analysis tools are included: axiom-checker, lib-search, and proof-stats. They remain available when MathCode is launched from another workspace; a workspace-local tool with the same normalized name overrides the bundled copy. Python 3.12+ is required only if you use these tools.

Plugins (`plugins/`)

Drop plugin folders with .mathcode-plugin/plugin.json manifests to add commands, skills, agents, MCP servers, hooks, and more. Load via --plugin-dir or install from Git repos via /plugin.

Backend Setup

Default Codex/OpenAI Path

No .env edits are required for the default path.

codex auth login
mathcode

If you are still in the same shell where setup just finished, ./run is the immediate fallback until you reload your shell profile.

The packaged .env template now selects GPT-5.6 Sol at xhigh reasoning effort. To apply the same values to an existing .env created by an older release and also select the CLI's maximum effort level, set:

OPENAI_MODEL=gpt-5.6-sol
OPENAI_SMALL_MODEL=gpt-5.6-sol
OPENAI_REASONING_EFFORT=xhigh
MATHCODE_EFFORT_LEVEL=max

To use an Anthropic-compatible backend instead, set:

MATHCODE_USE_OPENAI=0

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
ANTHROPIC_MODEL=claude-sonnet-4-5

The release ./run wrapper sources the bundle .env before launching MathCode. For interactive /webui slash-command launches, the selected WebUI port and workspace override same-named keys from that .env.

The WebUI route default is separate from the CLI .env: fresh WebUI settings use openai / gpt-5.6-sol, while an existing saved provider/model selection is preserved rather than rewritten.

WebUI Provider Keys

In the WebUI settings panel, provider-key rows are limited to secrets the daemon can pass to real child sessions today: anthropic and openrouter. Codex/OpenAI routes use Codex OAuth, not an OPENAI_API_KEY row. WebUI minimal reasoning effort is preserved for OpenAI/OpenRouter routes and maps to the CLI's lowest available low effort on Anthropic-compatible routes.

Bundled Provider Dependencies

The release binary bundles the provider SDKs used by the Anthropic-compatible, Bedrock, Vertex, and Foundry branches, plus the MCPB/DXT plugin package; these routes do not require a source checkout's node_modules. Bedrock, Vertex, and Foundry use their provider-specific credentials rather than Anthropic-compatible ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN / apiKeyHelper bearer headers.

FAQ

Q: mathcode is not found right after setup

Open a new shell, or run:

source ~/.zshrc

If you want to keep working immediately before reloading your shell, use:

./run

Q: ./run fails with exec format error, Bad CPU type in executable, or a similar startup error

You probably downloaded the wrong binary for your platform. Re-run bash setup.sh, or download the correct release asset manually from GitHub Releases.

Q: Startup says Codex auth is missing

Run:

codex auth login

Q: Can I skip cloning and just download a release asset

Yes. You can download and extract the .tar.gz bundle from GitHub Releases directly.

The archive is self-contained; bash setup.sh only downloads from GitHub when bundled runtime files are missing, stale, or unverified. The bootstrap repo just makes bash setup.sh the default path.

Star History

Track the project's growth over time here:

Citation

If you use MathCode in research, please cite it as:

@misc{mathcode2026,
  title = {MathCode: A Frontier Mathematical Coding Agent},
  author = {Team Math-AI},
  journal = {math-ai-org.github.io},
  year = {2026},
  month = {April},
  url = "https://github.com/math-ai-org/mathcode"
}

Community

Join our Discord for help, feedback, and discussion: discord.gg/f2AFP9W5

Acknowledgments

MathCode preserves useful proof-search ideas as optional agent guidance while Lean remains the proof authority.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
bin		bin
lean-workspace		lean-workspace
plugins		plugins
skills		skills
tools		tools
.env.example		.env.example
.gitignore		.gitignore
.nojekyll		.nojekyll
Demo.png		Demo.png
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.ZH.md		README.ZH.md
README.md		README.md
index.html		index.html
run		run
setup.sh		setup.sh

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