Getting started

This walkthrough takes you from opening Vera to asking about your project, reviewing a change, and returning to the conversation later. You need the installed vera command and access to a model provider.

Start in your project

In a terminal, open your project directory and start Vera:

cd /path/to/your/project
vera

Vera opens Home. This directory is the workspace for your conversation. Personal settings and saved work live in your Vera home at ~/.vera.

Connect a provider

1. Choose Connect a provider on Home.
2. Choose Add provider.
3. Enter its name, endpoint, and API key, then save.

Vera reads the provider’s available models. If the connection fails, your input stays in the form with an explanation of what to fix.

For subscription sign-in or a local server, use the corresponding section of Connect and manage providers.

Choose a model

Run /model, type a model name, and press Enter on the result. If Vera asks for reasoning effort, choose a level to finish opening the conversation.

To browse instead, open Filter and sort and choose All connected. You do not need to favorite a model or assign a default before using it. The composer status shows your current model and effort.

Ask about the project

Start with a question whose answer you can check:

Read the README and tell me how to run this project's tests. Do not change files.

Press Enter to send. Vera shows its reply and tool activity. If an approval appears, read the action and decide whether to allow it.

Make and review a change

Give Vera a concrete task and say what should count as finished:

Fix the typo in the README's installation heading. Show me the change.

Run /diff to inspect the workspace changes. You can ask for a correction in your next message.

Stop and return later

Ctrl+C stops active work. When idle, it clears a draft first; with an empty composer, it exits the TUI. Pressing it while a stop is in progress also exits. Other conversations can remain running in the background.

Your conversation stays saved. Start Vera again and use /resume to choose it, or run vera -c to continue the most recent one.

Find the next control

Model requests can incur provider charges. A budget checks reported spending before the next request; a reply can take the total past it.