W1 documentation
W1 reads your project, does the work, runs the checks, and keeps every step visible. This is the reference for how it works and how to drive it.
What W1 is#
W1 is an AI project agent. You describe an outcome — "fix the failing checkout test", "turn these notes into a brief and a deck", "work out which of these three suppliers is cheapest and show me the maths" — and W1 does the work on your machine, in the open, one step at a time.
It is not a chat window with a code sample in it. W1 reads the files, writes the changes, runs the commands, reads the output, and tells you what actually happened. The steps are on screen while they happen, not summarised afterwards.
Three things follow from that, and they shape everything else in these docs:
- Your project stays local. W1 sends the context a request needs, never your whole codebase. There is no provider API key to paste — model access is hosted by W1.
- You hold the controls. You choose the folder, the access mode, and what needs an approval. There is a floor of dangerous commands that no mode switches off.
- Nothing is hidden. Every file touched is listed, every command is shown, every check reports what it really returned. When a run fails, it says so instead of finishing with a confident summary.
What it works on#
W1 is a coding agent, and it is more than that. One project can hold all of it:
| Kind of work | What that looks like |
|---|---|
| Code | Read an existing codebase, ship changes into it, run the tests, report what passed and what did not. |
| Documents | Turn messy notes into a document, a deck or a spreadsheet, with the structure you asked for. |
| Data | Pull numbers together, do the arithmetic in the open, and show the working. |
| Research | Search and read sources, compare them, and keep the citations attached. |
If a task would cost you an afternoon of tabbing between four tools, that is the shape of task W1 is built for.
You do not need to know how to code.
Knowing what you want is the requirement. Because every step stays visible, most people end up understanding more of what happened than they would from a tool that just hands back an answer.
The surfaces#
One engine, wherever you already work. Your account is the same in all of them.
| Surface | Best for |
|---|---|
| Desktop app | The full workspace — Windows, macOS and Linux. Start here if you are new. |
| VS Code extension | Working inside the editor you already have open. |
| CLI | A terminal, a server, or anywhere an app would be in the way. |
How the docs are laid out#
Get started gets W1 installed and a first real task finished. Using W1 is the working reference — threads, the run loop, tools, permissions, rewind and memory. Extending W1 covers skills, plugins and MCP. Account and data covers plans, what leaves your machine, and what to do when something breaks.