Install

efr has three programs and one zsh plugin:

• efr, the command that you and the plugin run.
• efrd, the daemon. It runs as a systemd user service.
• efr-sbx, the launcher of the auto sandbox. efrd and the hidden shells run it. It is not on your PATH.
• efr.plugin.zsh, which sends each , line to efr.

You can install efr from the AUR on Arch Linux, or build it from a clone of the repository.

Requirements

• Linux with a systemd user session. The AUR packages are for x86_64.
• zsh. The plugin works only in zsh.

These programs are optional. efr works without them, but some parts do not:

Install from the AUR

There are two packages. Install one of them:

• efr-code builds efr from the source of the release tag. For the build, it downloads Zig 0.16.0 from ziglang.org. It does not use the Zig of the Arch repositories.
• efr-code-bin installs the release build from GitHub.

yay -S efr-code                       # or: yay -S efr-code-bin

The packages install these files:

Then do the three steps of Set up efr as your own user. The package prints them when you install it.

Install from a clone

You need just, rustup and Zig 0.16.0. rust-toolchain.toml pins Rust 1.99, and rustup installs it for you. Only the ghostty screen backend needs Zig. just install makes a release build, and a release build enables that backend.

just install

just install copies these files:

~/.local/bin must be on your PATH. just install reloads systemd, but it does not enable or start the unit. The zsh plugin stays in the clone, at shell/zsh/efr.plugin.zsh.

Set up efr

Do these steps as your own user, not as root.

1. Add the plugin to your ~/.zshrc. For the AUR packages:

   echo "source /usr/share/zsh/plugins/efr/efr.plugin.zsh" >> ~/.zshrc
   

   For a clone, run this in the root of the clone:

   echo "source $PWD/shell/zsh/efr.plugin.zsh" >> ~/.zshrc
   

2. Start the daemon now and at each login:

   systemctl --user enable --now efrd
   

3. Log in to your ChatGPT plan:

   efr login openai
   

   efr prints a URL. Open it in a browser on this machine. efr waits until the login in the browser is done. With EFR_OPEN_BROWSER=1, efr opens the URL itself.

To use an OpenAI API key or Anthropic's Claude models, see Models, providers and login.

Open a new terminal, or run exec zsh, so that zsh loads the plugin. When efr is not on your PATH, the plugin says so when it loads:

efr.plugin.zsh: efr is not on PATH; the , commands stay inactive until it is installed

Keep the daemon running

To keep the daemon running when you are not logged in, run this command one time:

loginctl enable-linger

Your .zshrc and the hidden shell

efrd starts one hidden zsh for each conversation. That zsh reads your .zshrc too, with EFR_HIDDEN_SHELL=1 set. If your .zshrc runs exec tmux or an instant prompt, skip that part when the variable is set:

if [[ -z $EFR_HIDDEN_SHELL ]]; then
  # your exec tmux or instant prompt lines
fi

The hidden shell tells more.

Check the install

efr status
efr sandbox check

• efr status shows the daemon, its screen backend and the providers that you logged in to.
• efr sandbox check runs every check of the auto sandbox. For each check that fails, it prints the fix, such as pacman -S bubblewrap.

When no daemon runs, efr exits with code 3 and tells you to run systemctl --user start efrd. Troubleshooting tells more.

Upgrade

The running daemon keeps the old version until it restarts. After each upgrade, run:

systemctl --user restart efrd

Install efr and efrd from the same build. When efrd is older than efr, efr tells you to restart efrd.

Try efr without an install

In a clone, just run starts a daemon in the foreground. It uses new, empty directories in a temporary directory, and it removes them when you stop it with Ctrl+C.

1. Run just run in one terminal. It prints the EFR_RUNTIME_DIR of the daemon.
2. In a second terminal, run cargo build -p efr-cli.
3. In that terminal, export the EFR_RUNTIME_DIR that just run printed, and put target/debug of the clone first on your PATH.

The plugin then shows the notices of that daemon too. That daemon has no login, so log in to it before your first prompt.

Next step

Send your first prompt.