Terminal and editor coding agent
How to use
Amp.
Running focused coding tasks in durable threads, applying repository guidance, reviewing changes, and using different reasoning modes from the terminal or editor.
Amp is a cloud-connected AI coding agent for terminal and editor workflows. Running focused coding tasks in durable threads, applying repository guidance, reviewing changes, and using different reasoning modes from the terminal or editor. This guide covers the whole path in one place: official access, a first session that produces something reviewable, the checks that make output trustworthy, and the permissions worth limiting before you connect real work.
AI should make the work easier to inspect. If the workflow removes the source, the owner, or the review step, redesign the workflow.
Access & setup
Find, install, and sign in to Amp
Get into the official Amp experience with the right account and a setup you understand.
- 01
Start at https://ampcode.com/ and confirm the domain before entering account or payment information.
- 02
Availability: Amp is available as a CLI with integrations for VS Code-based editors, JetBrains IDEs, Neovim, and Zed, plus web-based thread and project collaboration.
- 03
An Amp account, the official CLI, a supported local development environment, and an approved policy for code context, thread visibility, model providers, and tool execution.
- 04
Sign in with the account you intend to keep using, then review plan, data, notification, and permission settings.
- 05
Run one low-risk test task before connecting sensitive files, repositories, or workspace data.
- Use official download pages.
- Review permissions during setup.
- Keep installers and applications updated.
First session
Your first useful Amp session
Learn the interaction loop using a small task with a clear outcome.
- 01
Install the official CLI, sign in, and start Amp from a clean branch in the intended repository.
- 02
Create one thread for one task and provide acceptance criteria, relevant files, and exact validation commands.
- 03
Choose a mode that matches the task and ask Amp to inspect and explain before it changes files.
- 04
Review tool actions, the complete diff, test output, thread visibility, and commit destination before shipping.
- State the outcome before the background.
- Provide the real source material.
- Review the result before expanding the task.
Quality control
Check the quality of Amp output
Turn generated code into a change you would put your name on in review.
- 01
Restate the intended behaviour and the acceptance criteria before reading a single generated line.
- 02
Read the diff rather than the chat summary; the summary describes intent, the diff describes what actually changed.
- 03
Run the test suite, then write a test that would fail if the change were wrong, and confirm it passes for the right reason.
- 04
Check the edges the model tends to skip: error paths, null and empty cases, concurrency, and migration or rollback behaviour.
- 05
Trace every new dependency, network call, and file write, and confirm each one is genuinely required.
- Review the diff, never the description of the diff.
- A passing test suite proves the tests pass, not that the change is correct.
- Keep changes small enough that a human can actually review them.
Privacy & permissions
Use Amp safely
Give the tool enough repository access to help, and no more than that.
- 01
Decide what the tool may read and what it may write before connecting a repository.
- 02
Scope tokens and integrations to the narrowest repository, branch, and permission set that still works.
- 03
Keep secrets out of the context window: use environment variables and secret stores, never inline credentials.
- 04
Require review before generated code touches authentication, payments, permissions, migrations, or deletion paths.
- 05
Audit what the integration retained after the session, and revoke access that is no longer needed.
- Amp runs tools without asking by default, and thread data can include prompts, tool results, attachments, and selected code. Work in an isolated branch or environment, add custom permission controls for untrusted inputs, keep secrets out of context despite best-effort redaction, choose thread visibility deliberately, review workspace and administrator access, inspect every diff and command, and require human approval for pushes, deployments, migrations, or destructive actions.
- Follow your organisation's approved-use policy.
- Never treat fluent output as authorization to act.
Core workflows
Step-by-step ways to use Amp for the work it does best.
Each workflow is a separate guide with its own steps and review checkpoints.
Use one durable thread, explicit repository guidance, and proportionate reasoning to produce a reviewable change.
↗ 02 WorkflowReview a change safely with AmpCombine Amp's review workflow with repository-specific checks and human verification of consequential findings.
↗Official references
Check the current product documentation.
Features, plan limits, availability, and data controls change. These official pages are the starting points used for this guide.