Tools & releasesImpact: Medium
Oleksandr Kuzmenko, EditorPublished 4 min readAI-assisted · editor-reviewed
TL;DR
- Steer Claude and Codex mid-turn using M-RET without killing the session context
- Enable session token cost monitoring using agent-shell-show-cost-indicator
- Drag and drop files and macOS screenshot previews directly into agent-shell buffers
Key facts
- Release version
- agent-shell 0.78
- Protocol extension used
- _session/steering (ACP)
- Supported steering agents
- Claude, Codex
Mid-Turn Steering via Agent Client Protocol Agent-shell 0.78 leverages the _session/steering protocol extension to redirect agent execution without terminating turns. Submitting prompts with M-RET triggers agent-shell-busy-submit-override-function to redirect models mid-flight. Standard RET submissions route through agent-shell-busy-submit-default-function to queue subsequent instructions cleanly.
Persistent Prompt and Workflow Integrations The new writable prompt remains active at the end of the buffer at all times via agent-shell-persistent-prompt-enabled. Users can drop image thumbnails directly from macOS screenshot utilities into the session buffer, displaying an image preview while attaching other file formats as @path references.
Session Cost and Tool Enhancements Developers tracking API expenditures can toggle cumulative session costs in buffer headers with (setopt agent-shell-show-cost-indicator t). The release also packages agent-shell-org-config for managing agent skills in org-roam, adds transient permission interfaces, and supports Google Antigravity and Qoder CLI runtimes.
Try it in 2 minutes
elisp
(setopt agent-shell-persistent-prompt-enabled t)
(setopt agent-shell-show-cost-indicator t)When to use
- Managing autonomous multi-step coding agents inside Emacs
- Preventing token waste when an agent chooses a wrong directory or execution strategy
When NOT to use
- When using IDEs outside the Emacs ecosystem such as Cursor or VS Code
- When connected to agents that do not implement the Agent Client Protocol
What to do today
- Update agent-shell to version 0.78 in your Emacs package manager
- Set (setopt agent-shell-show-cost-indicator t) to track session token budgets
- Use M-RET instead of RET when you need to redirect an agent handling an incorrect loop
Step names are taken from What to do today.
Step names are taken from What to do today. Update agent-shell to version 0.78 in your Emacs package manager. Set (setopt agent-shell-show-cost-indicator t) to track session token budgets. Use M-RET instead of RET when you need to redirect an agent handling an incorrect loop
- Update agent-shell to version 0.78 in your Emacs package manager
- Set (setopt agent-shell-show-cost-indicator t) to track session token budgets
- Use M-RET instead of RET when you need to redirect an agent handling an incorrect loop