Head to head · Agent harnesses · October 2026 research run
Qoder CLI vs Sculptor
Qoder CLI scores 59.5 (C) on agent readiness against Sculptor's 53.1 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Sculptor leads on payments & pricing. Both do agent harnesses.
Best agent harnesses and coding agents · All 1500 harnesses comparisons
Which one, for what
Best for Developers already on Qoder who want the same agent in a terminal, in CI through a PAT, in Zed through ACP, or embedded through the Agent SDK.
Ahead on
- Reliability, 51 against 43
- Schema & documentation, 81 against 45
- Agent ergonomics, 80 against 50
Watch for
No local sandbox is documented, and auto mode approves read-only tools on any path
Sculptor D
Best for Developers who want parallel coding agents in isolated workspaces and are fine with a research preview.
Ahead on
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 35
Also in its favour
- No key needed to call it
- Open source
- No incidents deducted, where Qoder CLI loses 3 points for them
Watch for
Labelled an experimental research preview that may change drastically
Why the edge
Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.
Schema & documentation Qoder CLI +36
Qoder CLI 81
Framework reading. A CLI reference with types and defaults for every flag, a settings reference with types and defaults, TypeScript declaration files and a Python reference for the SDK, and Result and error-code tables. No schema for the stream-json events was found (16). docs.qoder.com/llms.txt indexes every page with a Markdown twin, and robots.txt allows both (10). The permissions page states what each mode does and is best for, what headless runs do with ask, and which actions skip the auto classifier (17). Permission modes and output formats are enums and rules have a fixed syntax (12). CI examples, an SDK error page with exit codes 0, 1, 41, 42, 44, 52, 53, 54 and 130, Result subtypes and a troubleshooting index. Code 44 names a sandbox the docs don't describe (14). Dated release notes for the CLI and the SDK, though the SDK notes stop at 1.0.41 on 15 September while npm has 1.0.53, and the CLI reference still names the removed lite model (12). 16+10+17+12+14+12 = 81. Per the 18 October check, not re-read on 4 November (Qoder's terms bar scraping its Services by automated means, so its sites are paused for this run).
Sculptor 45
Harness reading. A README, specs and agent docs in the repository; no API reference (45).
Agent ergonomics Qoder CLI +30
Qoder CLI 80
Framework reading, adapted to a harness driven by a pipeline. --tools, --allowed-tools and --disallowed-tools restrict built-in tools, and --strict-mcp-config with --allowed-mcp-server-names limits MCP servers. Nothing on deferred MCP tool loading was found (18). text, json and stream-json output, --max-turns, --max-output-tokens and --no-session-persistence (16). Distinct exit codes for authentication, input, configuration, turn-limit and tool failures, and SDK Result subtypes with error codes (16). --continue, --resume, --session-id, --fork-session, SDK checkpoints with rewind, and --max-model-request-retries (15). Official SDKs in TypeScript and Python, an ACP server, and headless runs that need only a PAT and a permission flag (15). 18+16+16+15+15 = 80. Per the 18 October check, not re-read on 4 November (Qoder's terms bar scraping its Services by automated means, so its sites are paused for this run).
Sculptor 50
Harness reading. Workspaces as isolated copies, review and merge back, and built-in skills (50).
Payments & pricing Sculptor +25
Qoder CLI 35
Harness reading of the published rubric, scored on the Qoder subscription the CLI needs. No payment protocol (0). Plan prices, the Credit Pack price ($20 for 1,500 credits) and per-model credit factors are public in the docs without a login. qoder.com/pricing is disallowed by robots.txt and wasn't read (20). A Free plan with basic models for a limited number of messages and a 14-day Pro trial with 300 credits. We found no statement on whether a card is needed (15). A person signs in through a browser, and a PAT is created by hand at qoder.com/account/integrations (0). 0+20+15+0 = 35. Per the 18 October check, not re-read on 4 November (Qoder's terms bar scraping its Services by automated means, so its sites are paused for this run).
Sculptor 60
Free self-hosted software with nothing to buy, so 0 for a protocol and 20 each for public pricing, a free tier and onboarding with no sign-up, 60.
Reliability Qoder CLI +8
Qoder CLI 51
Local-package reading, the same as the other closed-source harnesses. An install script for macOS, Linux and Windows on arm64 and amd64 that checks a SHA-256 from a manifest on the same download host, and an npm package with Node.js 20 or later stated (20). No public CI or test suite, since no source is published (0). We found no public issue tracker for the CLI. The forum's bug-reports category, shared by every Qoder product, had 116 new topics in the month to 18 October, and 15 of the 29 topics on its first page had no reply. A few named the CLI (8). Versions are semver-shaped and every release is dated in the release notes, but removals such as /goal take in 1.1.11 shipped in patch versions without a breaking-change label (8). 1.0.0 on 20 May 2026, now 1.1.73 (15). 20+0+8+8+15 = 51. Per the 18 October check, not re-read on 4 November (Qoder's terms bar scraping its Services by automated means, so its sites are paused for this run).
Sculptor 43
Local software. Desktop downloads for Mac (Apple Silicon), Linux and Linux ARM64 (20). checks.yml and a PR gate run on the repository; pass state not read (15). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent (0). sculptor-v tags up to v0.49.0, no changelog file (8). 0.x and labelled a research preview (0). 20 + 15 + 0 + 8 + 0 = 43.
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Qoder CLI | Sculptor | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 51 | 43 | Qoder CLI +8 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 81 | 45 | Qoder CLI +36 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 80 | 50 | Qoder CLI +30 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 58 | 57 | Qoder CLI +1 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 35 | 60 | Sculptor +25 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 72 | 75 | Sculptor +3 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 61 | 57 | Qoder CLI +4 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |
| Total | C 59.5/100 | D 53.1/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Qoder CLI | Sculptor |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Qoder (BRIGHT ZENITH PRIVATE LIMITED) | Imbue, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | ||
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary, under the Qoder Terms of Service (BRIGHT ZENITH PRIVATE LIMITED, last updated 29 April 2026). No source is published, and the Agent SDK's LICENSE file points to the same terms | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-16 | 2026-11-06 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | not read yet |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not read yet |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | not read yet |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not read yet |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | not read yet |
| Popularity | 5k npm/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (4) | none |
How the scores have moved
Verdicts
Qoder CLI
A closed-source terminal agent with a documented headless mode, an ACP server, typed TypeScript and Python SDKs and near-daily releases. Permission rules and modes are detailed, but no local sandbox is documented, usage statistics are on by default, and security fixes appear only as one-line release notes with no advisories or disclosure policy.
Sculptor
Imbue's open-source app for parallel coding agents in isolated workspaces, with telemetry off until you choose otherwise. It's an experimental research preview that warns of bugs and drastic changes, Mac and Linux only, with no changelog.
Before you call either
Qoder CLI
- Set
QODER_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKENin CI. The browser sign-in can't complete in a headless run - Pass
--permission-modewith--allowed-toolsin headless runs. Every ask is denied, and--yoloremoves all checks - Set
--max-turnson unattended runs, and branch on exit codes 41 (authentication) and 53 (turn limit) - Set
privacy.usageStatisticsEnabledandaiCodeStatistics.enabledto false in ~/.qoder/settings.json if usage data must stay local - Don't pass
--model lite. The Lite tier was removed on 18 September 2026 and headless requests naming it fail
Sculptor
- Download from the README's links, connect a repository and create a workspace before prompting
- Review the diff before merging a workspace back to main
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, Qoder CLI or Sculptor?
Qoder CLI scores 59.5 (C) on agent readiness against Sculptor's 53.1 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Sculptor leads on payments & pricing.
Are Qoder CLI and Sculptor open source?
No open-source release is listed for Qoder CLI. Sculptor is open source (MIT).
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Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/qoder-cli-vs-sculptor.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/qoder-cli.json·/api/v1/tools/sculptor.json - From a terminal
anchor compare qoder-cli sculptor(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "qoder-cli", "b": "sculptor"}at/mcp, no key