Mentat CLI Cheatsheet - Terminal Multi-file AI Coding Agent Full Reference

Mentat is an AI coding agent that runs in the terminal, and its core artifact is not a code snippet pasted into a conversation but a unified diff spanning multiple files. You supply files and a requirement, it produces a patch, and you decide whether to apply it. That shape implies several concrete consequences. Review is a required step rather than an optional courtesy, because edits cross file boundaries and a fragment view hides the knock-on changes. It honours .gitignore and stays within the paths you pass, so the safety boundary is drawn by your arguments. And on a large repository, choosing files by hand is not realistic, so retrieval-driven context cuts down how much you have to feed it. Sections cover installation and first steps, context control, and interactive versus scripted use. For large refactors, state the scope once and apply diffs methodically rather than holding many single-file conversations.