avo parity audit — Claude Code + Codex CLI

Reference snapshot of what avo 0.1 already covers, what it ships today, and the gap vs Claude Code (CC) and Codex CLI. Status reflects the main branch as of the 0.1.1 release.

Feature matrix

Capability	avo	CC	Codex	Notes
Interactive REPL	✅ avo chat	✅ claude	✅ codex
Slash commands	✅	✅	✅	avo: /sessions /resume /session /new /inspect /skills /skill /provider /help
Provider-agnostic model layer	✅ 4 adapters	✅	✅	ollama, anthropic, openai, minimax
Strict state machine + event log	✅	implicit	✅	SQLite-backed
Resumable runs (SQLite)	✅	✅	✅
Conversation threading	✅ /sessions	implicit	partial	avo persists user+assistant turns per session
Skills system (markdown)	✅ /skills /skill	✅	✅	loaded from <workspace>/.avo/skills/
Plugin marketplace / install	✅ entry points	✅ plugins marketplace	✅	avo has discover() but no install/list/remove yet — gap
MCP servers (stdio JSON-RPC)	✅	✅	✅	avo ships 4 built-in: filesystem, sqlite, git, http_fetch
MCP registry (avo mcp add/list/remove)	✅	✅	✅	JSON-file backed, same shape as .mcp.json
Approval/permission modes	✅ callback	✅	✅	AVO_TOOLS_REQUIRE_APPROVAL
Sandbox shell (Docker)	✅	✅	✅	app_tools.run_shell_tool
Workspace-scoped file tools	✅	✅	✅	read_file/write_file/edit_file/grep/glob
Web fetch	✅	✅	✅
Web search	✅ DuckDuckGo	✅	partial
Plan mode	✅	✅	✅	AVO_PERMISSION_MODE=plan
Sub-agents	✅ task	✅ Task tool	partial
Auto-compact context	✅ compact.py	✅ /compact	✅
Hooks (Pre/Post/Stop)	✅ hooks.py	✅	✅	avo: PreToolUse/PostToolUse/Stop callbacks
Status line	🟡	✅	✅	avo prints banner at REPL start; live status line is a gap
Init command	✅ avo init	✅ /init	✅	scaffolds .avo/skills/ + AGENTS.md
Diff display	🟡	✅	✅	inline render path exists; UI polish is a gap
Image input	✅	✅	✅	typed ContentBlock (text/image); per-provider translators
Cost tracking	✅	✅	✅	ledger.py + usage.py
Background tasks	✅	✅	partial	trailing & + /jobs /job /cancel + [jobs: N] indicator
One-line install	✅ pip install avo[all]	✅ brew/curl	✅ npm
PyPI distribution	✅ avo 0.1.1	n/a	n/a	CC is closed source, Codex is npm

Legend: ✅ shipped · 🟡 partial · ❌ not yet

What this round of work ships

1. avo plugin install/list/remove — third-party plugin installer that pulls a git URL (or local path) into ~/.avo/plugins/ and re-discovers Python entry points on next avo chat.
2. avo mcp add/list/remove — JSON-file backed registry of MCP server commands; the chat REPL auto-attaches every registered server, similar to CC's .mcp.json and Codex's ~/.codex/mcp.json.
3. avo skill install/list/show/remove — install skill markdown into ~/.avo/skills/. Workspace-local skills take precedence (matching CC behaviour).
4. Plugin scaffold (avo plugin init <name>) — generates a avo-plugin.toml + entry-point skeleton that publishes into the avo.tools group.
5. examples/mcp_demo.py and examples/plugins_demo.py — runnable demos that exercise the new registries.

What stays on the roadmap

• Live status line at the prompt (provider/model/turn/elapsed).
• Diff-render polish for file edits.

Design choices worth flagging

• Single PyPI artifact. Unlike CC (binary download) or Codex (npm), avo is one Python package — pip install avo[all]. Extras cover dev, providers, sandbox, live-benchmark, mcp. No companion binaries, no separate CLI distribution.
• Workspace is the security boundary. File tools refuse any path outside the workspace root; the sandbox wraps shell execution in an ephemeral Docker container. CC's sandbox model uses Seatbelt (mac) / bubblewrap (linux) — same goal, different mechanism.
• Plugins are normal Python packages. The avo.tools, avo.providers, and avo.notifiers entry-point groups follow Python's standard packaging — no custom manifest, no ~/.avo/plugins/ shadow tree unless avo plugin install chose to copy. Both paths work; the entry-point path is canonical.
• Skills are plain markdown with a YAML frontmatter block. Same format as CC's .claude/skills/*/SKILL.md. No DSL.