MiMo Code Quickstart

This guide gets you from zero to productive with MiMo Code — Xiaomi's terminal-native AI coding agent — in under 5 minutes.

Prerequisites

macOS (Apple Silicon or Intel), Linux (x86_64 or arm64), or Windows (WSL2)
Internet connection for first-time setup
A MiMo API key (free tier available)

Step 1: Install

curl -fsSL https://mimo.xiaomi.com/install | bash

This installs the mimo CLI to /usr/local/bin. Verify it worked:

mimo --version
# mimo-cli v0.1.0

Step 2: Configure API Key

mimo config set api_key=miMo-sk-your-key-here

Optionally set your preferred model:

mimo config set model=mimo-v2-flash

Step 3: Launch

cd your-project
mimo

MiMo Code reads your project structure and starts a session. The first load may take 10-20 seconds for large projects as it indexes your codebase.

Basic Commands

Command	What It Does	Example
`/ask`	Reads code and answers questions	`/ask "How does the routing work?"`
`/edit`	Generates and applies code changes	`/edit "Add pagination to the user list endpoint"`
`/run`	Executes a command and interprets output	`/run "Find all TypeScript errors"`
`/debug`	Analyzes error output and suggests fixes	`/debug "Tests fail with: [paste output]"`
`/architect`	Designs architecture and plans refactors	`/architect "Design a caching layer"`

Multi-Agent Switching

MiMo Code uses specialized agents for different task types. You don't need to do anything special — just use the right command prefix:

/ask activates the research agent
/edit activates the implementation agent
/debug activates the debug agent
/architect activates the design agent

Agents share context and memory, so information discovered by one agent is available to others.

Git Integration

MiMo Code automatically detects your Git repository. Before making edits, it checks if your working tree is clean and can create branches for changes. By default, it creates a backup branch before applying modifications:

# MiMo automatically:
# 1. Checks git status
# 2. Creates branch mimo-edit-{timestamp} if needed
# 3. Applies changes
# 4. Shows a diff before committing

Memory System

MiMo Code maintains persistent memory in .mimo/memory.json. This file records:

Project structure and key files
Architecture decisions
Previously discovered bugs and fixes
User preferences (your preferred coding style)

The memory persists across sessions. You can commit .mimo/memory.json to Git for team-wide context sharing.

Advanced Tips

Pin context: /pin src/core/*.ts — keep specific files always in context
Change model mid-session: /model mimo-v2.5-pro — switch to the flagship model for complex tasks
Custom instructions: Create .mimo/instructions.md — MiMo reads this file at session start for project-specific conventions
Verbose mode: mimo --verbose — shows which files are loaded and model tokens used

Next Steps

Read the MiMo Code deep dive for architecture details
Set up Claude Code + MiMo for an alternative coding agent experience
Browse the FAQ for troubleshooting