iliad.md
AI

Working With Claude Code

Connect Claude Code or another agent with the iliad command and skill.

Updated

Iliad has no agent of its own. Larger or multi-document work belongs to an outside agent such as Claude Code or Codex, running in a terminal on the same folder. The agent edits the Markdown files directly. Iliad shows every change in the document so you can keep or restore it.

A small iliad command and a bundled Claude skill connect the two. The agent can ask which document you are looking at, and show you the result when it is done.

Install The Command

In Iliad, choose Iliad MD → Install ‘iliad’ Command… from the app menu. Iliad links the command into the first writable folder of /opt/homebrew/bin, /usr/local/bin, or ~/.local/bin, tells you where it went, and warns if that folder is not on your PATH.

Commands

iliad [folder]                 # open a folder in Iliad (the last one if omitted)
iliad status [--json]          # each window's folder and open document
iliad open <file> [--line N]   # show a Markdown file in Iliad, at line N
iliad skill install            # install the Iliad skill for Claude Code
iliad skill print              # print the skill (for AGENTS.md or other agents)
  • iliad status prints one line per window, such as ~/writing essays/draft.md (focused), or no document open. When Iliad is not running it prints Iliad is not open. and exits with code 3.
  • iliad open is silent on success. If Iliad is not running, it launches it on the file's folder first.
  • The command only reads and navigates. It never writes documents.

Install The Skill

For Claude Code, run this.

iliad skill install

It copies the skill to ~/.claude/skills/iliad/ and prints the path. For Codex or another agent, run iliad skill print and paste the output into that agent's instructions file (for example AGENTS.md).

The skill gives the agent these instructions.

  • Run iliad status first, so "this document" means the one you have open.
  • Address the comments in name.comments.md and delete each entry it handled, leaving the others.
  • Make minimal edits (no reflowing, rewrapping, or whitespace churn), because every changed line becomes a chunk you review.
  • Write Markdown only, and never create, rename, or move comments files.
  • Finish with iliad open <file> --line N to show you where it changed.

A Typical Session

  1. Open your folder in Iliad and the document you are working on.
  2. Select passages and add comments ("too long", "clarify this").
  3. In a terminal in the same folder, ask your agent to "address my comments in the open doc".
  4. The agent reads the comments file, edits the document, removes the comments it handled, and runs iliad open.
  5. In Iliad, each change appears as a chunk. Choose Keep or Restore for each one, or Keep all / Restore all.

To get feedback without edits, ask instead: "give me feedback on the open doc, don't edit it". The agent leaves comments marked ✦ in the comments file. Press ⌃⌘M in Iliad to read them in the margin, beside your text.

What To Expect

  • Iliad compares each document with the version you last kept, so review works for any tool that writes files, with or without the skill.
  • If several documents changed, they are marked for review in the file tree. iliad open shows the first one.
  • Edits to comments files are not reviewed. The document text the agent changed always is.

Limits

  • The command and skill are macOS-first in this release.
  • Review state lives in memory for the current session. After quitting Iliad, it starts again from what is on disk.
  • Iliad does not record which tool made a change.

This page is generated from working-with-claude-code.md, which you can also read as Markdown.