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Airplane Mode

Airplane Mode prepares a local coding session that keeps working after the network disappears. It is stricter than ordinary local mode: the generated harness denies network access, hides web-shaped tools from the agent, and uses only local repositories, local model servers, local indexes, and cached model metadata.

Use it before a flight, train ride, locked-down customer site, or any session where the model must not reach the internet.

superqode local airplane prepare \
  --repo . \
  --ref ~/src/reference-api \
  --ref ~/src/reference-web \
  --model ollama/qwen3:8b

superqode --harness superqode.airplane.yaml -p "implement the feature"

The same setup can run from the TUI command prompt:

:local airplane doctor --repo . --ref ~/src/reference-api
:local airplane prepare --repo . --ref ~/src/reference-api --model ollama/qwen3:8b --force
:local airplane smoke --repo . --ref ~/src/reference-api
:harness superqode.airplane.yaml

prepare writes two files and, by default, builds one local index:

  • superqode.airplane.yaml: a strict no-network harness.
  • .superqode/airplane/manifest.json: the machine-readable preflight report.
  • .superqode/code-search.sqlite3: a SQLite FTS5 index for fast offline code search.

The active repo remains writable. --ref repositories are search/read roots for context; they should be treated as reference material unless you start a session inside them.

Commands

superqode local airplane doctor --repo . --ref ~/src/reference
superqode local airplane prepare --repo . --ref ~/src/reference
superqode local airplane index --repo . --ref ~/src/reference
superqode local airplane smoke --repo . --ref ~/src/reference
superqode local airplane models
superqode local airplane health

TUI equivalents use the same arguments:

:local airplane doctor --repo . --ref ~/src/reference
:local airplane prepare --repo . --ref ~/src/reference
:local airplane index --repo . --ref ~/src/reference
:local airplane smoke --repo . --ref ~/src/reference
:local airplane models
:local airplane health
  • doctor checks local search roots, ripgrep, semantic-search availability, model fit, memory warnings, and best-effort health signals.
  • prepare writes the harness and manifest, and builds the code index unless you pass --no-index.
  • index rebuilds the local SQLite code-search index explicitly.
  • smoke runs a fast offline readiness check without making model calls.
  • models shows neutral "fits this machine" suggestions from the trusted local matrix and cached catalog data. These are not endorsements.
  • health reports memory, swap, battery, CPU load, and temperature where the OS exposes it.

Search Contract

The default Airplane search stack is local:

  1. local_code_search for the first broad pass. It prefers the local SQLite FTS5 index when it covers the requested roots, and otherwise falls back to live filesystem search. It merges file-path, literal content, and symbol-definition results across the active repo and any --ref roots.
  2. grep / glob through ripgrep for exact text and file discovery.
  3. repo_search and code_search for narrower path/content/symbol lookup.
  4. semantic_search when cocoindex-code is installed and indexed locally.

Exa and other web search tools are intentionally excluded. OpenSearch can be a future optional backend for workstation/server setups, but it is not the default laptop path because it brings a service, memory tuning, and operational overhead.

Hardware Guidance

Airplane Mode allows small local experiments on modest machines, but it warns below 32 GB RAM/unified memory. For serious local agentic coding, prefer:

  • 32 GB+ unified/system memory for Apple Silicon or CPU-only setups.
  • 20 GB+ VRAM for NVIDIA local serving.
  • Smaller context and lower concurrency on battery or when swap is active.

The model list is deliberately phrased as "likely fits" / "tight" / "likely too large", not "best". Always validate the actual model with:

superqode local smoke --repo .

Offline Boundary

The generated harness sets:

execution_policy:
  allow_network: false
  blocked_categories:
    - network
    - fetch
    - download

During the connected preflight, download models, clone repositories, refresh catalogs, and build local/semantic indexes. During the offline session, Airplane Mode should not fetch packages, pull models, call web APIs, or refresh online model catalogs.