Providers

Happier can run different “providers” (agent backends) depending on which tool you want to use.

Some providers also support Happier connected services. When they do, you can connect subscriptions / API keys once in Settings and then choose those profiles from the new-session auth picker instead of relying only on the provider's native login state.

Some providers also support session handoff, which lets you move the same Happier session between machines without forking it.

Most providers are first-class built-ins such as Claude, Codex, Gemini, or Kiro.

Happier also ships a generic Custom ACP provider family for any CLI that speaks the Agent Client Protocol (ACP). With Custom ACP, you define selectable ACP backends, and those backends then appear as normal backend choices across the app.

See:

• ACP backends
• Provider authentication

Provider settings in the app

Provider-specific settings live with each provider (not hardcoded in the core Settings screen).

In the app, open:

1. Settings
2. AI provider settings
3. Pick a provider (for example, Claude (remote))

Each provider page can show two different auth surfaces:

• Authentication — the native login state of the provider CLI on the selected machine
• Connected service — the Happier-managed credential family that provider can consume, when supported

For the shared user guide to provider CLI auth, see Provider authentication.

Installing provider CLIs

Happier does not bundle provider CLIs today. You install them yourself and Happier detects them on your machine.

You have a few options:

• In the app: each provider settings page shows detection status and can run a best-effort installer against the selected machine (see “CLI & Connection” on the provider page).
• With hstack (recommended when available): hstack providers install <provider> wraps supported installers and can be scripted with --json.
• Manually: follow each provider’s official docs and ensure the binary is on PATH (or configure HAPPIER_<PROVIDER>_PATH).

See the provider-specific pages for installation and troubleshooting.