---
url: https://docs.mochiexec.io/introduction/what-is-mochi.md
description: >-
  Mochi is a desktop app and CLI built on the open-source flow engine. Every
  flow command works in Mochi; Mochi adds discovery, a desktop app, AI, and
  cross-workspace history on top.
---

# What is Mochi?

Mochi is a desktop app and command-line tool for running development workflows. It is
built on [flow](https://flowexec.io), the open-source workflow engine, and it doesn't
replace or fork it: **every `flow` command is also a `mochi` command**, and the flow files,
workspaces, and vaults you already have work unchanged.

What Mochi adds is everything around the engine:

* **[Discovery](/guides/discovery)** surfaces the tasks already in a repo (Makefile
  targets, npm scripts, Justfile recipes, and more) without making you rewrite them as
  flow executables.
* **[The desktop app](/guides/desktop)** gives you one window for every workspace, with a
  command palette, tabs, live run output, and background runs from the system tray.
* **[AI](/guides/ai)** describes, explains, and diagnoses executables, and answers questions
  about your workspaces, using your own provider key, a local model, or Mochi's gateway.
* **[History, search, and views](/guides/search-and-favorites)** let you find anything across
  workspaces, ranked by what you actually run, with stats and saved dashboards on top.

## How Mochi and flow fit together

flow is the engine: it defines workspaces, executables, and vaults, and runs them. Mochi
works with all of it as it is. You don't convert anything, and your repos don't change.
The desktop app and the `mochi` CLI share the same workspaces, favorites, and run history,
so anything you do in the app you can also do, or script, from a terminal.

## The CLI is flow, plus more

Because Mochi is built on flow, you keep flow's whole command set and get Mochi's
commands next to it:

| Comes from flow | Added by Mochi |
|---|---|
| `exec` and every verb (`run`, `build`, `test`, …), `browse`, `logs`, `workspace`, `vault`, `secret`, `template`, `cache`, `config`, `mcp`, `sync` | `discover`, `desktop`, `ai`, `search`, `favorite`, `stats`, `views`, `executable add`/`edit`, `workspace edit`, `vault preset`, `license` |

The flow-side commands are documented on flowexec.io. The Mochi-side ones are in the
[CLI reference](/reference/cli/).

flow docs: [Core concepts](https://flowexec.io/guides/concepts)

Workspaces, executables, and vaults are flow's building blocks, and Mochi uses them
unchanged. If you are new to flow, start there.

## What the license covers

Running flow stays free. A Mochi license unlocks the commands Mochi adds (the right-hand
column above) and the desktop app. [Licensing](/getting-started/license) lists exactly which
commands check for a license. Commands that come from flow never check for a license,
so installing Mochi doesn't take away anything you already had.

## Where to go next

* [Install Mochi](/getting-started/installation)
* [Quickstart](/getting-started/quickstart)