• 2 min read
TRMNL opens AI Agent beta for building plugins from prompts
TRMNL’s new public beta lets users generate plugins from plain-English prompts, with average build costs of $1–3 via OpenRouter or Anthropic APIs.
Image: Hacker News
TRMNL has launched Agent in public beta, a tool that turns plain-English prompts into working plugins inside the company’s private plugin interface. The pitch is straightforward: instead of writing code, users can type a request such as building a plugin that shows population data around the world and let the system assemble it.
For now, the feature requires an API key. TRMNL says Agent currently works with OpenRouter, where users can load credits through the company’s billing portal. Users with a Claude API account and higher rate limits can also buy credits directly and use an Anthropic API key instead. An optional Tavily API key adds web search and page-fetching capabilities, and TRMNL says direct credit purchases through its own platform are coming later.
TRMNL says the system is grounded by a detailed plain-English system prompt describing the platform’s capabilities and design patterns. Inside the plugin interface, Agent can also use tools for markup editing, settings updates, data refreshing, internet search, and access to various API endpoints.
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For advanced users working locally, TRMNL also supports an MCP Server workflow. Developers can generate an MCP API key from a private plugin’s settings page after saving, then provide that key to a desktop agent for deeper integration with local tools.
TRMNL says Agent supports Gemini, Codex, Claude Sonnet, Kimi, and open-source models such as Llama, with model selection available under Account > Agent configuration. The company says the average cost to build a plugin is $1–3. In one example, a plugin for meh.com built from a one-sentence prompt ended up costing $2.20 USD after the system requested a free Meh.com API key and an added image for the daily deal item.
Publishing those plugins is not yet supported. According to TRMNL, its team already reviews several plugin submissions per day and needs to scale internal tools before handling what it expects will be a jump in Agent-generated submissions. The company also says free models on OpenRouter generally work, but tend to be slower and less capable.
For now, TRMNL’s own guidance is blunt: Agent is not perfect, and users who hit bugs or quirks should contact the company through live chat or email at [email protected].
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Tomas lives in the terminal. He covers chips, laptops, and operating systems with a focus on performance and efficiency. He reads kernel changelogs the way other people read fiction, and he's always on the hunt for the perfect mechanical keyboard switch. If it processes data, Tomas has an opinion on it.
via Hacker News
