CLI Reference

Command-line interface for llmist.

Installation

bunx @llmist/cli

npx @llmist/cli

Commands

`init` - Initialize Configuration

Create a starter configuration file at ~/.llmist/cli.toml:

bunx @llmist/cli init

npx @llmist/cli init

`complete` - Simple Completion

Stream a single response without agent loop:

bunx @llmist/cli complete "Explain TypeScript generics" --model haiku

npx @llmist/cli complete "Explain TypeScript generics" --model haiku

Options:

Flag	Short	Description	Default
`--model <model>`	`-m`	Model name or alias	`gpt-5-nano`
`--system <prompt>`	`-s`	System prompt	none
`--temperature <n>`	`-t`	Temperature (0-2)	Provider default
`--max-tokens <n>`		Max output tokens	Provider default
`--quiet`	`-q`	Suppress all output except content	false

`agent` - Agent with Gadgets

Run the full agent loop with tools:

bunx @llmist/cli agent "How many floppies for DOOM.ZIP?" --gadget ./floppy.ts --model sonnet

npx @llmist/cli agent "How many floppies for DOOM.ZIP?" --gadget ./floppy.ts --model sonnet

Options:

Flag	Short	Description	Default
`--model <model>`	`-m`	Model name or alias	`gpt-5-nano`
`--system <prompt>`	`-s`	System prompt	none
`--temperature <n>`	`-t`	Temperature (0-2)	Provider default
`--max-iterations <n>`	`-i`	Max agent iterations	10
`--gadget <path>`	`-g`	Gadget file (repeatable)	none
`--no-builtins`		Disable all built-in gadgets	false
`--no-builtin-interaction`		Disable AskUser gadget	false
`--quiet`	`-q`	Suppress output except TellUser	false

Built-in Gadgets:

Gadget	Description
`AskUser`	Asks the user a question and waits for response
`TellUser`	Outputs a message with type indicator. Set `done=true` to end conversation

`gadget` - Test and Inspect Gadgets

bunx @llmist/cli gadget run ./floppy.ts
bunx @llmist/cli gadget info ./floppy.ts
bunx @llmist/cli gadget validate ./floppy.ts

npx @llmist/cli gadget run ./floppy.ts
npx @llmist/cli gadget info ./floppy.ts
npx @llmist/cli gadget validate ./floppy.ts

Configuration File

The CLI loads configuration from ~/.llmist/cli.toml:

[complete]
model = "anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-5"
temperature = 0.7

[agent]
model = "anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-5"
max-iterations = 15
gadget = ["~/gadgets/common-tools.ts"]

# Custom command
[code-review]
type = "agent"
description = "Review code for bugs and best practices."
system = "You are a senior code reviewer."
max-iterations = 5

Inheritance

Sections can inherit settings:

[agent]
model = "anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-5"
max-iterations = 15

[code-review]
inherits = "agent"
temperature = 0.3
system = "You are a code reviewer."

Prompt Templates

Define reusable prompts with Eta templating:

[prompts]
base-assistant = "You are a helpful AI assistant."
expert = """
<%~ include("@base-assistant") %>
You are also an expert in <%= it.field %>.
"""

[my-expert]
system = '<%~ include("@expert", {field: "TypeScript"}) %>'

Global Options

Flag	Description
`--log-level <level>`	Log level: silly, trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal
`--log-file <path>`	Path to log file
`--version`	Show version number
`--help`	Show help

Environment Variables

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."
export GEMINI_API_KEY="..."

# Logging
export LLMIST_LOG_LEVEL="debug"
export LLMIST_LOG_FILE="./app.log"

Stdin Input

Pipe content to llmist:

cat code.ts | bunx @llmist/cli complete "Review this code"
git diff | bunx @llmist/cli complete "Summarize changes"

cat code.ts | npx @llmist/cli complete "Review this code"
git diff | npx @llmist/cli complete "Summarize changes"

Model Shortcuts

bunx @llmist/cli complete "Hello" --model haiku
bunx @llmist/cli complete "Hello" --model sonnet
bunx @llmist/cli complete "Hello" --model gpt4o
bunx @llmist/cli complete "Hello" --model flash

npx @llmist/cli complete "Hello" --model haiku
npx @llmist/cli complete "Hello" --model sonnet
npx @llmist/cli complete "Hello" --model gpt4o
npx @llmist/cli complete "Hello" --model flash

Interactive TUI

When running in an interactive terminal, llmist agent provides a rich Terminal User Interface with keyboard navigation, real-time status, and debug views.

See TUI Overview for full documentation and keyboard shortcuts.