Termly CLI
Access your AI coding assistants from any device. Works with Claude Code, Aider, GitHub Copilot, and any terminal-based AI tool.
Features
- 🚀 Universal AI Tool Support - Works with any terminal-based AI coding assistant
- 📱 Mobile Access - Control your AI tools from phone or tablet
- 🔒 End-to-End Encryption - AES-256-GCM + DH-2048 key exchange with fingerprint verification
- 🔄 Session Resume - Automatic reconnection with state synchronization
- 💻 Multiple Sessions - Run multiple AI tools simultaneously
- 🎯 Auto-Detection - Automatically finds installed AI tools
- ⚡ Zero-Knowledge Server - Server never sees your unencrypted data
- 🌍 Multiple Environments - Production, Development, and Local modes
- 🔄 Auto-Update Check - Ensures you're always running a supported version
Installation
Quick Install
macOS:
npm install -g @termly-dev/cli
Linux:
sudo yum install gcc-c++ make python3 -y
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y build-essential python3
npm install -g @termly-dev/cli
Windows:
npm install -g @termly-dev/cli
If installation fails, see Windows requirements below.
After installation, the termly command is available globally.
Development (Beta Testing)
For beta testers and development:
npm install -g @termly-dev/cli-dev
This installs the termly-dev command which connects to the development environment.
System Requirements
Termly CLI requires build tools for compiling native dependencies (node-pty):
Linux
Build tools are required for installation:
Amazon Linux 2023 / RHEL / CentOS / Fedora:
sudo yum groupinstall "Development Tools" -y
sudo yum install gcc-c++ make python3 -y
Ubuntu / Debian:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y build-essential python3
Alpine Linux:
apk add --no-cache make gcc g++ python3
Windows
The installer automatically checks for required build tools before installation. If any components are missing, installation will be blocked with clear instructions.
Required components:
- Visual Studio 2022 (Community/Professional/Enterprise) OR Build Tools for Visual Studio 2022
- MSVC C++ compiler (cl.exe)
- MSVC Spectre-mitigated libraries
- Windows SDK (10 or 11)
- Python 3.x
The installer verifies all components and will show detailed error messages if anything is missing.
Installation steps:
Option 1 - Visual Studio 2022 Community (Recommended):
- Download Visual Studio 2022 Community (free)
- Run installer and select workload: Desktop development with C++
- In Individual Components tab, ensure checked:
- ✅ MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 build tools
- ✅ MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 Spectre-mitigated libs (required!)
- ✅ Windows 11 SDK or Windows 10 SDK (required!)
- ✅ C++ CMake tools for Windows
- Install (requires ~7GB disk space)
- After installation:
npm install -g @termly-dev/cli
Option 2 - Build Tools Only (Minimal):
- Download Build Tools for Visual Studio 2022
- Run installer and select: Desktop development with C++
- In Individual Components tab, ensure checked:
- ✅ MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 Spectre-mitigated libs
- ✅ Windows 11 SDK or Windows 10 SDK
- Install (~3GB disk space)
- Install Python: Download from python.org
- After installation:
npm install -g @termly-dev/cli
Common installation errors:
The installer will block and show specific instructions if components are missing:
"Missing: C++ build tools"
- Open Visual Studio Installer → Modify → Workloads tab
- Check: "Desktop development with C++"
"Missing: Spectre-mitigated libraries"
- Open Visual Studio Installer → Modify → Individual Components tab
- Search "Spectre" and check: "MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 Spectre-mitigated libs (Latest)"
"Missing: Windows SDK"
- Open Visual Studio Installer → Modify → Individual Components tab
- Search "Windows SDK" and check: "Windows 11 SDK (10.0.22621.0)" or any available version
After fixing missing components, retry: npm install -g @termly-dev/cli
macOS
Works out-of-the-box. Xcode Command Line Tools usually installed automatically.
If needed:
xcode-select --install
Platform-Specific Notes
ARM64 Linux (AWS Graviton, Raspberry Pi):
- Build tools are mandatory (no prebuilt binaries)
- Compilation takes 2-5 minutes
Windows ARM64:
- May require Visual Studio with ARM64 build tools
Docker/Containers:
- Use base images with build tools pre-installed
- Example:
node:18 (Debian-based) already includes build-essential
Environments
Termly CLI supports three environments:
| Production | @termly-dev/cli | termly | wss://api.termly.dev | End users |
| Development | @termly-dev/cli-dev | termly-dev | wss://dev-api.termly.dev | Beta testers |
| Local | Run from source | TERMLY_ENV=local termly | ws://localhost:3000 | Developers only |
Note: Server URLs are hardcoded per environment and cannot be changed by users.
Quick Start
Production
cd /path/to/your/project
termly start
Development
cd /path/to/your/project
termly-dev start
Local Development
git clone https://github.com/termly-dev/termly-cli
cd termly-cli
npm install
TERMLY_ENV=local node bin/cli.js start
Multiple Sessions
Run multiple sessions simultaneously:
cd ~/frontend
termly start
cd ~/backend
termly start
Each session:
- Independent AI tool instance
- Own WebSocket connection
- Can connect one mobile device
Manage sessions:
termly status
termly stop abc-123
termly list
Supported AI Tools
Termly CLI supports 17 interactive terminal-based AI coding assistants:
Official Tools from Major Companies
- Claude Code (Anthropic) - AI coding assistant
- GitHub Copilot CLI (Microsoft) - Command line AI
- Cursor CLI (Cursor) - AI coding assistant CLI
- Cody CLI (Sourcegraph) - AI assistant (Beta)
- Amazon Q Developer (AWS) - Free tier available
Popular Open-Source Tools
- Aider - AI pair programming (35k+ stars)
- Continue CLI - Modular architecture
- OpenHands - Open-source Devin alternative
- Mentat - Git integration
- ChatGPT CLI - ChatGPT in terminal
- ShellGPT - Shell command assistant
- Ollama - Run LLMs locally (CodeLlama, etc)
- Blackbox AI - Debugging & file editing
Experimental/Future Support
- OpenAI Codex CLI - When released
- Google Gemini CLI - When released
- Grok CLI - When released
- OpenCode - When released
And more... - Works with any terminal-based AI tool
Commands
All commands work the same way in both termly (production) and termly-dev (development).
Setup
termly setup
Interactive configuration setup (optional - sets default AI tool preference).
Start
termly start [directory] [options]
Start a new session with AI tool.
Options:
--ai <tool> - Specify AI tool to use
--ai-args <args> - Additional arguments for AI tool
--no-auto-detect - Disable auto-detection
--debug - Enable debug logging
Examples:
termly start
termly start --ai aider
termly start /path/to/project --ai "claude code"
termly start --ai aider --ai-args "--model gpt-4"
Status
termly status [--all]
Show all active sessions with detailed information.
Stop
termly stop [session-id] [--all]
Stop one or all sessions.
List
termly list
Quick list of active sessions with encryption fingerprints for verification.
Tools
termly tools list
termly tools detect
termly tools info <tool>
Config
termly config
termly config get <key>
termly config set <key> <value>
Examples:
termly config set defaultAI aider
termly config get defaultAI
Note: Server URL is determined by environment and cannot be changed via config.
Cleanup
termly cleanup
Remove stale sessions (processes that are no longer running).
Requirements
- Node.js 18+
- Build tools (Linux: gcc/make, Windows: VS2022/Spectre libs, macOS: Xcode CLI)
- At least one AI coding assistant installed (see Supported AI Tools section)
- Mobile app (iOS/Android) - coming soon
Troubleshooting
Installation Issues
Automatic Build Tools Check
The installer automatically verifies build requirements on all platforms:
- Linux: Checks for make, gcc/g++, python3
- Windows: Checks for MSVC compiler, Spectre libs, Windows SDK, Python
- macOS: Checks for Xcode Command Line Tools (warning only)
If components are missing, installation will be blocked with detailed instructions.
Linux: Installation blocked - missing build tools
The installer detected missing components. Install them:
sudo yum install gcc-c++ make python3 -y
sudo apt-get install build-essential python3 -y
Then retry: npm install -g @termly-dev/cli
Windows: Installation blocked - missing components
The installer will show exactly what's missing and how to fix it.
Common fixes:
- Missing C++ build tools: Install "Desktop development with C++" workload
- Missing Spectre libraries: Add "MSVC v143 Spectre-mitigated libs" in Individual Components
- Missing Windows SDK: Add "Windows 11 SDK" in Individual Components
- Missing Python: Download from python.org
See detailed instructions in the error message or Windows requirements section.
Windows: "EPERM: operation not permitted" during cleanup
This is a warning, not an error. Installation likely succeeded. Verify:
termly --version
macOS: "gyp: No Xcode or CLT version detected"
Install Xcode Command Line Tools:
xcode-select --install
Usage Issues
No AI tools detected?
termly tools list
Install an AI tool:
- Claude Code: https://docs.claude.com
- Aider:
pip install aider-chat
- GitHub Copilot:
gh extension install github/gh-copilot
Session already running?
termly status
termly stop abc-123
Check your environment:
termly config
Logs: ~/.termly/logs/cli.log
For issues: https://github.com/termly-dev/termly-cli/issues
Security
- End-to-end encryption (AES-256-GCM)
- Diffie-Hellman key exchange (2048-bit)
- Fingerprint verification - Compare encryption keys between CLI and mobile app
- Zero-knowledge server - Server cannot decrypt your data
- One mobile device per session
- Environment isolation - Production and development separated
- Version enforcement - Automatic check for minimum supported version
- Open source - Audit the code yourself
Development
npm install
node bin/cli.js start
node bin/cli-dev.js start
TERMLY_ENV=local node bin/cli.js start
DEBUG=1 node bin/cli.js start --debug
Publishing
Production Release
npm publish
Development Release
cp package.dev.json package.json
npm publish
git checkout package.json
License
MIT
Links
Made with ❤️ by the Termly Team