cli4ai

cli4ai

The package manager for AI CLI tools.

Give your AI agents superpowers with ready-to-use tools for GitHub, Slack, Gmail, databases, and more. Install in seconds, run from anywhere, integrate with Claude via MCP.

npm i -g cli4ai
cli4ai add -g github
cli4ai run github notifs

Why cli4ai?

AI agents need tools. MCP servers are complex to set up. cli4ai makes it simple:

• Install tools in seconds — cli4ai add github just works
• Run from anywhere — cli4ai run <tool> <command>
• MCP integration — Wrap any CLI tool as an MCP server automatically
• Local-first — Tools are just TypeScript scripts, no cloud required
• Unified interface — All tools output JSON for easy parsing

Available Packages

See the packages repo for source code and documentation.

Package	Description
github	GitHub notifications, repos, issues, PRs
slack	Slack messages, channels, users
gmail	Gmail inbox, threads, send/reply
twitter	Twitter/X timeline, search, post
youtube	YouTube transcripts and metadata
mongodb	MongoDB queries and schemas
postgres	PostgreSQL read-only queries
snowflake	Snowflake data warehouse queries
chrome	Browser automation with Puppeteer
linkedin	LinkedIn feed and profiles
fireflies	Fireflies.ai meeting transcripts
dataforseo	SEO keywords, trends, backlinks
ipinfo	IP address geolocation
history	Chrome browser history
openapi	Turn any OpenAPI spec into a CLI

Browse all packages: cli4ai browse

Quick Start

# Install cli4ai globally
npm i -g cli4ai

# Install a tool
cli4ai add -g github

# Run a command
cli4ai run github notifs

# See available commands
cli4ai info github

# Update all tools
cli4ai update

Commands

Package Management

Command	Description
cli4ai add <pkg>	Install package locally
cli4ai add -g <pkg>	Install package globally
cli4ai remove <pkg>	Uninstall package
cli4ai list	List installed packages
cli4ai update	Update all packages

Discovery

Command	Description
cli4ai browse	Interactive package browser
cli4ai search <query>	Search for packages
cli4ai info <pkg>	Show package details

Execution

Command	Description
cli4ai run <pkg> <cmd> [args]	Run a tool command
cli4ai run --remote <name> <pkg> <cmd>	Run on remote server
cli4ai start <pkg>	Start package as MCP server

Remote Servers

Run tools on remote machines. Perfect for accessing tools on other computers or servers.

Command	Description
cli4ai serve	Start remote server (default port 4100)
cli4ai remotes add <name> <url>	Add a remote server
cli4ai remotes list	List configured remotes
cli4ai remotes remove <name>	Remove a remote
cli4ai list --remote <name>	List packages on remote
cli4ai info --remote <name> <pkg>	Get package info from remote
cli4ai search --remote <name> <query>	Search packages on remote

Example: Set up remote execution

# On the server machine
cli4ai serve --port 4100

# On your local machine
cli4ai remotes add my-server http://192.168.1.100:4100

# Run tools remotely
cli4ai run --remote my-server github notifs
cli4ai list --remote my-server
cli4ai info --remote my-server twitter

Serve options:

cli4ai serve                           # Start on port 4100
cli4ai serve --port 8080               # Custom port
cli4ai serve --api-key mysecretkey     # Require authentication
cli4ai serve --scope read,write        # Restrict to specific scopes

MCP Integration

cli4ai tools can run as MCP servers for Claude:

# Generate Claude Code config
cli4ai mcp-config

# Start a tool as MCP server
cli4ai start github

Add to your Claude Code MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "github": {
      "command": "cli4ai",
      "args": ["start", "github"]
    }
  }
}

Creating Tools

# Quick scaffold with defaults
npx create-cli4ai my-tool -y

# Interactive mode (prompts for commands, args, env vars)
npx create-cli4ai

# Or use the built-in init
cli4ai init my-tool

Tools are TypeScript scripts with a cli4ai.json manifest:

#!/usr/bin/env npx tsx
import { cli, output } from '@cli4ai/lib/cli.ts';

const program = cli('my-tool', '1.0.0', 'My awesome tool');

program
  .command('hello [name]')
  .description('Say hello')
  .action((name?: string) => {
    output({ message: `Hello, ${name || 'world'}!` });
  });

program.parse();

{
  "name": "my-tool",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "My awesome tool",
  "entry": "run.ts",
  "runtime": "node",
  "commands": {
    "hello": {
      "description": "Say hello",
      "args": [{ "name": "name", "required": false }]
    }
  }
}

Storage

~/.cli4ai/
├── config.json       # Global configuration
├── packages/         # Globally installed packages
└── bin/              # PATH-linked executables

./.cli4ai/
└── packages/         # Locally installed packages

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• npm or bun

Related

• cli4ai/packages — Official tool packages
• cli4ai/create-cli4ai — Scaffold new tools
• cli4ai.com — Website and documentation

License

BSL 1.1 — Free for non-commercial use. Converts to Apache 2.0 on December 19, 2029.