tldr

A tiny CLI that summarizes text using OpenAI, Anthropic, or OpenRouter.

Install

Run locally

npm install
node ./bin/tldr.js --help

Install globally from npm

npm install -g @camelai/tldr

Install from this repo

npm install -g github:qaml-ai/tldr

Usage

As a JavaScript library

import { summarize, resolveConfig } from '@camelai/tldr';

const config = resolveConfig({ provider: 'openai' });
const summary = await summarize('Long text to summarize...', config);

console.log(config.provider, config.model);
console.log(summary);

You can also pass options directly:

import { summarize } from '@camelai/tldr';

const summary = await summarize('Long text to summarize...', {
  provider: 'openrouter',
  model: 'google/gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview',
  system: 'Summarize in 3 bullet points.'
});

The library uses the same environment variables as the CLI for API keys and default model selection.

Summarize a prompt:

tldr "Summarize the key points from this meeting note..."

Summarize stdin:

cat notes.txt | tldr

Choose a provider explicitly:

tldr --provider openai "text"
tldr --provider anthropic "text"
tldr --provider openrouter "text"

Override the model:

tldr --provider openai --model gpt-5.4-nano "text"
tldr --provider anthropic --model claude-4-haiku-20250305 "text"
tldr --provider openrouter --model google/gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview "text"

Override the system prompt:

tldr --system "Summarize in 3 bullet points." "text"

Options

• -p, --provider <name>: openai, anthropic, or openrouter
• -m, --model <model>: override the model
• -s, --system <prompt>: override the summarization system prompt
• -h, --help: show help

Environment variables

API keys:

• OPENAI_API_KEY
• ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
• OPENROUTER_API_KEY

Defaults:

• TLDR_SYSTEM_PROMPT
• TLDR_OPENAI_MODEL default: gpt-5.4-nano
• TLDR_ANTHROPIC_MODEL default: claude-4-haiku-20250305
• TLDR_OPENROUTER_MODEL default: google/gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview

Legacy env vars are also supported:

• SUMMARIZE_SYSTEM_PROMPT
• SUMMARIZE_OPENAI_MODEL
• SUMMARIZE_ANTHROPIC_MODEL
• SUMMARIZE_OPENROUTER_MODEL

Default model selection

If --provider is omitted, tldr picks the first available provider in this order:

1. OPENAI_API_KEY
2. ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
3. OPENROUTER_API_KEY

Library API

summarize(input, options)

Returns a summary string.

Options:

• provider: openai, anthropic, or openrouter
• model: optional model override
• system: optional system prompt override
• apiKey: optional explicit API key override

resolveConfig(options)

Resolves the effective provider, model, and system prompt using arguments and environment defaults.

detectProvider(explicitProvider)

Returns the selected provider based on an explicit provider or env-var priority.

getDefaultModel(provider)

Returns the default model for a provider.

Publish to npm

When you're ready:

npm publish

Because publishConfig.access is set to public, this package is ready for public npm publishing.

License

MIT