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:

# Install build tools first (required for node-pty compilation)
# Amazon Linux / RHEL / CentOS / Fedora
sudo yum install gcc-c++ make python3 -y

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y build-essential python3

# Then install CLI
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
# Or minimal:
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):

1. Download Visual Studio 2022 Community (free)
2. Run installer and select workload: Desktop development with C++
3. 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
4. Install (requires ~7GB disk space)
5. After installation: npm install -g @termly-dev/cli

Option 2 - Build Tools Only (Minimal):

1. Download Build Tools for Visual Studio 2022
2. Run installer and select: Desktop development with C++
3. In Individual Components tab, ensure checked:
   • ✅ MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 Spectre-mitigated libs
   • ✅ Windows 11 SDK or Windows 10 SDK
4. Install (~3GB disk space)
5. Install Python: Download from python.org
6. 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:

| Environment | Package | Command | Server URL | Use Case | |------------|---------|---------|------------|----------| | 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

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/termly-dev/termly-cli
cd termly-cli
npm install

# Run with local environment
TERMLY_ENV=local node bin/cli.js start

Multiple Sessions

Run multiple sessions simultaneously:

# Terminal 1
cd ~/frontend
termly start

# Terminal 2 (new window)
cd ~/backend
termly start

Each session:

• Independent AI tool instance
• Own WebSocket connection
• Can connect one mobile device

Manage sessions:

termly status        # Show all sessions
termly stop abc-123  # Stop specific session
termly list          # Quick 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:

# Auto-detect and start
termly start

# Use Aider explicitly
termly start --ai aider

# Use Claude Code with custom directory
termly start /path/to/project --ai "claude code"

# Pass arguments to AI tool
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           # List available AI tools
termly tools detect         # Detect installed tools
termly tools info <tool>    # Show tool information

Config

termly config               # Show current configuration
termly config get <key>     # Get config value
termly config set <key> <value>  # Set config 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:

# Amazon Linux / RHEL / CentOS
sudo yum install gcc-c++ make python3 -y

# Ubuntu / Debian
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  # Check what's installed

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       # Find session ID
termly stop abc-123 # Stop it

Check your environment:

termly config  # Shows current environment and server URL

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

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run production mode
node bin/cli.js start

# Run development mode
node bin/cli-dev.js start

# Run local mode (custom server)
TERMLY_ENV=local node bin/cli.js start

# Debug mode
DEBUG=1 node bin/cli.js start --debug

Publishing

Production Release

npm publish

Development Release

# Temporarily swap package files
cp package.dev.json package.json
npm publish
git checkout package.json

License

MIT

Links

• Website: https://termly.dev
• Development: https://dev.termly.dev
• Documentation: https://termly.dev/docs
• GitHub: https://github.com/termly-dev/termly-cli
• Issues: https://github.com/termly-dev/termly-cli/issues

Made with ❤️ by the Termly Team