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.