CLI Reference
Every tool on this site is also a terminal command, backed by the exact same prompts, Zod validation, and OpenRouter streaming as the web app — see Architecture for how the two share one service layer.
Install
Three ways to run it, from quickest to most permanent:
# 1. From a clone, no install — good for trying it out git clone https://github.com/HIMURAw/DevTools-AI.git cd DevTools-AI && pnpm install pnpm cli explain --file src/index.ts # 2. Global command, straight from GitHub — no clone needed npm install -g github:HIMURAw/DevTools-AI devtools-ai list # 3. Global command, from a local clone git clone https://github.com/HIMURAw/DevTools-AI.git cd DevTools-AI && npm install -g .
Methods 2 and 3 install a real devtools-ai command onto your PATH — the published package is a single bundled file (see Architecture), so there’s no separate build step to run yourself.
Configuration
The CLI reads OPENROUTER_API_KEY like any other terminal tool: from your shell environment, or from a .env / .env.localfile in whatever directory you run it from. There’s no separate CLI-only config file.
# Windows (PowerShell), current session only
$env:OPENROUTER_API_KEY = "sk-or-v1-..."
# Windows (PowerShell), persisted for future sessions
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("OPENROUTER_API_KEY", "sk-or-v1-...", "User")
# macOS/Linux
export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="sk-or-v1-..."See Configuration for what else is configurable.
Commands
devtools-ai list # every available tool devtools-ai models # every allowed OpenRouter model devtools-ai <tool> [text] [options]
Input
Every tool command takes its main input one of three ways — the first one provided wins:
| Method | Example |
|---|---|
| Inline text | devtools-ai commit "fixed the retry loop" |
--file <path> | devtools-ai review --file src/app.ts |
| Piped stdin | git diff | devtools-ai commit |
Pass --exampleinstead to run a tool against its built-in sample input — the same one the “Example” button loads on the web app.
Global flags
| Flag | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
-f, --file <path> | — | Read the primary input from a file |
--example | — | Use the tool’s built-in example input |
-m, --model <id> | qwen/qwen3-coder:free | Must be one of the models from devtools-ai models |
-t, --temperature <number> | 0.4 | 0 (deterministic) to 1.5 (creative) |
--max-tokens <number> | 2048 | 256–8192 |
-h, --help | — | Show a command’s flags, e.g. devtools-ai review --help |
Output and exit codes
The result streams to stdoutas it’s generated — nothing else. The “Tool · Model” status line and any errors go to stderr, so redirecting stdout captures exactly the clean result:
devtools-ai readme "..." > README.md devtools-ai commit "..." | git commit -F -
Exit code is 0 on success and 1 on any failure — missing input, a rejected model, a validation error, or an OpenRouter/network error.
Every tool
Each command also accepts its own extra flags, shown below. Run devtools-ai <tool> --help to see them from the terminal.
AI Code Explainer — devtools-ai explain (code-explainer)
Paste any snippet and get a clear, plain-English breakdown of what it does.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--language <value> | Language |
devtools-ai explain --file src/utils/debounce.ts
Bug Finder — devtools-ai bugs (bug-finder)
Scan code for logic errors, edge cases, and potential runtime bugs.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--language <value> | Language |
devtools-ai bugs --file src/api/handler.js
Commit Message Generator — devtools-ai commit (commit-message-generator)
Turn a diff or description into a clean Conventional Commit message.
git diff --staged | devtools-ai commit devtools-ai commit "added rate limiting to the login endpoint"
README Generator — devtools-ai readme (readme-generator)
Generate a professional, structured README from your project details.
devtools-ai readme "TaskFlow: a minimal CLI todo app written in Go. Features: add/remove/list tasks, due dates, tags."
Regex Generator — devtools-ai regex (regex-generator)
Describe a pattern in plain language and get a working regular expression.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--flavor <value> | Regex flavor (JavaScript, Python, PCRE, POSIX) |
devtools-ai regex "match a valid email address" --flavor Python
SQL Generator — devtools-ai sql (sql-generator)
Describe the data you need and get a ready-to-run SQL query.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--schema-info <value> | Table schema (optional) |
--dialect <value> | Dialect (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, SQL Server) |
devtools-ai sql "top 10 customers by revenue" --schema-info "orders(id, customer_id, amount)" --dialect MySQL
JSON → TypeScript — devtools-ai json2ts (json-to-typescript)
Convert raw JSON into precise, well-named TypeScript interfaces.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--root-name <value> | Root interface name |
devtools-ai json2ts --file data.json --root-name User
Email Generator — devtools-ai email (email-generator)
Draft professional emails for any developer or workplace scenario.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--tone <value> | Tone (Professional, Friendly, Formal, Concise, Apologetic) |
devtools-ai email "ask a teammate for a PR review before EOD" --tone Friendly
Code Optimizer — devtools-ai optimize (code-optimizer)
Get concrete suggestions to improve performance and readability.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--language <value> | Language |
devtools-ai optimize --file src/utils/search.js
Code Reviewer — devtools-ai review (code-reviewer)
Receive a structured code review covering quality, style, and risk.
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--language <value> | Language |
devtools-ai review --file src/api/users.ts