Navigation
/
Learn
Get startedTeaching kli Your Project
GuidesChoose and Switch ModelsConnect a ProviderAdd a Custom OpenAI-Compatible ProviderRun Commands and Eval LispPersist and Resume SessionsManage Long ConversationsInspect and Edit ContextSteer a Running TurnRestrict What kli Can DoWork in the TUIRun kli Headless or PipedSwitch and Customize ProfilesUpdate kliLog Observability Events
ConceptsThe Live ImageExtensions All the Way DownThe Agent LoopSessions as a TreeContext and the System PromptTools and Hashline EditsCapabilities and Fault BarriersSecurity Model and SandboxingProfilesModels, Providers, and Transports
Extend
Extend kliChoosing an AltitudePrompt TemplatesPrompt Template AnatomyWrite Your First Prompt TemplateUsing ArgumentsPrompt Template ExamplesSkillsSkill AnatomyWrite Your First SkillAuthoring and DiscoverySkill ExamplesLisp ExtensionsLisp Extension AnatomyWrite Your First Lisp ExtensionContribution KindsDefining a Contribution KindRecoding LiveLoading and Managing ExtensionsLisp Extension ExamplesSharing ExtensionsPublishing Extensions
Reference
CLI & InstallInstallationEnvironment VariablesReading the Docs
Commands, Tools & TUISlash CommandsToolsKeymapThemes
Settings & Filessettings.jsonconfig.jsonThe programs.kli ModuleCapabilitiesProfilesFiles and Paths
Models & ProvidersProviders and Transports
Copy page

CLI & Install

On this page
On this page
The kli commandPages

This section is the reference for the kli program and how it gets onto your machine.

The kli command

kli dispatches on its first argument. Some tokens are subcommands; anything else starts the terminal app.

Invocation Effect
kli Start the interactive terminal app in the current directory.
kli version (--version, -V) Print the version line and exit.
kli update Update kli in place from a published release.
kli docs Print kli documentation, fetched live from the docs site.
kli mcp-serve <id> Serve a named extension's tools to an MCP client over stdio.
kli install <url> <git-tree-sha1> Install an extension from a URL, pinned to its git object id. --yes confirms without prompting.
kli help (--help, -h) Print usage and exit.
kli <flags…> Any other arguments start the app with the flags passed through.

Flags the app understands include --profile <name>, -c / --continue (resume the most recent stored session), and --extension <path> (load an extra extension on boot; repeatable). A fatal error exits with status 2.

kli --print-authority is a one-shot introspection flag: it prints the capabilities a session would hold under the resolved profile, then exits without running an agent. --profile <name> inspects another profile, --read-only and --no-bash preview the narrowed authority those flags produce, and --json emits one object. Use it to size the confinement you run kli inside — see Security model and sandboxing.

kli install <url> <git-tree-sha1> installs a remote extension without a running session: it verifies the pinned bytes and places them durably for the next launch, exiting 0 on success, 2 on a malformed invocation, and 3 on a refusal or verification failure. The declared extension id prints to stdout. This is the headless form of the in-session /install; both are covered in Sharing extensions, and the publishing side in Publishing extensions.

Pages

  • Installation — the install one-liner, the variables that steer it, the on-disk layout, supported targets, and the Nix and from-source routes.
  • Reading the docs — the kli docs subcommand: print the docs index, any page, or a search straight from your terminal.
  • Environment variables — every variable kli and its installer read.
backkli