Quickstart: Testing Agent CLIs Locally

Purpose: Quick reference for installing and testing each agent's CLI tool.

Prerequisites

  • macOS, Linux, or WSL
  • Node.js 18+ (for npm-based CLIs)
  • Python 3.11+ (for pip-based CLIs)
  • Homebrew (macOS) or equivalent package manager

Agent CLI Testing Commands

1. Claude Code (Anthropic)

Known CLI: claude

# Check if installed
which claude && claude --version

# Install (if not present)
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

# Test help
claude --help

# Test basic invocation
claude "What is 2+2?"

Auth: Requires ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable.

2. GitHub Copilot

Known CLI: Unknown - primarily VS Code extension

# Check for any Copilot CLI
which copilot gh-copilot

# GitHub CLI has Copilot extension
gh extension list | grep copilot
gh copilot --help

Note: May be IDE-only. Research needed.

3. Google Gemini

Known CLI: gemini (Google AI CLI) or API-only

# Check if installed
which gemini

# Alternative: Google Cloud AI CLI
gcloud ai --help

Auth: Requires Google Cloud credentials or API key.

4. Cursor

Known CLI: User reports CLI exists - find it!

# Check common names
which cursor cursor-cli

# Check if Cursor app has CLI
ls /Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/

# macOS: Check if shell command installed
cursor --help

Note: Priority research item per user request.

5. Qwen Code (Alibaba)

Known CLI: Likely API-only

# Check for any Qwen CLI
which qwen qwen-code

# May use Alibaba Cloud CLI
aliyun --help

Note: Research Alibaba Cloud AI services.

6. OpenCode

Known CLI: opencode

# Check if installed
which opencode && opencode --version

# Install
npm install -g opencode
# or
pip install opencode

# Test help
opencode --help

7. Windsurf (Codeium)

Known CLI: Unknown - primarily IDE

# Check for Codeium CLI
which codeium windsurf

# Codeium may have language server CLI
codeium --help

Note: Research Codeium's headless options.

8. GitHub Codex (OpenAI)

Known CLI: codex (OpenAI Codex CLI)

# Check if installed
which codex && codex --version

# Install
npm install -g @openai/codex

# Test help
codex --help

# Test basic invocation
codex "Write a hello world in Python"

Auth: Requires OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable.

9. Kilocode

Known CLI: Unknown - VS Code extension

# Check for any Kilocode CLI
which kilocode kilo

# Check npm
npm search kilocode

Note: Research needed.

10. Augment Code

Known CLI: Unknown - IDE extension

# Check for any Augment CLI
which augment augment-code

# Check npm/pip
npm search augment-code
pip search augment  # Note: pip search may be disabled

Note: Research needed.

11. Roo Cline

Known CLI: Unknown - VS Code extension (fork of Cline)

# Check for CLI
which roo roo-cline cline

# Cline (original) may have CLI
npm search cline-ai

Note: Research Cline project for CLI options.

12. Amazon Q

Known CLI: q (AWS Q Developer CLI)

# Check if installed
which q && q --version

# Install via AWS CLI v2
aws --version
# Q may be part of AWS CLI or separate

# Alternative: Amazon Q Developer CLI
brew install amazon-q  # hypothetical

# Test help
q --help

Auth: Requires AWS credentials configured.

Batch Testing Script

Save as test-all-clis.sh:

#!/bin/bash

echo "=== Agent CLI Availability Check ==="

agents=(
  "claude:claude --version"
  "copilot:gh copilot --help"
  "gemini:gemini --version"
  "cursor:cursor --help"
  "qwen:qwen --version"
  "opencode:opencode --version"
  "windsurf:codeium --help"
  "codex:codex --version"
  "kilocode:kilocode --version"
  "augment:augment --version"
  "roo:roo --version"
  "amazon-q:q --version"
)

for entry in "${agents[@]}"; do
  name="${entry%%:*}"
  cmd="${entry#*:}"

  echo -n "$name: "
  if eval "$cmd" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
    echo "AVAILABLE"
  else
    echo "NOT FOUND"
  fi
done

Run with:

chmod +x test-all-clis.sh
./test-all-clis.sh

Next Steps

1. Run the batch test to see which CLIs are already installed 2. Install available CLIs for agents you have subscriptions to 3. For each installed CLI, run --help and capture output 4. Test basic task invocation and record results in research files