Ask CLI

 !Min Node Version


A fast and lightweight AI-powered CLI tool to help you with commands, coding, apps and more.

- 🤖 Get help about commands, coding, apps, etc.
- 📝 Short and precise answers, just the info you need, straight to the point.
- 🚀 Blazing fast speed, almost instant responses.
- 🛡️ Safe by design, it cannot run commands or access your files without your explicit authorization.

Forget about switching between applications to know how to use a command or fix an error. Just ask your terminal how to do it.

!Ask CLI demo showing quick terminal responses

Content

- Why use Ask CLI?
- Installation
- Usage
- Select model
- Supported models
- Connect to local or external providers
- Reference

Why use Ask CLI?

Why use Ask CLI and not an AI agent like Claude or Gemini?

- Ask CLI was created to do one thing and do it well: help you with commands, coding, apps and more from your terminal.
- The AI models it uses are optimized to generate short, precise and fast answers.
- No risk of prompt injection, Ask CLI cannot run commands or access your files by default.
- No risk of running dangerous commands on your computer. See Running commands for more details.
- Designed for anyone who wants fast, secure, and precise help directly in the terminal.

Installation

``bash
npm install -g ask-cli-ai
`

Usage

> To use Ask CLI, you first need to set up the API key. See Select model to learn how.

$3

`bash

Basic usage

ask

Examples

ask how to terminate a linux process
ask what is a javascript promise
ask how to create a git branch

Using quotes

ask 'What does this command do: git config user.name "Ask CLI"?'
`

$3

You can use how and what as aliases for the ask command:

`bash

Using 'how' alias

how to install docker on ubuntu

Using 'what' alias

what is the difference between git merge and rebase
`

$3

By default, Ask CLI cannot run commands on your computer. However, you can use the -c or --command option to execute a command and include its output in your question. This allows Ask CLI to analyze errors, logs, or any command output and provide context-aware answers.

`bash

Analyze an error

ask why is this failing -c "npm run build"

Get help with command output

ask explain this output -c "docker ps -a"

Debug issues

ask what is wrong here -c "git status"
`

Select model

You can select a model using the ask /models command. This will list all the available models and let you select the model you want to use.

!Model selection screen

> If it's the first time you select a model, you will be prompted to set the API key for the model's provider.

Supported models

Gemini

- Gemini 3 Flash Preview
- Gemini 3 Pro Preview
- Gemini 2.5 Flash
- Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
- Gemini 2.5 Pro

OpenAI

- GPT-5 Mini
- GPT-5 Nano
- GPT-5
- GPT-5.2
- GPT-5.2 Pro
- GPT-4.1

Anthropic

- Claude Haiku 4.5
- Claude Sonnet 4.5
- Claude Opus 4.5

Connect to local or external providers

You can use the ask /connect command to connect to local models or external providers, using an OpenAI-compatible API, like llama.cpp, Ollama, Hugging Face, etc.

!Connect screen

Reference

`
AI CLI to help you with commands, coding, apps and more.

Version: 1.2.2

Usage: ask

Commands:
ask Ask something. Alias: what, how [default]
ask /models Select a model
ask /providers Setup providers
ask /config Configuration
ask /connect Connect to an external provider using OpenAI-compatible API
ask /history List the chat history
ask /clear Clear the chat history

Positionals:
prompt [string]

Options:
--version Show version number [boolean]
--help Show help [boolean]
-c, --command Command to execute [string]

Examples:
ask how to run a docker container
how to setup my git account
what is the chmod command
ask what is using port 80 -c "netstat -ano"
``