On this page
term-llm exec "your request here"
Use arrow keys to select a command, Enter to execute, or press h for detailed help on the highlighted command. Select “something else…” to refine your request.
Use term-llm chat for a persistent session.
term-llm chat
Using Agents
Use the @agent prefix syntax to use a specific agent:
term-llm ask @reviewer "review this code" # use reviewer agent
term-llm chat @codebase # explore a repository
term-llm loop @web-researcher --done-file ... # use web-researcher agent in loop
term-llm ask @shell "find the 3 biggest files"
See Agents for more details on creating and managing agents.
Using Skills
Skills inject task-specific context into any command without changing the model or provider:
term-llm ask --skills git "how to squash commits" # use git skill
term-llm chat --skills git,docker # combine multiple skills
term-llm edit --skills refactoring -f main.go "refactor this"
term-llm exec --skills devops "set up a cron job"
Use --skills all to load every available skill, or --skills none to suppress defaults.
Manage skills with the skills subcommand:
term-llm skills # list all skills
term-llm skills new my-skill # create a new skill
term-llm skills show git # inspect a skill
term-llm skills browse # browse available skills
See Skills for the full guide on creating, sharing, and extending skills with custom tools.
Chat Keyboard Shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
Enter |
Send message |
Ctrl+J or Alt+Enter |
Insert newline |
Ctrl+C |
Quit |
Ctrl+K |
Clear conversation |
Ctrl+S |
Toggle web search |
Ctrl+P |
Command palette |
Ctrl+T |
MCP server picker |
Ctrl+L |
Switch model |
Ctrl+N |
New session |
Ctrl+F |
Attach file |
Ctrl+O |
Conversation inspector |
Esc |
Cancel streaming |
Left click |
Move cursor in chat input |
Shift+drag |
Select/copy chat output text in terminal |
Chat Slash Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/help |
Show help |
/clear |
Clear conversation |
/model |
Show current model |
/search |
Toggle web search |
/mcp |
Manage MCP servers |
/quit |
Exit chat |
Flags
| Flag | Short | Description |
|---|---|---|
--provider |
Override provider, optionally with model (e.g., openai:gpt-5.2) |
|
--file |
-f |
File(s) to include as context (supports globs, line ranges, ‘clipboard’) |
--auto-pick |
-a |
Auto-execute the best suggestion without prompting (exec only) |
--agent |
-a |
Use a specific agent (ask/chat only; see also @agent syntax) |
--skills |
Skills mode: all, none, or comma-separated names | |
--max N |
-n N |
Limit to N options in the selection UI |
--search |
-s |
Enable web search (configurable: Exa, Brave, Google, DuckDuckGo) and page reading |
--native-search |
Use provider’s native search (override config) | |
--no-native-search |
Force external search tools instead of native | |
--print-only |
-p |
Print the command instead of executing it |
--debug |
-d |
Show provider debug information |
--debug-raw |
Emit raw debug logs with timestamps (tool calls/results, raw requests) | |
--json |
Emit JSONL event stream on stdout, one event per line (ask only; see below) | |
--system-message |
-m |
Custom system message/instructions |
--stats |
Show session statistics (time, tokens, tool calls) | |
--no-session |
Disable session persistence for this command | |
--session-db |
Override sessions database path (supports :memory:) |
|
--max-turns |
Max agentic turns for tool execution (default: 50 for ask/exec, 200 for chat) | |
| Tool concurrency | When a model emits many parallel tool calls in one turn, term-llm runs at most 20 tool calls concurrently and queues the rest for that turn. | |
--yolo |
Auto-approve all tool operations (for unattended runs) |
Note: The -a short flag has different meanings:
- In
exec:-ais--auto-pick(auto-execute best suggestion) - In
ask/chat:-ais--agent(use a specific agent)
Examples
term-llm exec "list files by size" # interactive selection
term-llm exec "compress folder" --auto-pick # auto-execute best
term-llm exec "find large files" -n 3 # show max 3 options
term-llm exec "install latest node" -s # with web search
term-llm exec "disk usage" -p # print only
term-llm exec --provider zen "git status" # use specific provider
term-llm exec --provider openai:gpt-5.2 "list" # provider with specific model
term-llm exec --debug-raw "list files" # raw debug logs with timestamps
term-llm exec --provider ollama:llama3.2 "list" # use local Ollama model
term-llm exec --provider lmstudio:deepseek "list" # use LM Studio model
term-llm ask --provider openai:gpt-5.2-xhigh "complex question" # max reasoning
term-llm exec --provider openai:gpt-5.2-low "quick task" # faster/cheaper
# With file context
term-llm exec -f error.log "find the cause" # analyze a file
term-llm exec -f "*.go" "run tests for these" # glob pattern
git diff | term-llm exec "commit message" # pipe stdin
# Ask a question
term-llm ask "What is the difference between TCP and UDP?"
term-llm ask "latest node.js version" -s # with web search
term-llm ask --provider zen "explain docker" # use specific provider
term-llm ask -f code.go "explain this code" # with file context
term-llm ask -f code.go:50-100 "explain this function" # specific lines
term-llm ask -f clipboard "what is this?" # from clipboard
cat README.md | term-llm ask "summarize this" # pipe stdin
term-llm ask --debug-raw "latest zig release" # raw debug logs with timestamps
term-llm ask --json "explain git rebase" | jq -c . # JSONL event stream
# Edit files
term-llm edit "add error handling" -f main.go
term-llm edit "refactor loop" -f utils.go:20-40 # only lines 20-40
term-llm edit "add tests" -f "*.go" --dry-run # preview changes
term-llm edit "use the API" -f main.go -c api/client.go # with context
# Generate images
term-llm image "a sunset over mountains"
term-llm image "logo design" --provider flux # use specific provider
term-llm image "make it purple" -i photo.png # edit existing image
# Generate videos (Venice AI)
term-llm video "a corgi surfing at sunset"
term-llm video "make Romeo blink" -i romeo.png
term-llm video "astronaut on mars" --quote-only
JSON event stream (ask --json)
term-llm ask --json emits a newline-delimited JSON (JSONL) event stream on
stdout, one event per line, for scripting and automation. It implies --text
(no rich terminal rendering) and is incompatible with --debug-raw. Human
progress and warnings stay on stderr.
Every event shares an envelope:
{"type": "text.delta", "seq": 3, "ts": "2026-04-19T10:30:00.123456789Z", "text": "Hello"}
Event types, in typical order:
| Type | Payload |
|---|---|
session.started |
session_id, provider, model, agent, tools, mcp, yolo, search, resuming |
text.delta |
text, one chunk of streamed response |
tool.started |
call_id, name, info, args (raw JSON or null) |
tool.completed |
call_id, name, info, success |
usage |
input_tokens, output_tokens, cached_input_tokens, cache_write_tokens |
phase |
phase |
retry |
attempt, max, wait_seconds |
image |
path |
diff |
path, old, new, line |
progressive.result |
exit_reason, finalized, plus optional session_id/sequence/reason/message/progress/final_response/fallback_text (only with --progressive) |
error |
message |
stats |
duration_ms, llm_ms, tool_ms, token counts, tool_calls, llm_calls |
done |
tokens |
The last two events are always stats then done, even on context cancellation
or errors. seq starts at 0 and strictly increments.