User Guide - ChatGPT Command-Line Interface (CLI)

The ChatGPT CLI allows you to interact with ChatGPT directly from your command line, offering an efficient platform for real-time communication. This user guide will provide you with simple, straightforward instructions on how to install, set up, and effectively use the CLI.

Examples

Simple Interactive Chat

Ask a Question, non-Interactively

{ echo "What is the largest file in this directory?"; ls -l } | chatgpt-cli chat

Improving README, non-Interactively

echo "Rewrite this README file as a user guide. Make it easy to read and informative. Use a helpful and clear style" \
  | chatgpt-cli chat < README.md > README-new.md
mv README-new.md README.md

Editing a directory full of notes, non-Interactively

for file in notes/*.md; do
  printf "\nEditing '%s'\n============================\n" "$file"
  {
    printf "Revise my notes. "
    printf "Use Markdown format. "
    printf "Revise the text of the note below to use a clear and informative style. "
    printf "Use newlines to keep line length less than 120 characters.\n\n"
    cat "${file}"
  } | chatgpt-cli chat > "${file}.new"

  if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    printf "  Request Failed: '%s'\n" "${file}"
    rm "${file}.new"
  else
    mv "${file}.new" "${file}"
  fi
done

Installation

To install ChatGPT CLI using Homebrew:

brew tap duanemay/tap
brew install chatgpt-cli

Initial Set Up

To use the ChatGPT CLI, you'll need a ChatGPT API key. You can generate this key by signing up on the OpenAI platform.

It is recommended to create a .chatgpt-cli file in your home directory or the directory where you'll run the CLI. Inside this file, include your API key alongside additional default settings you wish to use.

Example:

API_KEY=sk-mysupersecretAPIkey

Configuration Settings

The priority order for the configuration settings is as follows:

Command line flags > Environment Variables > Configuration files > Defaults

Each flag can be set in a configuration file, by changing it to uppercase and replacing - with _.

The full list of available flags and corresponding environment variables:

Flag	Short	Config File Key	Default	Description
--api-key	-k	API_KEY	Required	ChatGPT API Key
--config	-c	CONFIG	./.chatgpt-cli then $HOME/.chatgpt-cli	Config file to load
--verbose	-v	VERBOSE	false	Verbose logging
--system-message			``	Initial System message sent to ChatGPT
--session-file	-s	SESSION_FILE	Generated	Session file
--no-write-session		NO_WRITE_SESSION	false	Do not write or update session file
--model	-m	MODEL	gpt-4	Model to use
--role		ROLE	user	Role of User
--temperature	-m	TEMPERATURE	1.0	Temperature: 0-2
--max-tokens		MAX_TOKENS	0	Max tokens: 8192
--top-p		TOP_P	1.0	Top P: 0-1

For instance, if you want to change the end of the message and session markers, modify them in your configuration file.

You can select a different configuration file using --config flag. Each config file should specify settings as KEY=VALUE pairs, with each pair on a separate line. Lines commencing with # are considered comments and ignored.

Usage

The basic command to use chatgpt-cli is as follows:

chatgpt-cli [command]

The available commands are as follows:

1. chat: Start a chat session with ChatGPT.
2. completion: Generate the autocomplete script for your chosen shell.
3. help: Seek help regarding any command.
4. list-models: Retrieve a list of all models available to your account.
5. replay-session: Replay a chat session from a previously saved file.
6. version: Get version information.

Chatting

Initiate a chat session with ChatGPT using the chat command:

chatgpt-cli chat

You'll be prompted to input your message, which can span multiple lines. Send your message with TAB or CTRL+C.

Continue your conversation with ChatGPT by inputting a new message once you receive a response.

Exiting the chat is made possible by inputting CTRL+C or TAB with no message.

All chat sessions are saved in a session file, for which the --session-file flag can specify the file of your choice:

chatgpt-cli chat --session-file session.json

The --model, --role, --temperature, --max-tokens, and --top-p flags allow for individual configuration of the Model, Role, Temperature, Max Tokens, and Top P respectively.

A system prompt can be set by using the --system-message flag:

chatgpt-cli chat --system-message "You are a captivating storyteller who brings history to life by narrating the events, people, and cultures of the past."

Replaying a Session

Replaying a chat session lets you revisit a previous chat in a more readable format than the raw JSON. Use the replay-session command:

chatgpt-cli replay-session --session-file session.json

Listing Models

list-models retrieves a list of all available models related to your account:

chatgpt-cli list-models

Checking the Version

Fetch information about the CLI's version using version:

chatgpt-cli version

Build and Release

For a dry-run of the deployment process, you can run the following:

goreleaser --snapshot --skip-publish --clean

For a full deployment, you'll need to add a GitHub token to the ./.github_token file, then run the following:

goreleaser --clean
brew upgrade