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Command Line Interface

OpenJarvis runs as a terminal application with an interactive REPL, rich syntax highlighting, and multi-line editing.

Starting OpenJarvis

Launch OpenJarvis from your terminal:

openjarvis

You can also use the short binary alias if available:

oj

Command-Line Arguments & Options

OpenJarvis supports both interactive and non-interactive command-line invocation:

Usage: openjarvis [-h] [-c CONFIG] [--model MODEL] [--provider PROVIDER]
                  [--update-tools] [-V] [query ...]

Options:
  -c, --config CONFIG  Path to specialists.yaml configuration file
  --model MODEL        Override generalist model name
  --provider PROVIDER  Override default provider (e.g. ollama, openai, anthropic)
  --update-tools       Re-index and update tool embedding vectors
  -V, --version        Show program's version number and exit
  -h, --help           Show this help message and exit

Non-Interactive Single Prompt

To execute a one-off instruction without entering the interactive prompt:

oj "List the largest files in the current directory"

Overriding Configuration on the Fly

# Use a specific configuration file:
oj -c /path/to/custom-specialists.yaml

# Override the generalist provider and model:
oj --provider openai --model gpt-4o

Interactive REPL

On launch without arguments, OpenJarvis discovers your configuration and opens the interactive prompt:

OpenJarvis v0.2.0 — type /exit to stop, /help for commands

oj>

REPL Commands

Command Shortcut Description
/help Show available REPL commands and shortcuts
/version /v Print the current openjarvis-cli version
/clear Clear the terminal screen
/update-tools Re-compute and cache tool embedding vectors
/exit, /quit exit, quit End the session

Type your question or instruction at the oj> prompt and press Enter:

oj> Calculate compound interest on $10,000 at 5% for 10 years

  ↳ routing: generalist → math
  ⚙ tool: evaluate_expression {"expression": "10000 * (1 + 0.05)**10"}
    → 16288.946...

$10,000 at 5% annual compound interest for 10 years grows to approximately **$16,288.95**.

Multi-Line Input

To enter multi-line text (e.g. multi-line code snippets or long prompts): - Press Escape followed by Enter (or Alt+Enter) to insert a new line without submitting. - Press Enter on its own when ready to submit.

Command History

  • Press ↑ (Up Arrow) and ↓ (Down Arrow) to browse through your previous prompts.
  • History is saved automatically to ~/.config/openjarvis/history.

Exiting the Session

  • Type exit or quit and press Enter.
  • Or press Ctrl+D (EOF) or Ctrl+C.

Configuration Discovery

OpenJarvis searches for your configuration in the following order:

  1. OJ_CONFIG environment variable: 
    OJ_CONFIG=/path/to/custom-config.yaml openjarvis
  2. Current working directory: ./specialists.yaml
  3. User configuration directory: ~/.config/openjarvis/specialists.yaml
  4. System-wide directory: /etc/openjarvis/specialists.yaml (Linux / macOS)

If no configuration exists, OpenJarvis launches the first-run setup wizard to help you configure your preferred provider.

Visual Feedback

Routing Path

When OpenJarvis routes between specialists, it prints each hop in dim text:

  ↳ routing: generalist → code
  ↳ routing: code → math

Function & Tool Invocations

When a specialist calls a built-in tool, OpenJarvis displays the tool name, arguments, and return preview:

  ⚙ tool: search_web {"query": "OpenAI API"}
    → [{"title": "Overview - OpenAI API", ...}]

Formatted Markdown

Final synthesized responses are rendered with rich Markdown formatting in your terminal, including bold text, bullet lists, tables, and syntax-highlighted code blocks.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key Action
Enter Submit query
Escape then Enter Insert newline (multi-line input)
↑ / ↓ Navigate command history
Ctrl+C Cancel current prompt / Exit
Ctrl+D Exit OpenJarvis session

See Also