---
title: Getting Started
description: Installation, prerequisites, and basic usage of cli-agents
generated: true
---

# Getting Started

## Prerequisites

You need at least one supported AI CLI installed on the system where your app runs:

| CLI | Install |
|-----|---------|
| Claude Code | `npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code` |
| Codex | `npm install -g @openai/codex` |
| Gemini CLI | `npm install -g @google/gemini-cli` |

## Installation

### As a Rust library

Add to your `Cargo.toml`:

```toml
[dependencies]
cli-agents = "0.2"
tokio = { version = "1", features = ["rt-multi-thread", "macros"] }
```

### As a CLI tool

```bash
# Via npm (recommended — prebuilt binaries, no Rust toolchain needed)
npm install -g @cueframe/cli-agents

# Via cargo
cargo install cli-agents --features cli

# Or download a binary from GitHub Releases
# https://github.com/skoppisetty/cli-agents-rs/releases
```

## Basic usage

The core API is a single function: [`run()`](/api/run). Pass it a [`RunOptions`](/api/types#runoptions) struct and an optional event callback:

```rust
use cli_agents::{run, RunOptions, StreamEvent, CliName};
use std::sync::Arc;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
    let opts = RunOptions {
        cli: Some(CliName::Claude),
        task: "What is 2+2?".into(),
        skip_permissions: true,
        ..Default::default()
    };

    let handle = run(opts, Some(Arc::new(|event: StreamEvent| {
        match &event {
            StreamEvent::TextDelta { text } => print!("{text}"),
            StreamEvent::Done { result } => println!("\nDone: {:?}", result.success),
            _ => {}
        }
    })));

    let result = handle.result.await.unwrap().unwrap();
    println!("Success: {}", result.success);
}
```

### Auto-discovery

Omit the `cli` field to auto-discover the first available agent. The priority order is Claude → Codex → Gemini:

```rust
let opts = RunOptions {
    task: "Summarize this project.".into(),
    cwd: Some("./my-project".into()),
    ..Default::default()
};
let handle = run(opts, None);
```

You can also query which CLIs are installed:

```rust
use cli_agents::discovery::{discover_all, discover_first};

let all = discover_all().await;
for (name, path) in &all {
    println!("{name}: {path}");
}
```

### Cancellation

The [`RunHandle`](/api/run#runhandle) includes a `CancellationToken` for aborting a run:

```rust
let handle = run(opts, None);

let cancel = handle.cancel.clone();
tokio::spawn(async move {
    tokio::signal::ctrl_c().await.ok();
    cancel.cancel();
});

let result = handle.result.await.unwrap().unwrap();
// result.success == false when cancelled
```

## Use cases

### Desktop apps (Tauri)

Build rich agentic UIs that leverage whatever AI CLI the user has installed. `RunOptions` is serde-compatible, so frontends pass config as JSON and receive `StreamEvent`s back via Tauri events.

### Dev tools and CI

Build custom coding agents, review bots, or CI automation that piggyback on existing CLI installations — no API keys needed.

### Multi-agent orchestration

Run multiple agents concurrently or route tasks to different providers based on availability.
