start-ai-cli - AI coding CLI launcher

start-ai-cli is an npm package and command line tool for launching selected AI coding CLIs from the same project directory. It can open Codex CLI, Claude Code, and Cursor CLI in separate terminal tabs or windows so every assistant starts in the current workspace.

Use it when you want one command to choose and start your AI coding agents:

npx start-ai-cli

Features

• Interactively chooses which Codex CLI, Claude Code CLI, and Cursor CLI tools to launch.
• Remembers your enabled tools in a global config file for the next run.
• Opens each available tool in its own Windows Terminal tab or macOS Terminal window.
• Skips missing CLIs instead of failing when at least one supported tool is available.
• Works as a global npm command or one-off npx command.

Install

Run without installing:

npx start-ai-cli

Install globally:

npm install -g start-ai-cli

Then run it from the project directory you want the AI tools to use:

start-ai-cli

Supported Tools

Tool	Required command	Terminal title
Codex CLI	codex	Codex
Claude Code	claude	Claude
Cursor CLI	agent	Cursor

On Windows, start-ai-cli uses Windows Terminal (wt.exe) with PowerShell. On macOS, it uses Terminal.app through osascript.

Requirements

• Windows or macOS
• Node.js 22 or newer
• Windows Terminal available as wt.exe on Windows
• PowerShell 7 available as pwsh.exe, or Windows PowerShell, on Windows
• Terminal.app and osascript available on macOS
• At least one supported AI coding CLI available in PATH

Options

start-ai-cli
start-ai-cli --all
start-ai-cli --last
start-ai-cli --no-interactive
start-ai-cli --help
start-ai-cli --version

By default, start-ai-cli opens an interactive selector. Use Up/Down to move, Space to enable or disable an available CLI, Enter to open the selected tools, or q/Esc to cancel. Missing CLIs are shown as unavailable and cannot be selected.

Use --all or --no-interactive in scripts and automation to launch every available CLI without prompting. Use --last to launch the saved CLI selection and saved launch flags without prompting.

Global Config

Interactive selections are saved to:

~/.start-ai-cli/config.json

The config stores enabled tool ids:

{
  "enabledClis": ["codex", "claude", "cursor"],
  "cliArgs": {
    "codex": ["--yolo"],
    "claude": ["--dangerously-skip-permissions"],
    "cursor": []
  }
}

Delete this file to reset the saved defaults.

Troubleshooting

start-ai-cli cannot start: no CLI tools found in PATH

Install or expose at least one supported command in your shell:

• codex for Codex CLI
• claude for Claude Code
• agent for Cursor CLI

A CLI does not appear as available in the prompt

Make sure its command is installed and available in PATH:

• codex for Codex CLI
• claude for Claude Code
• agent for Cursor CLI

start-ai-cli cannot prompt in a non-interactive terminal

Run with --all or --no-interactive when using CI, scripts, or shell pipelines:

start-ai-cli --all

start-ai-cli cannot start: no selected CLI tools are available

Choose at least one installed CLI in the prompt, or run start-ai-cli --all to launch every available tool.

start-ai-cli cancelled

The interactive selector was closed with q or Esc. Run start-ai-cli again and press Enter after selecting at least one available CLI.

Windows Terminal was not found

Install Windows Terminal and make sure wt.exe is available in PATH.

PowerShell was not found

Install PowerShell 7 (pwsh.exe) or make sure Windows PowerShell (powershell.exe) is available.

Package Links

• npm package: https://www.npmjs.com/package/start-ai-cli
• GitHub repository: https://github.com/guoxiao0521/open-ai-cli
• Issues: https://github.com/guoxiao0521/open-ai-cli/issues

Development

npm test
npm run pack:dry-run
npm run publish:dry-run

Publish

README.md and npm metadata changes appear on npm after publishing a new package version.

npm login --registry=https://registry.npmjs.org/
npm publish