OpenAI Releases Official Command-Line Interface (CLI) for its REST API

Official CLI Release

OpenAI has launched its official command-line interface (CLI) designed to interact with the OpenAI REST API. This new tool provides a direct terminal-based method for developers to utilize OpenAI's services, complementing existing API access methods.

Installation and Setup

Users can install the CLI using Homebrew with `brew install openai/tools/openai`. Alternatively, it can be installed via Go by running `go install 'github.com/openai/openai-cli/cmd/openai@latest'`, requiring Go version 1.26 or later. After installation, users may need to add the Go bin directory to their system's PATH.

The CLI includes features like interactive Tab completion for shells such as Bash, zsh, and fish, which are set up automatically upon the first interactive run. PowerShell maintains normal Tab completion.

Command Structure and Authentication

The CLI follows a resource-based command structure, using the format `openai <resource> [subresource...] <command> [flags...]`. Access to standard API endpoints requires setting the `OPENAI_API_KEY` environment variable with a valid API key. Admin endpoints necessitate an `OPENAI_ADMIN_API_KEY`.

Update Mechanism

The CLI includes a mechanism to check for newer stable releases, displaying a plain-text notice below help output at most once every seven days. This check occurs when stdin, stdout, and stderr are terminals. It does not perform automatic updates. Update checks use public GitHub release metadata without API credentials and respect proxy settings. Users can disable update checks by setting `OPENAI_CLI_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1`.