CLI generation

Alpha · Early Access

CLI generation is currently in alpha and available exclusively to early access customers. Features and configuration may change. Contact us for access.

Speakeasy can generate a fully functional command-line interface (CLI) from an OpenAPI specification. The generated CLI is written in Go using Cobra , wraps a generated Go SDK, and ships with human-friendly and automation-friendly interfaces out of the box.

Getting started

Generate a CLI — Create a CLI from an OpenAPI document using speakeasy quickstart
Customize a CLI — Configure command naming, environment variables, interactive features, release artifacts, and more
Distribute a CLI — Distribute a CLI using GoReleaser, install scripts, or go install
Configuration reference — Full gen.yaml configuration reference for the cli target

What the generated CLI includes

Capability

Per-operation command tree

Details

Each operation becomes a Cobra command, grouped by tags with stutter removal to keep names concise.

Flexible request input

Details

Users can supply request data through typed flags, whole-body JSON via

, stdin piping, and bytes fields using

prefixes.

Rich output modes

Details

Supports

, and

, plus built-in

filtering.

Binary-safe workflows

Details

Binary responses support

, and TTY protections to prevent dumping raw bytes to a terminal by accident.

Interactive UX

Details

Optional interactive prompting, an

TUI command, interactive

, and auth login/logout flows for human terminal use.

Agent-aware UX

Details

Automatically detects AI coding agents and switches to TOON-friendly defaults, structured errors, and non-interactive behavior.

Runtime controls

Details

Includes pagination, SSE/JSONL streaming, retries, timeouts, custom headers, response headers, and diagnostics like

and

Machine-readable docs surfaces

Details

Provides grouped help output and a

KDL schema for tooling, automation, and agent consumption.

Distribution tooling

Details

Generates GoReleaser config, release workflows, install scripts, and built-in shell completions for Bash, Zsh, Fish, and PowerShell.

Capability	Details
Per-operation command tree	Each operation becomes a Cobra command, grouped by tags with stutter removal to keep names concise.
Flexible request input	Users can supply request data through typed flags, whole-body JSON via , stdin piping, and bytes fields using or prefixes.
Rich output modes	Supports , , , , and , plus built-in filtering.
Binary-safe workflows	Binary responses support , , and TTY protections to prevent dumping raw bytes to a terminal by accident.
Interactive UX	Optional interactive prompting, an TUI command, interactive , and auth login/logout flows for human terminal use.
Agent-aware UX	Automatically detects AI coding agents and switches to TOON-friendly defaults, structured errors, and non-interactive behavior.
Runtime controls	Includes pagination, SSE/JSONL streaming, retries, timeouts, custom headers, response headers, and diagnostics like and .
Machine-readable docs surfaces	Provides grouped help output and a KDL schema for tooling, automation, and agent consumption.
Distribution tooling	Generates GoReleaser config, release workflows, install scripts, and built-in shell completions for Bash, Zsh, Fish, and PowerShell.

Key features

Per-operation commands with smart grouping and stutter removal
Multiple output formats — pretty, JSON, YAML, table, and TOON
Built-in jq filtering via --jq
Flexible input — individual flags, --body, stdin, and bytes fields with file: / b64: input
4-tier authentication — flags → environment variables → OS keychain → config file
Interactive mode — auto-prompting for unresolved fields, explore, configure, and auth forms
Agent mode — auto-detected for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Aider, and similar environments
Pagination with --all and --max-pages
SSE and JSONL streaming
Retries and timeouts
Response headers via --include-headers
Binary downloads with --output-file and --output-b64
Shell completions for Bash, Zsh, Fish, and PowerShell
Machine-readable usage output via --usage
Cross-platform release — GoReleaser config, install scripts, and GitHub Actions workflow

Last updated on January 22, 2026