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Onyx CLI terminal interface The Onyx CLI is a terminal interface for chatting with your Onyx agents and querying your knowledge base. Built with Go using Bubble Tea, it provides both an interactive TUI and non-interactive commands for scripting and automation.

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Installation

pip install onyx-cli
Or with uv: 
uv pip install onyx-cli

PyPI Package

pip install onyx-cli

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Go

go install github.com/onyx-dot-app/onyx/cli@latest

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Build from Source

Requires Go 1.24+. 
git clone https://github.com/onyx-dot-app/onyx.git
cd onyx/cli
go build -o onyx-cli .
sudo mv onyx-cli /usr/local/bin/

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Setup

Run the interactive setup to configure your server URL and API key: 
onyx-cli configure
This prompts for your Onyx server URL and API key, tests the connection, and saves config to ~/.config/onyx-cli/config.json.

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Generating an Access Token

Navigate to User Settings > Accounts & Access > New Access Token (/app/settings/accounts-access) to create an access token for the CLI. Accounts & Access page showing the Access Tokens section Create Access Token modal with token name and expiration options

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Environment Variables

Environment variables override config file values. This is useful for CI/CD pipelines and scripting.
VariableRequiredDescription
ONYX_SERVER_URLNoServer base URL (default: https://cloud.onyx.app)
ONYX_API_KEYYesAPI key for authentication
ONYX_PERSONA_IDNoDefault agent/persona ID

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Validate Configuration

Verify that your configuration is correct and the server is reachable: 
onyx-cli validate-config

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Commands

CommandDescription
onyx-cliLaunch the interactive chat TUI (default)
onyx-cli askAsk a one-shot question (non-interactive)
onyx-cli agentsList available agents
onyx-cli configureConfigure server URL and API key
onyx-cli validate-configValidate configuration and test connection

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Interactive Chat

onyx-cli
Opens a full-screen terminal UI for conversational interaction with your Onyx agents.

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One-Shot Questions

Ask a question and get a response without entering the TUI: 
onyx-cli ask "What is our company's PTO policy?"
Use --agent-id to target a specific agent: 
onyx-cli ask --agent-id 5 "Summarize our Q4 roadmap"
Use --json for structured NDJSON output (useful for scripting): 
onyx-cli ask --json "List all active API integrations"
FlagDescription
--agent-id <int>Agent ID to use (overrides default)
--jsonOutput NDJSON events instead of plain text

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List Agents

onyx-cli agents
onyx-cli agents --json
Prints a table of available agent IDs, names, and descriptions.

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Slash Commands (Interactive TUI)

When using the interactive chat, the following slash commands are available:
CommandDescription
/helpShow help message
/newStart a new chat session
/agentList and switch agents
/attach <path>Attach a file to next message
/sessionsList recent chat sessions
/clearClear the chat display
/configureRe-run connection setup
/connectorsOpen connectors in browser
/settingsOpen settings in browser
/quitExit Onyx CLI

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Using as an AI Coding Assistant Skill

The Onyx CLI can be used as a tool by AI coding assistants (such as Claude Code and Cursor) to query your knowledge base directly from within your development environment. A pre-built skill definition is available in the Onyx repository at .cursor/skills/onyx-cli/SKILL.md. Once configured, the AI assistant can call onyx-cli ask to look up company-specific information — policies, internal docs, connected data sources — without leaving the editor.

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When the skill is invoked

The skill is triggered when you ask your AI assistant about:
  • Company-specific information (policies, processes, documentation)
  • Internal knowledge bases or connected data sources
  • Anything referencing Onyx, “search Onyx”, or querying company documents
It is not used for general programming questions or questions about code in the current repository.

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Configuration for agents

The simplest approach is to run onyx-cli configure once manually — after that, AI assistants can invoke onyx-cli ask directly without any additional setup. 
onyx-cli configure
Alternatively, you can configure via environment variables, which override the config file and are useful for CI/CD or sandboxed environments: 
export ONYX_SERVER_URL="https://your-onyx-server.com"
export ONYX_API_KEY="your-api-key"

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JSON output for structured parsing

Use --json to get NDJSON event output, which is easier for agents to parse programmatically: 
onyx-cli ask --json "List all active API integrations"
Event TypeDescription
message_deltaContent token — concatenate all content fields for the full answer
stopStream complete
errorError with error message field
search_tool_startOnyx started searching documents
citation_infoSource citation with citation_number and document_id

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Keyboard Shortcuts

KeyAction
EnterSend message
EscapeCancel current generation
Ctrl+OToggle source citations
Ctrl+DQuit (press twice)
Scroll / Shift+Up/DownScroll chat history
Page Up / Page DownScroll half page