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The ouroborai CLI provides both single-command execution and an interactive REPL mode for conversing with the agent directly from your terminal. It communicates with the same Hono API server used by all other clients.

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Commands

arb <command> [options]
CommandDescription
healthCheck API server status
trade <prompt>Execute a spot swap via natural language
perp <prompt>Execute a perpetual trade
portfolioShow portfolio balances and positions
timeboost [prompt]Query TimeBoost express lane
chatStart the interactive REPL

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Examples

arb health
arb trade "swap 100 USDC for ETH"
arb perp "open 2x long ETH with 500 USDC"
arb portfolio
arb timeboost "express lane status"
arb chat

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Interactive REPL

The chat command starts a persistent REPL session with multi-turn thread context. Each prompt in the session is sent with the same threadId, allowing the agent to reference previous messages: 
ouroborai interactive mode
Type your message. Ctrl+C to exit.

arb> swap 100 USDC for ETH
Swapped 100 USDC for 0.0312 ETH via Uniswap V3 (500bps pool).

arb> now supply half of that ETH to Aave
Supplied 0.0156 ETH to Aave V3. Health factor: 2.41.

arb> exit
Goodbye.
Thread context is maintained for the duration of the REPL session. Exiting with exit, quit, or Ctrl+C ends the session and discards the thread reference.

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Authentication

The CLI supports API key authentication via a flag or environment variable:
MethodUsage
Flagarb --api-key <key> trade "swap ETH"
EnvironmentARB_API_KEY=<key> arb trade "swap ETH"
The API key is sent as a Bearer token in the Authorization header.

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Global Flags

FlagDescription
--api-url <url>Override the API server URL
--api-key <key>Set the API key for authenticated requests
Global flags can appear before the command and are parsed before dispatch.

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Environment Variables

VariableDefaultDescription
ARB_API_URLhttp://localhost:3000API server URL
ARB_API_KEY(empty)API key for auth
Flags take precedence over environment variables.

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API Communication

All commands follow the same request lifecycle:
POST /agent/prompt with a JSON body containing the prompt text and an optional threadId (REPL mode only). Returns a jobId.
GET /agent/job/{jobId} polled every 2 seconds until the job reaches a terminal state (complete, failed, or cancelled). Timeout is 120 seconds.
Completed jobs display the result.text field. Failed jobs display the error message. In REPL mode, a spinner animates during both the submission and polling phases.

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Setup

The CLI entry point is a Bun script:
bun run apps/cli/src/index.ts health
To use it as a global arb command, link the binary:
bun link

arb --api-url https://api.ouroborai.com --api-key sk-xxx chat
Or set environment variables:
export ARB_API_URL=https://api.ouroborai.com
export ARB_API_KEY=sk-xxx
arb chat

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Terminal Output

The CLI uses ANSI color codes for readable terminal output:
ElementColor
Brand textCyan + bold
Success messagesGreen
Error messagesRed
Dim / help textDim gray
A box-drawing utility formats structured output with borders and headers. The REPL spinner cycles through braille animation frames during async operations.
The chat command is the most powerful mode — it preserves conversation context across turns, so you can issue follow-up instructions like “close half that position” without repeating context.