MCPInstall

openai-cli

Official OpenAI CLI for interacting with the OpenAI REST API from the command line

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243
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Install

Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.

npx skills add https://github.com/reason-machines/devtools-skills --skill openai-cli
  1. 01

    Install

    Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.

  2. 02

    Describe the task

    Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads openai-cli automatically when relevant.

  3. 03

    Review the result

    The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.

SKILL.md

The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.

OpenAI CLI

Skill by ara.so — Devtools Skills collection.

The official CLI for the OpenAI REST API. Provides a command-line interface to interact with OpenAI's API endpoints including chat completions, embeddings, fine-tuning, and admin operations.

Installation

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

brew install openai/tools/openai

Go Install

go install 'github.com/openai/openai-cli/cmd/openai@latest'

Ensure Go bin is in your PATH:

export PATH="$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin"

Local Development

Clone the repository and run locally:

git clone https://github.com/openai/openai-cli.git
cd openai-cli
./scripts/run args...

Configuration

Set up your API credentials using environment variables:

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."
export OPENAI_ADMIN_KEY="sk-admin-..."  # For admin endpoints
export OPENAI_ORG_ID="org-..."          # Optional
export OPENAI_PROJECT_ID="proj_..."     # Optional

Or use flags on each command:

openai --api-key sk-... responses create --input "Hello"

Environment Variables

VariablePurposeRequired
OPENAI_API_KEYStandard API authenticationFor standard endpoints
OPENAI_ADMIN_KEYAdmin API authenticationFor admin endpoints
OPENAI_ORG_IDOrganization identifierNo
OPENAI_PROJECT_IDProject identifierNo
OPENAI_WEBHOOK_SECRETWebhook verificationNo

Command Structure

openai [resource] <command> [flags...]

Key Commands

Chat Completions

Create a chat completion:

openai responses create \
  --input "Explain quantum computing in simple terms" \
  --model gpt-4

Stream responses:

openai responses create \
  --input "Write a poem about coding" \
  --model gpt-4 \
  --stream

With system message and temperature:

openai responses create \
  --input "What is recursion?" \
  --model gpt-4 \
  --system "You are a computer science teacher" \
  --temperature 0.7

File Operations

Upload a file:

openai files create \
  --file @training_data.jsonl \
  --purpose fine-tune

List files:

openai files list

Retrieve file content:

openai files retrieve file-abc123

Delete a file:

openai files delete file-abc123

Embeddings

Generate embeddings:

openai embeddings create \
  --input "The quick brown fox" \
  --model text-embedding-3-small

Multiple inputs:

openai embeddings create \
  --input "First text" \
  --input "Second text" \
  --model text-embedding-3-large

Fine-tuning

Create a fine-tuning job:

openai fine-tuning jobs create \
  --training-file file-abc123 \
  --model gpt-3.5-turbo

List fine-tuning jobs:

openai fine-tuning jobs list

Check job status:

openai fine-tuning jobs retrieve ftjob-abc123

Cancel a job:

openai fine-tuning jobs cancel ftjob-abc123

Admin Operations

Usage statistics:

openai admin:organization:usage completions \
  --start-time 1735689600 \
  --end-time 1735776000 \
  --bucket-width 1d

File Handling

Passing Files as Arguments

Use @ prefix for file paths:

openai responses create --arg @input.txt

Within JSON/YAML:

openai <command> --arg '{image: "@image.jpg"}'
openai <command> <<YAML
arg:
  image: "@abe.jpg"
YAML

Explicit Encoding

Force string encoding:

openai <command> --arg @file://myfile.txt

Force base64 encoding:

openai <command> --arg @data://image.png

Absolute paths:

openai <command> --arg @file:///tmp/file.txt

Escaping @ Signs

To pass a literal @ character:

openai <command> --username '\@username'

Output Formatting

Format Options

Control output format with --format:

# Pretty-printed (default for TTY)
openai responses create --input "Hello" --format pretty

# Raw JSON
openai responses create --input "Hello" --format json

# JSONL (one JSON object per line)
openai responses create --input "Hello" --format jsonl

# YAML
openai responses create --input "Hello" --format yaml

# Raw response body
openai responses create --input "Hello" --format raw

Data Transformation

Use GJSON syntax to extract specific fields:

# Get just the message content
openai responses create \
  --input "Hello" \
  --transform "choices.0.message.content"

# Get multiple fields
openai responses create \
  --input "Hello" \
  --transform "{id: id, content: choices.0.message.content}"

Transform errors:

openai responses create \
  --input "Hello" \
  --format-error json \
  --transform-error "error.message"

Global Flags

--api-key           # API key (or use OPENAI_API_KEY)
--admin-api-key     # Admin key (or use OPENAI_ADMIN_KEY)
--organization      # Org ID (or use OPENAI_ORG_ID)
--project           # Project ID (or use OPENAI_PROJECT_ID)
--base-url          # Custom API endpoint
--debug             # Enable debug logging with HTTP details
--version, -v       # Show CLI version
--help              # Show help for command
--format            # Output format (auto, explore, json, jsonl, pretty, raw, yaml)
--format-error      # Error output format
--transform         # GJSON transform for data output
--transform-error   # GJSON transform for error output

Common Patterns

Interactive Chat Session

while true; do
  read -p "You: " input
  openai responses create \
    --input "$input" \
    --model gpt-4 \
    --format pretty
done

Batch Processing

Process multiple inputs from a file:

while IFS= read -r line; do
  openai responses create \
    --input "$line" \
    --model gpt-3.5-turbo \
    --format json >> results.jsonl
done < inputs.txt

JSON Input

Pass structured data:

openai responses create \
  --input "Translate to French" \
  --model gpt-4 \
  --max-tokens 100 \
  --temperature 0.3

Piping Data

echo "Summarize this text" | openai responses create \
  --input "$(cat)" \
  --model gpt-4

Or:

cat document.txt | openai responses create \
  --input "Summarize: $(cat -)" \
  --model gpt-4

Image Analysis

openai responses create \
  --input '{text: "What is in this image?", image: "@photo.jpg"}' \
  --model gpt-4-vision-preview

Custom Base URL

For Azure or custom endpoints:

openai --base-url https://custom.openai.azure.com/v1 \
  responses create \
  --input "Hello" \
  --model gpt-4

Debugging

Enable debug mode to see full HTTP requests/responses:

openai --debug responses create --input "Test"

Warning: Debug logs include request/response bodies which may contain sensitive data.

Troubleshooting

Command Not Found

Ensure Go bin is in your PATH:

echo $PATH | grep "$(go env GOPATH)/bin"
# If not found:
export PATH="$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin"

Authentication Errors

Verify API key is set:

echo $OPENAI_API_KEY
# Should output: sk-...

Check key validity:

openai responses create --input "test" --model gpt-3.5-turbo

File Not Found Errors

Use absolute paths or verify relative paths:

# Absolute path
openai files create --file @/full/path/to/file.jsonl --purpose fine-tune

# Verify file exists
ls -la @file.jsonl

Rate Limiting

Add delays between requests:

for i in {1..10}; do
  openai responses create --input "Request $i"
  sleep 1
done

Model Not Available

List available models (if endpoint exists):

openai models list

Check model name spelling and access permissions.

Output Not Formatted

Force format explicitly:

openai responses create --input "Hello" --format json

Check if output is being piped (auto-detection may choose raw format):

openai responses create --input "Hello" --format pretty | less

Linking Custom SDK Versions

For development, link against different Go SDK versions:

# Link to specific version
./scripts/link github.com/openai/openai-go@v1.2.3

# Link to local SDK copy
./scripts/link ../openai-go

# Default (../openai-go)
./scripts/link

Version Information

Check CLI version:

openai --version
# or
openai -v

Get help:

openai --help
openai responses --help
openai responses create --help

FAQ

What does the openai-cli skill do?

Official OpenAI CLI for interacting with the OpenAI REST API from the command line

How do I install openai-cli?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/reason-machines/devtools-skills --skill openai-cli in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/openai-cli/ (personal) or .claude/skills/openai-cli/ (project).

Which AI agents can use openai-cli?

Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.

Is openai-cli safe to install?

No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.

Who maintains openai-cli?

It is published by reason-machines in reason-machines/devtools-skills. It has 243 recorded installs.

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