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kaustubh yerkade
kaustubh yerkade

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Could Agentic CLI Be the Next Big Thing in Developer Productivity ?

In a world where developers constantly juggle multiple tools, scripts, and automation tasks, the Agentic CLI emerges as a game changer. It’s not just another command line tool, it’s a developer agent that can execute tasks, reason about workflows, and automate repetitive processes intelligently.


Image Idea - Developer interacting with futuristic CLI automation interface.


What is Agentic CLI?

Agentic CLI is an advanced command-line interface powered by AI agents. Unlike traditional scripts that execute fixed commands, Agentic CLI can:

  • Interpret natural language instructions.
  • Decide the best sequence of commands to achieve a goal.
  • Integrate with other tools and APIs dynamically.
  • Provide feedback, logs, and suggestions in real time.

It is like having a co-pilot but inside your terminal.


Why Agentic CLI Matters

Why developers and DevOps engineers are buzzing about it:

  1. Workflow Automation

    Tedious tasks like setting up environments, deploying apps, or managing databases can be automated intelligently.

  2. Error Reduction

    The CLI can validate commands before execution, reducing human errors.

  3. Learning & Discovery

    Developers can explore tools and commands without remembering every syntax , they just tell the CLI what they want.

  4. Scalable Productivity

    It works well for single developers, teams, and even CI/CD pipelines.


Example Use Cases

1 DevOps Deployment

Instead of writing long bash scripts:

agentic deploy production
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The CLI intelligently figures out which services to update, which containers to restart, and generates a deployment report.

2 Database Operations

agentic backup database --type incremental

It can handle backup schedules, encryption, and storage allocation automatically.

3 Multi-Tool Orchestration

agentic fetch-logs --from all-services --analyze errors

Aggregates logs from multiple sources and gives actionable insights.

How Agentic cli It Works ?

Agentic CLI uses a combination of:

1.AI reasoning: To understand goals and decide steps.

2.Plugin architecture: For integrating any tool or API.

3.Feedback loop: To learn from success and failure of commands.

In essence, it’s like combining ChatGPT reasoning with CLI automation.

The Future of Developer Tools,Imagine a future where:

  • You no longer memorize hundreds of commands.

  • Scripts write themselves.

  • Terminals become collaborative, proactive agents.

Agentic CLI is a glimpse into that future, a terminal that thinks for you.


Key Takeaways-

Agentic CLI is AI-powered, not just script-based.

It’s designed to automate, reason, and optimize workflows.

Ideal for DevOps, cloud automation, and developer productivity.

Could change the way we interact with terminals forever.


Getting Started : Start small and let Agentic CLI handle your repetitive commands first. As confidence grows, expand it into your full DevOps or development workflows.

  1. Gemini CLI (by Google) - Open-source, terminal-first AI agent that integrates the Gemini model. Supports shell commands, file operations, and tool usage.

Link: github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli

  1. agentic/cli - A CLI tool published via npm, described as “CLI for the Agentic platform.” If you’re working in a Node/JavaScript ecosystem this can be relevant.

Link: npmjs.com/package/@agentic/cli

  1. Sidekick‑CLI - Open-source agentic CLI developer tool. Supports different LLM providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google) and is designed to support agentic workflows via terminal.

Link: github.com/geekforbrains/sidekick-cli

  1. Offline‑AI/cli - A CLI script agent tool that supports tool invocation, uses a dual-permission model (scripts define tools; users define which tools scripts can use). Good for local/offline or privacy-focused workflows.

Link: github.com/offline-ai/cli

  1. goose (by Block) - An open source extensible AI agent tool that goes beyond code-suggestions: install, execute, edit, test with any LLM.

Link: github.com/block/goose

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