BEST CLI TOOLS

Claude Code

AI Coding

Anthropic's CLI-based AI coding agent. Runs in your terminal and handles multi-file refactors, test writing, debugging, and complex coding tasks autonomously. Reads your entire project, understands the codebase, and makes changes across multiple files in a single session. The most capable AI coding tool that runs in a terminal.

Verdict: The best AI coding tool for terminal-first developers.

Gemini CLI

AI Coding

Google's open-source AI coding CLI with a 1M token context window and /model Auto routing across Gemini 3 and Gemini 2.5. Handles code generation, debugging, file editing, and codebase Q&A. Paid Gemini API keys, Vertex AI and Gemini Code Assist Standard/Enterprise keep access; Google's quota page says unpaid tier and Google One users were moved to Antigravity CLI on June 18, 2026, while the same page still lists Google AI Pro and Ultra quotas.

Verdict: Best large-context CLI for teams already paying for Gemini.

Ollama

Local AI

The easiest way to run AI models locally. One command to download and run any open-source model. Provides an OpenAI-compatible API server, so you can use local models with tools that expect the OpenAI API. Handles quantization, GPU acceleration, and model management automatically.

Verdict: Essential for local model development. Install it first.

Astral's ultra-fast Python package manager and project tool. Replaces pip, pip-tools, pipx, poetry, pyenv, and virtualenv in a single binary. Written in Rust, it is 10-100x faster than pip for resolving and installing packages. The new standard for Python development.

Verdict: If you write Python, replace pip with uv today.

Bun

JavaScript Runtime

All-in-one JavaScript and TypeScript runtime, bundler, package manager, and test runner. Significantly faster than Node.js for package installs, script execution, and test running. Drop-in compatible with most Node.js code and npm packages.

Verdict: Fastest JS runtime. Worth switching to for the speed alone.

Codex CLI

AI Coding

OpenAI's terminal-based coding agent. Reads your codebase, generates code, executes commands, and submits PRs. Runs in a sandboxed environment for safety. Defaults to GPT-6.1 Sol since CLI 0.161.0 (October 7, 2026) and works through your ChatGPT subscription or an API key.

Verdict: Strong OpenAI alternative to Claude Code.

A command-line fuzzy finder that transforms how you navigate your terminal. Pipe any list into fzf and get instant fuzzy search. Use it to search files, command history, git branches, processes, and anything else that produces a list. Once you try it, you cannot go back.

Verdict: The most underrated CLI tool. Changes your terminal workflow forever.

The standard tool for processing JSON on the command line. Filter, transform, and format JSON data with a concise query language. Essential for working with APIs, log files, configuration files, and any JSON output from other tools. Pairs perfectly with curl for API exploration.

Verdict: Non-negotiable for anyone working with JSON. Learn the basics.

A blazing-fast recursive search tool that respects .gitignore by default. Replaces grep for code search. Written in Rust, it searches massive codebases in milliseconds. Supports regex, file type filtering, and multiline matching. Used internally by VS Code for its search feature.

Verdict: The fastest code search tool. Better than grep in every way.

gh

Version Control

GitHub's official CLI. Create repos, manage PRs, review code, manage issues, trigger workflows, and do everything you would do on github.com from your terminal. Supports extensions for additional functionality. Pairs well with AI coding tools for automated PR workflows.

Verdict: Required if you use GitHub. Faster than the web UI for most tasks.

A terminal UI for git that makes complex git operations visual and intuitive. Stage individual hunks, interactive rebase, cherry-pick, manage stashes, and resolve conflicts without remembering git commands. Keyboard-driven with a clean TUI that shows everything at a glance.

Verdict: Makes git visual without leaving the terminal. Highly addictive.

A smarter cd command that learns your habits. Type 'z projects' and it jumps to the most frequently visited directory matching that pattern. Maintains a database of your directory usage and uses frecency (frequency + recency) to rank results. Drop-in replacement for cd.

Verdict: Tiny tool, massive time savings. Replaces cd after one day.

bat

File Viewing

A cat replacement with syntax highlighting, line numbers, git integration, and automatic paging. Supports hundreds of programming languages out of the box. Shows git diff markers in the margin and integrates with fzf for previewing files during fuzzy search.

Verdict: Better cat. Install it and alias cat to bat.

A human-friendly HTTP client for the terminal. Simpler syntax than curl with colorized output, JSON support, and sensible defaults. Great for testing APIs, debugging webhooks, and exploring REST endpoints. The syntax reads like English: http GET api.example.com/users.

Verdict: Friendlier than curl for API testing. Keep curl for scripting.

A modern replacement for ls with icons, colors, git status, tree view, and extended file attributes. Written in Rust for speed. Shows file permissions, sizes, and dates in a readable format. The tree view is especially useful for visualizing project structures.

Verdict: Better ls with git awareness. Nice quality of life upgrade.