The eesel CLI

Reference for the eesel CLI: install with npx, sign in once, then connect apps, download knowledge, create automations, approve held actions and chat with your agent from a terminal.

The eesel CLI puts your teammate in your terminal. Chat with it, set up a website chat bubble, connect your helpdesk, upload knowledge, wire up automations, and approve held actions, all without opening the dashboard.

It's the same agent either way. Anything you set up in the CLI shows up in the dashboard, and the other way round. Every command prints JSON, so an AI coding agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex) can run your whole setup for you.

Installing

Nothing to install. With Node.js 18.17 or newer:

npx @eesel/cli init chat-bubble --site https://your-site.com

That works with no account: it creates a free anonymous workspace ($5 of usage, 7 days) and eesel login later keeps it. If you'd rather type eesel than npx @eesel/cli, either of these puts an eesel command on your PATH:

npm install -g @eesel/cli

curl -fsSL https://dashboard.eesel.ai/eesel-cli/install | sh

The rest of this page writes eesel ...; npx @eesel/cli ... is the same thing.

Logging in

eesel login      # opens your browser once; credentials are stored locally
eesel whoami     # who you're signed in as, and which workspace
eesel logout     # forget the stored credentials

You don't have to log in first. eesel init with no stored login creates an anonymous workspace and stores its credentials, so the setup commands work straight away; eesel login afterwards signs you in (or up) and makes that workspace yours, keeping everything in it. An anonymous workspace has $5 of usage and lasts 7 days; a claimed one gets the normal $50 trial and dashboard access. If your account already has a workspace, the login tells you and leaves both alone.

The link eesel login prints lasts five minutes. If it opens to a JSON error rather than a sign-in page, that browser has no eesel session yet: sign in at dashboard.eesel.ai, then run eesel login again.

Credentials land in ~/.config/eesel/credentials.json, readable only by you. To point the CLI at a workspace without a browser (CI, a server), set EESEL_API_URL and EESEL_API_TOKEN instead; they take precedence over the stored login.

The five-minute setup

eesel init chat-bubble --site https://your-site.com   # no account needed
eesel login                                            # keep the workspace

eesel init chat-bubble picks or creates an agent, adds the chat bubble channel and prints the embed snippet to paste into your site. With a site (--site, or the homepage field in the repo's package.json) the agent also starts reading it, so the bubble answers from your own pages. Plain eesel init only picks or creates the agent and connects nothing. Everything is safe to re-run: existing setup is reused, never duplicated.

Then test it without leaving the terminal:

eesel chat "what does this site do?"
eesel files upload ./refund-policy.pdf
eesel chat "what's our refund policy?"

Chatting with your agent

eesel chat "how do I reset a password?"   # send one message, stream the reply
eesel chat                                # no message opens the interactive prompt
eesel new --name "refunds"                # start a fresh, named conversation

Conversations persist between commands: a plain eesel chat "..." keeps talking in the current one. If it returns nothing, that conversation has hit an error; eesel new starts a fresh one and the next eesel chat works again. eesel sessions list shows them, eesel sessions use <id> switches, eesel sessions show prints one.

In the interactive prompt, /new, /sessions, /agents, /show and /quit do what they say.

Anything not listed on this page is something you ask the agent for in chat: searching your knowledge, running an analysis, emailing someone, checking back on something tomorrow.

Setting up and observing

These are the dashboard's buttons, from the terminal. They're free; only chat is billed work.

eesel status                                   # what's connected, whether its content is downloaded, your plan
eesel integrations                             # everything the agent is wired to
eesel integrations connect website --url https://your-site.com
eesel integrations connect chat-bubble         # add the chat bubble, print the snippet
eesel integrations connect                     # what this workspace can connect, and how
eesel integrations connect <platform>          # Zendesk, Freshdesk, Gorgias, Intercom, Slack, ... (a person approves it in that tool)
eesel integrations sources <platform>          # what that platform's sources hold: help center, macros, tickets
eesel integrations download list               # copy a connected source into eesel knowledge: list, start <platform>, status <platform>
eesel integrations <platform> actions          # every action on that platform, with its approval setting
eesel integrations api check                   # custom API access: check, link, test
eesel automations                              # what the agent does on its own: list, enable <platform> <key> --instructions "...", disable, create, run <id>
eesel instructions                             # the agent's standing rules: show, insert --at end --text "...", replace
eesel files ls                                 # your files: upload <path>, ls, download <key>
eesel approvals                                # held actions waiting on a human: list, approve <id> [--always], deny <id>
eesel activity                                 # what the agent has been doing, newest first
eesel billing                                  # live billing state, read-only
eesel invite <email>                           # invite a teammate

Run any command with --help for its full reference.

On a new workspace a write from the CLI, an instruction edit or an automation, is held for a person to approve; eesel approvals lists it. A connect that comes back held may not be listed there, so check eesel status for that one, and if a person needs the link to approve it in the tool, ask: eesel chat "give me the connect link for <platform>".

Working with several agents

Commands act as one agent. Pass --agent <id-or-name> for one invocation, or set a default with eesel agents use <agent>. A one-agent workspace needs neither.

eesel agents                     # the workspace's agents
eesel agents create "Sales bot"  # a new one
eesel agents use "Sales bot"     # make it the default

Using eesel from Claude Code, Cursor or another MCP client

Every workspace is also an MCP server. One command prints everything a client needs, including a ready-to-paste claude mcp add line:

eesel mcp token

See Claude Code & MCP clients.

Scripting

Flag	What it does
--agent <id-or-name>	Act as this agent for one command
--fields a,b.c	Keep only these keys in the output
--dry-run	Print the exact server call a write would make, without sending it
--help	The full reference for a command

Output is JSON on purpose: single results are pretty-printed, lists are one object per line. Errors are one JSON line on stderr, {error, hint, retryable}; exit code 1 is a usage error, 2 a runtime one. The hint says what to run instead, which is what makes the CLI usable by an AI agent without a human reading the docs.

Environment variables: EESEL_API_URL and EESEL_API_TOKEN configure the CLI without a login (this is how the eesel sandbox and CI drive it), and EESEL_AGENT_ID picks the agent there.

If you installed the CLI before September 2026

The earlier eesel command was a standalone Python script. It's retired for customer use; the npm package above replaced it. Check which eesel first: if it points at ~/.local/bin/eesel, that is the old script, and re-running the install line leaves it answering. Delete it, then install from npm and log in again. Verbs it had for skills, tasks and workspace settings are now things you ask the agent for in chat, and the CLI tells you the new spelling if you type an old one.

Common questions

Do I need the CLI?

No. Everything the CLI does can be done in the dashboard. It's for people who'd rather work in a terminal, for scripting, and for letting an AI coding agent do your setup.

Can I use it in CI or a script?

Yes. Output is already JSON, scope commands with --agent or EESEL_AGENT_ID rather than relying on a saved default, and use --dry-run to check a write before it runs for real.

Is it the same agent as the dashboard?

Yes, exactly the same. The CLI is another way in, not a separate copy. Changes made either way apply everywhere your agent works.

Related

• Claude Code & MCP clients to use your agent from an MCP client

• Network Access to let your agent reach your own APIs

• Automations and Schedules for triggers and schedules

• The package on npm