How to Use the Agent-Reach CLI: Installation, Configuration, and Command Reference

Run agent-reach <subcommand> from your terminal to install platform tools, configure API keys and cookies, validate channel health, and register skills for AI agent runtimes.

The Agent-Reach CLI is the command-line interface for the Panniantong/Agent-Reach repository, providing deterministic installation and management of internet-facing platform tools that AI agents rely on. This lightweight interface orchestrates system dependencies, channel adapters, and runtime skills through a unified argparse-based dispatcher implemented in agent_reach/cli.py.

CLI Entry Point and Invocation

The CLI supports two equivalent invocation methods documented in the source:

• python -m agent_reach.cli
• The installed agent-reach shim (recommended after package installation)

Internally, the entry point constructs an argparse.ArgumentParser (lines 61-97 in agent_reach/cli.py) that defines available subcommands. After parsing arguments, an if/elif dispatch block (lines 126-166) routes execution to the appropriate handler function.

Core Commands Reference

Install Platform Dependencies

The install command runs a deterministic one-shot installer handled by _cmd_install (lines 71-124). It detects environment types (local vs. server), installs system dependencies, and optionally configures specific channel tools.

# Automatic environment detection

agent-reach install --env=auto

# Install specific channels only

agent-reach install --channels=twitter,reddit

Configure Secrets and Proxies

The configure command stores configuration values or auto-extracts browser cookies via _cmd_configure (lines 197-258). This modifies the YAML configuration managed by the Config class in agent_reach/config.py.

# Set API tokens

agent-reach configure github-token ghp_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

# Configure network proxy (exports HTTP(S)_PROXY)

agent-reach configure proxy http://user:pass@proxy.example.com:8080

# Import cookies from Chrome automatically

agent-reach configure --from-browser chrome

Validate System Health

The doctor command checks availability of all configured channels through _cmd_doctor (lines 146-149). This handler delegates to agent_reach.doctor.check_all(Config()) and format_report() to aggregate channel status.

agent-reach doctor        # Human-readable report

agent-reach doctor --json # Machine-readable JSON output

Manage Agent Skills

The skill command installs or uninstalls Agent-Reach integration files for supported runtimes (OpenClaw, Claude Code, generic .agents directories) via _cmd_skill (lines 280-286).

agent-reach skill --install   # Install to .agents directory

agent-reach skill --uninstall # Remove integration files

Utility Commands

Additional specialized commands include:

• format – Cleans raw API output (currently XiaoHongShu) via _cmd_format (lines 288-304)
• transcribe – Whisper-based audio/video transcription with Groq-to-OpenAI fallback via _cmd_transcribe (lines 306-326)
• watch – Health-check with version reminders for scheduled cron jobs via _cmd_watch (lines 332-334)
• version – Prints package version from agent_reach.__init__ (handled in the top-level dispatcher at lines 141-145)

Complete Workflow Examples

Follow this sequence to set up Agent-Reach for AI agent consumption:

1. Install core dependencies:

agent-reach install --env=auto

2. Configure authentication:

agent-reach configure github-token $GITHUB_TOKEN
agent-reach configure --from-browser chrome

3. Verify channel readiness:

agent-reach doctor

4. Install runtime skill:

agent-reach skill --install

Processing XiaoHongShu data:

cat raw_data.json | agent-reach format xhs

Transcribing audio content:

agent-reach transcribe https://example.com/podcast.mp3 -o transcript.txt

Source Code Architecture

The CLI implementation follows a minimal, modular design with clear separation of concerns:

File	Function
agent_reach/cli.py	Argument parsing (lines 61-97), command dispatch (lines 126-166), handler implementations
agent_reach/doctor.py	Health check aggregation (check_all, format_report)
agent_reach/config.py	YAML configuration management (Config class)
agent_reach/channels/	Platform-specific adapters (Twitter, Reddit, YouTube)
agent_reach/skill/	Skill markdown files installed by the skill command

The parser construction uses standard argparse as shown in this excerpt from cli.py:

parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
    prog="agent-reach",
    description="Give your AI Agent eyes to see the entire internet",
)
sub = parser.add_subparsers(dest="command", help="Available commands")
sub.add_parser("install", help="One-shot installer with flags")
sub.add_parser("doctor", help="Check platform availability")

# ... additional subparsers

args = parser.parse_args()

Summary

• The Agent-Reach CLI provides deterministic installation and configuration for AI agent platform tools through the agent-reach command.
• Core commands include install for system setup, configure for secrets management, doctor for health validation, and skill for runtime integration.
• All commands are dispatched from agent_reach/cli.py through an argparse parser that delegates to specific handler functions like _cmd_install and _cmd_doctor.
• The architecture separates concerns into dedicated modules: doctor.py for health checks, config.py for settings, and channels/ for platform adapters.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I run the Agent-Reach CLI after installation?

You can invoke the CLI using either python -m agent_reach.cli or the agent-reach command if the package is installed in your PATH. Both methods execute the argument parser defined in agent_reach/cli.py lines 61-97 and route to the appropriate handler based on the subcommand provided.

What is the difference between agent-reach install and agent-reach skill?

The install command (_cmd_install, lines 71-124) sets up system dependencies and channel tools required for platform access, while the skill command (_cmd_skill, lines 280-286) installs markdown integration files into AI agent runtimes like Claude Code or OpenClaw. The skill installation enables those agents to discover and utilize Agent-Reach capabilities through their native tool-calling mechanisms.

How does the doctor command check platform availability?

The doctor command calls _cmd_doctor (lines 146-149), which imports check_all and format_report from agent_reach.doctor. This aggregates status checks across all configured channels using the Config class and outputs either human-readable text or JSON when using the --json flag, allowing both manual verification and automated monitoring.

Can I extract browser cookies automatically using the CLI?

Yes, the configure command supports automatic cookie extraction via the --from-browser flag implemented in _cmd_configure (lines 197-258). Run agent-reach configure --from-browser chrome to extract authentication cookies from Chrome for all supported platforms without manual copy-pasting, storing them securely in the Agent-Reach configuration file.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}