@neosmithai/cli

Route AI coding agents through the NeoSmith router — same experience, ~60% lower inference cost. One CLI, five harnesses: Claude Code, Codex, Continue, Cline, JetBrains AI.

NeoSmith routes cheap traffic to a distilled SLM and escalates to Claude Opus only when a task actually needs it. A verifier catches regressions, so output quality stays Opus-class.

Quick start

1. Install

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Neosmith-ai/cli/main/install.sh)"

Or, without the curl-pipe installer (Node.js 18+ already on your machine):

npx @neosmithai/cli login sk-plus-yourname-xxxxxx

2. Sign in

neosmith login        # paste an sk-plus-* / sk-std-* / sk-slm-* key (or a Cognito JWT)

3. Connect a harness

neosmith claude on    # wires ~/.claude/settings.json

✓ Wrote ~/.claude/settings.json
Restart Claude Code for the change to take effect.

Swap claude for any harness: codex, continue, cline, jetbrains.

4. Restart the tool, then verify

neosmith claude status
neosmith verify        # hits /whoami — prints your dev slug, org, tier, 30-day cap usage

Run neosmith help or neosmith <harness> help for every option.

Install notes

• Requires Node.js 18+. Missing or too old: the installer installs it via Homebrew on macOS, otherwise prints nvm / nodejs.org / NodeSource instructions.
• Clones the CLI to ~/.neosmith/cli, installs the launcher into ~/.local/bin, and adds it to your shell PATH.
• Does not sign you in or touch harness settings — that's steps 2 and 3.

Windows: run from Git Bash. Piping curl | bash in PowerShell corrupts line endings (set: pipefail\r: invalid option name); keep the pipe inside bash:

bash -c "curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Neosmith-ai/cli/main/install.sh | bash"

From an SSH checkout:

mkdir -p ~/.neosmith && git clone git@github.com:Neosmith-ai/cli.git ~/.neosmith/cli && bash ~/.neosmith/cli/install.sh

Supported harnesses

Harness	Command	Config it writes	Key storage	Before on / off
Claude Code	neosmith claude	~/.claude/settings.json	ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN literal (0600)	Restart after
Codex	neosmith codex	~/.codex/config.toml	$OPENAI_API_KEY (env-key ref)	Restart after
Continue	neosmith continue	~/.continue/config.yaml	apiKey literal (0600)	Restart after
Cline	neosmith cline	(none — UI-driven)	Cline extension storage	Paste into Cline's UI
JetBrains AI	neosmith jetbrains	(none — UI-driven)	JetBrains IDE storage	Paste into Settings UI

Every harness supports on, off, status, and help. off restores your pre-connect configuration — file-based harnesses byte-for-byte from a snapshot under ~/.neosmith/snapshots/, and the UI-driven ones by clearing the on-flag and telling you what to switch back in the IDE.

Default models

Harness	Default model
Claude Code	neosmith.intelligent-pro (via ANTHROPIC_MODEL)
Codex	neosmith.intelligent-pro
Continue	neosmith.intelligent-pro (autocomplete: neosmith.intelligent-lite)
Cline	neosmith.intelligent-pro
JetBrains AI	Chat → neosmith.intelligent-pro, inline/commit → intelligent-lite, test/doc → intelligent-basic

Override with --model:

neosmith claude on --model neosmith.intelligent-basic   # Sonnet-tier, no Opus escalation
neosmith claude on --model neosmith.intelligent-lite    # SLM-only, lowest cost

Model SKU	Tier	Behavior
neosmith.intelligent-pro	Opus-tier (default)	SLM-first, escalates to Claude Opus on hard tasks / verifier-fail
neosmith.intelligent-basic	Sonnet-tier	SLM-first with Sonnet fallback; no Opus
neosmith.intelligent-lite	Haiku/SLM-only	Lowest cost, SLM-only, no frontier escalation

Anthropic-style ids (claude-opus-4, claude-sonnet-4-6) are also accepted for Claude Code and map to the corresponding tier.

Claude Code

{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL": "https://router.neosmith.ai",
    "ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN": "sk-plus-yourname-xxxxxx",
    "ANTHROPIC_MODEL": "neosmith.intelligent-pro"
  }
}

on merges into ~/.claude/settings.json — your existing permissions, hooks, and MCP config are preserved. The pre-connect file is snapshotted to ~/.neosmith/snapshots/claude.bak so off restores it byte-for-byte. File mode 0600.

Codex

model = "neosmith.intelligent-pro"
model_provider = "neosmith"

[model_providers.neosmith]
name = "NeoSmith"
base_url = "https://router.neosmith.ai/v1"
env_key = "OPENAI_API_KEY"
wire_api = "responses"

Codex reads the key from $OPENAI_API_KEY at runtime, so on also prints the export line for your shell profile:

export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-plus-yourname-xxxxxx
export OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://router.neosmith.ai/v1

Continue

models:
  - name: NeoSmith
    provider: openai
    apiBase: https://router.neosmith.ai/v1
    model: neosmith.intelligent-pro
    apiKey: sk-plus-yourname-xxxxxx

Add --autocomplete to also route inline completions through neosmith.intelligent-lite (fast, low-cost, latency-sensitive):

neosmith continue on --autocomplete

Cline

Cline stores its provider config in extension internal state, so on prints the exact values to paste into Cline's settings (gear icon in the Cline panel):

API Provider:  OpenAI Compatible
Base URL:      https://router.neosmith.ai/v1
API Key:       sk-plus-yourname-xxxxxx
Model ID:      neosmith.intelligent-pro

Enable streaming + tool/function calling. off clears the on-flag and reminds you to switch Cline back in its UI.

JetBrains AI

on prints the values to paste into Settings → Tools → AI Assistant → Providers & API Keys (OpenAI-compatible, URL https://router.neosmith.ai/v1, tool calling enabled), plus the recommended per-feature model assignments (Chat → pro, inline/commit → lite, test/doc → basic). Works in IntelliJ, PyCharm, GoLand, WebStorm, Rider, CLion, DataGrip, RubyMine, RustRover, PhpStorm, and JetBrains Air.

Keys and storage

• ~/.neosmith/config.json holds your key as a plaintext literal (mode 0600). No OS keychain — the developer-guide stores all harness keys as 0600 literals.
• Each file-writable harness bakes the key into its own config (also 0600). Codex is the exception: it uses an env_key reference and reads $OPENAI_API_KEY at runtime.
• off removes the harness-specific keys but leaves your stored key intact — re-run <harness> on to reconnect.
• neosmith uninstall disconnects every harness, then removes ~/.neosmith (add --all to also remove the launcher).

Accepted key formats: sk-plus-* (Pro), sk-std-* (Basic), sk-slm-* (Lite), or a Cognito JWT starting with eyJ.

Commands

Command	What it does
neosmith login [key]	Store + verify a key (prompts to paste if omitted).
neosmith <harness> on [--model X] [--autocomplete]	Connect a harness. Snapshots pre-state for off.
neosmith <harness> off	Restore a harness's pre-connect config (byte-for-byte for file-writable harnesses).
neosmith <harness> status	Show one harness's on/off state + model.
neosmith status	Show all harnesses + stored key.
neosmith verify	Hit /whoami with the stored key.
neosmith uninstall [--all]	Disconnect all harnesses, remove ~/.neosmith (+ launcher with --all).
neosmith help [harness]	Top-level or per-harness help.
neosmith init <key>	(Back-compat) login + claude on in one shot — the original one-liner.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
Tool still uses the old model	Fully restart the harness. In Claude Code, exit and claude --resume <id> — settings apply per session.
claude off didn't restore my config	off restores from ~/.neosmith/snapshots/claude.bak. If you deleted it, off strips the NeoSmith keys instead (your other settings stay).
Codex: 400 Unknown model	Use neosmith.intelligent-pro, not a gpt-* name.
Continue: 404 or no response	Ensure apiBase ends in /v1 (the CLI does this for you).
Cline/JetBrains: on didn't change anything	These are UI-driven — copy the printed values into the IDE UI manually.
macOS GUI app doesn't see the env vars	Launch the IDE from a terminal, or set vars in ~/.zprofile (GUI apps don't read ~/.zshrc).
Something else	neosmith status shows every harness's state + whether a key is stored.

Upgrade and uninstall

# Upgrade — re-run the installer (pulls latest, idempotent):
sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Neosmith-ai/cli/main/install.sh)"

# Or, if installed via npx, just use the latest:
npx @neosmithai/cli@latest login

# Uninstall — disconnect every harness, remove ~/.neosmith (+ launcher with --all):
neosmith uninstall --all

Portal

Manage your key, rotate it, and see cap usage at https://router.neosmith.ai/me/login.

License

MIT. Source: https://github.com/Neosmith-ai/cli · Docs: https://github.com/Neosmith-ai/developer-guide