OpenLinker CLI

Chinese documentation: README.zh-CN.md

JSON-first CLI for OpenLinker, delivered as one executable. Caller commands use openlinker-go; Agent and Browser command adapters consume the reusable openlinker-plugin Go module with two credential-isolated modes:

• stdout is always JSON;
• diagnostics and errors go to stderr;
• caller commands accept only an OpenLinker User Token;
• agent serve accepts only an Agent Token plus the selected provider's auth;
• command implementations are split by subcommand under pkg/.

agent serve uses Plugin-owned application composition to run the existing official SDK Runtime Worker, including WebSocket/pull selection, durable delivery, cancellation, and token-only registration. The Codex and Claude adapters reuse private provider sessions by Core-owned conversation. plugin serve exposes the caller and Agent Mode control surface as a local stdio MCP server for native plugins. Caller and Runtime credentials are never interchangeable.

The CLI calls the public Core contract in either a self-hosted or Hosted deployment. It does not call hosted service-listing, order, wallet, billing, or marketplace-operation APIs.

Source boundary: CLI owns commands, JSON/MCP composition, and the single executable. Provider execution, Browser Runtime, containers, and compose definitions live in Plugin. The SDK retains the sole Runtime Worker. Standalone Agents do not require native plugin installation; Browser remains a separate process/image. Release the Plugin module, then CLI, then update the native CLI lock and images; an old lock does not prove new image readiness.

Status and installation

The CLI is pre-1.0 and follows the Core API contract. Pin a release and review CHANGELOG.md before upgrading.

Download a Linux, macOS, or Windows archive and its adjacent .sha256 file from GitHub Releases, then verify the checksum before placing openlinker on your PATH. Go users can install a fixed release directly:

go install github.com/OpenLinker-ai/openlinker-cli/cmd/openlinker@v0.x.y

Replace v0.x.y with the release you have chosen.

Configuration

export OPENLINKER_API_BASE=http://localhost:8080
export OPENLINKER_USER_TOKEN=ol_user_xxx

The CLI does not accept the retired OPENLINKER_TOKEN, OPENLINKER_RUNTIME_TOKEN, OPENLINKER_DEMO_JWT, or OPENLINKER_API_URL aliases. --token may be used to provide a User Token explicitly, but the environment variable is safer for routine use because command-line arguments may be retained in shell history or exposed in process listings.

Run identifiers may be injected by a surrounding environment for diagnostics:

export OPENLINKER_RUN_ID=33333333-3333-4333-8333-333333333333
export OPENLINKER_AGENT_ID=22222222-2222-4222-8222-222222222222
export OPENLINKER_TRACE_ID=44444444-4444-4444-8444-444444444444

These values are context only. They do not authorize runtime delegation.

Runtime Agent configuration

The minimum required values for a foreground provider are:

export OPENLINKER_URL=https://openlinker.example
export OPENLINKER_AGENT_ID=22222222-2222-4222-8222-222222222222
export OPENLINKER_AGENT_TOKEN=ol_agent_xxx
export OPENLINKER_WORKSPACE=/absolute/minimal/workspace
export CODEX_API_KEY=... # Codex; use ANTHROPIC_API_KEY for Claude

openlinker agent serve --provider codex

OPENLINKER_NODE_ID is optional. The CLI generates it once and persists it in the owner-only Agent state directory. Every direct secret also supports a mutually exclusive _FILE form. Provider login state may replace the API key for a trusted local installation; official production images require provider API-key authentication. Agent Mode configuration never stores credentials.

Useful non-secret settings include OPENLINKER_AGENT_STATE_DIR, OPENLINKER_AGENT_TRANSPORT, OPENLINKER_AGENT_CAPACITY, OPENLINKER_AGENT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS, OPENLINKER_AGENT_SESSION_REUSE, provider-specific OPENLINKER_CODEX_MODEL / OPENLINKER_CLAUDE_MODEL, web search, sandbox, and permission variables. See deploy/.env.providers.example.

The packaged Browser profile accepts OPENLINKER_BROWSER_CLIENT_MODE=auto|official-chrome|isolated-native|isolated-mcp|native|mcp. For Linux Codex, an omitted value defaults to auto and tries, before the Provider starts: image-baked Official Chrome with the native Plugin, isolated Chromium with the native Plugin, then isolated Chromium with direct MCP. official-chrome, isolated-native, and isolated-mcp are strict modes; native and mcp remain strict aliases for the two isolated modes. Claude and non-Linux defaults retain their existing behavior. A Provider Session still receives exactly one browser_session surface, and a selected backend never changes after preflight.

Official Chrome is supplied only as an immutable build input. Use Dockerfile.browser.native-chrome and deploy/compose.codex.native-chrome.yml to bake the locked Chrome, signed extension CRX, Native Messaging Host, and asset manifest into an operator image. Chrome force-installs the extension from the image-local CRX through an image-local Omaha update manifest and managed policy; the Linux external-extension manifest remains independently verified. None of those native assets is mounted or downloaded at runtime; encrypted Profiles continue to use the existing persistent Browser-state volume. If the locked native assets or startup handshake are unavailable, auto selects the next backend; strict official-chrome fails.

Packaged Browser Agents require the Agent Token and Provider API key but not a User Token. OPENLINKER_USER_TOKEN is rejected by the official Browser entrypoint and is never forwarded to the child Provider or Browser Runtime.

When Codex uses an OpenAI-compatible router, set the non-secret OPENLINKER_CODEX_BASE_URL (for example, https://router.example/v1) or pass --codex-base-url to openlinker agent configure. The value must be an absolute HTTP(S) URL without credentials, a query, or a fragment. The native MCP configure_agent_mode tool exposes the same setting as codex_base_url. Codex executions allow non-Git workspaces and reuse the same configured Base URL for both new and resumed sessions.

User Token grants

Create and manage User Tokens outside this CLI, either in Core Web under /settings/user-tokens or through Core's JWT-protected /api/v1/user-tokens API. Give each token only the Core grants needed for the commands it will run:

Commands	Required grant
context	None; it makes no API request
agents search, agents get, agents card	agents:read
run	agents:run
runs get, runs children, runs events, runs messages, runs artifacts	runs:read
tasks create	tasks:create
runs cancel	runs:cancel

An agents:run grant may be limited to one Agent. Grants do not replace Core's ownership, visibility, or run-state checks.

Commands

OpenLinker uses Cobra/pflag syntax. Use double-dash long flags such as --api, --agent, and --input; single-dash long flags are not supported.

openlinker --api http://localhost:8080 --timeout 60s context
openlinker --api http://localhost:8080 run \
  --agent 22222222-2222-4222-8222-222222222222 \
  --text "hello"

Inspect the configured context, CLI version, surface version, and capabilities without exposing credentials or making a network request:

openlinker context

Discover Agents:

openlinker agents search --query "summarization" --callable
openlinker agents get --slug writer-agent
openlinker agents card --slug writer-agent --extended

Resolve a private task intent into Skill and Agent recommendations:

openlinker tasks create \
  --query "summarize a long document" \
  --skill summary

Start a top-level run:

openlinker run \
  --agent 22222222-2222-4222-8222-222222222222 \
  --input '{"task":"write a short summary"}'

For long-running work, return immediately with a Run ID and provide a stable idempotency key that can be reused after a network failure:

openlinker run --async \
  --idempotency-key request-20260721-001 \
  --agent 22222222-2222-4222-8222-222222222222 \
  --input '{"task":"write a detailed report"}'

Inspect run state and A2A traces that already exist:

openlinker runs get --id 33333333-3333-4333-8333-333333333333
openlinker runs children --id 33333333-3333-4333-8333-333333333333
openlinker runs events --id 33333333-3333-4333-8333-333333333333
openlinker runs messages --id 33333333-3333-4333-8333-333333333333
openlinker runs artifacts --id 33333333-3333-4333-8333-333333333333
openlinker runs cancel --id 33333333-3333-4333-8333-333333333333

Configure, diagnose, and run this host as an Agent:

openlinker agent configure --provider codex \
  --agent-id 22222222-2222-4222-8222-222222222222 \
  --workspace /absolute/minimal/workspace \
  --url https://openlinker.example
openlinker agent doctor --provider codex
openlinker agent serve --provider codex

Run the native plugin bridge (normally started by a plugin manifest):

openlinker plugin serve --host codex
openlinker plugin serve --host claude

runs children is backed by openlinker-go's ListRunChildren method. The CLI can inspect child runs but does not create delegated child calls.

Skill Guidance

Skills may use this CLI for Agent discovery, top-level user-authorized calls, and run inspection. Provide only OPENLINKER_USER_TOKEN with the minimum required grants. Never expose a User Token in prompts or logs, and never give a Skill an Agent Token.

Native SDK handlers call another Agent through their assignment-scoped RuntimeContext and must provide an idempotency key. Provider Runtime sessions remain private; Skills and caller commands use Core conversation IDs instead.

Project Layout

cmd/openlinker/main.go
pkg/root
pkg/shared
pkg/context
pkg/buildinfo
pkg/agent
pkg/plugin
pkg/pluginbridge
pkg/run
pkg/tasks/create
pkg/agents/search
pkg/agents/get
pkg/agents/card
pkg/runs/get
pkg/runs/children
pkg/runs/events
pkg/runs/messages
pkg/runs/artifacts
pkg/runs/cancel

Development

GOWORK=off go test ./...
GOWORK=off go test -race ./...
GOWORK=off go vet ./...
GOWORK=off go build ./cmd/openlinker

cd example/agent-skill
GOWORK=off go test ./...

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full contributor checks. Report security issues through SECURITY.md; use SUPPORT.md for reproducible bugs and feature requests.

License

Apache-2.0. See LICENSE.