LiteMind CLI

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         Terminal interface for LiteMindUI  ·  Chat · RAG

A fully-featured terminal user interface (TUI) for the LiteMindUI backend, built with Textual.

Chat with local and cloud AI models, and query your own documents — all from your terminal, with no browser required.

Features

Requirements

• Python ≥ 3.11
• A running LiteMindUI backend at http://localhost:8000 (quick-start here)
• uv (recommended) or pip

Quick start

1. Start the LiteMindUI backend

The CLI is a frontend — it needs the backend running first.

# Option A — Docker (easiest)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/debabratamishra/litemind-ui/main/install.sh | bash

# Option B — from source
git clone https://github.com/debabratamishra/litemind-ui.git
cd litemind-ui
make up

Backend will be available at http://localhost:8000.

2. Install and run litemind-cli

git clone https://github.com/debabratamishra/litemind-cli.git
cd litemind-cli

# Install dependencies
uv sync

# (Optional) configure environment
cp .env.example .env
# edit .env if your backend runs somewhere other than localhost:8000

# Launch the TUI
uv run litemind-cli

Or install globally as a tool:

uv tool install .
litemind-cli

Usage

Usage: litemind-cli [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

  LiteMind CLI — terminal interface for the LiteMindUI backend.

Options:
  -b, --backend TEXT   Backend URL  [env: FASTAPI_URL]
  -m, --model TEXT     Default model name  [env: DEFAULT_MODEL]
  --version            Show version and exit
  --help               Show this message and exit

Commands:
  chat    Open the TUI on the Chat tab
  rag     Open the TUI on the RAG tab
  status  Check backend connectivity and print available models

Examples

# Open on the Chat tab (default)
litemind-cli

# Open directly on the RAG tab
litemind-cli rag

# Use a remote backend
litemind-cli --backend http://192.168.1.10:8000

# Override model at launch
litemind-cli --model mistral:7b

# Check if the backend is reachable
litemind-cli status

Inside the TUI

Switching providers

The toolbar at the top of both Chat and RAG tabs has an inline provider selector:

API base URLs are pre-filled automatically when you switch provider. You only need to enter your API key.

OpenRouter model format: provider/model-name
e.g. openai/gpt-4o, anthropic/claude-3.5-sonnet, meta-llama/llama-3.3-70b-instruct

NIM model format: org/model-name
e.g. meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct, nvidia/llama-3.1-nemotron-70b-instruct

RAG — uploading documents

In the RAG tab, enter one or more file paths (space-separated) in the upload field and click Upload:

/Users/me/docs/report.pdf /Users/me/notes/meeting.md

Supported formats: PDF, DOCX, TXT, MD, CSV, XLSX, PPTX, HTML, ODT, RTF, YAML, JSON

Keyboard shortcuts

Configuration

All options can be set in a .env file (copy from .env.example) or as environment variables. CLI flags always take precedence.

Example .env for OpenRouter:

FASTAPI_URL=http://localhost:8000
DEFAULT_BACKEND=openrouter
DEFAULT_MODEL=openai/gpt-4o-mini
API_KEY=sk-or-your-key-here

Project layout

litemind_cli/
  config.py              env / config loading (singleton)
  app.py                 Textual App — MainScreen + SplashScreen
  main.py                Typer CLI entrypoint
  services/
    backend_service.py   health check, model listing
    chat_service.py      streaming chat (SSE parser included)
    rag_service.py       file upload, RAG query streaming
  screens/
    splash_screen.py     ASCII art intro (auto-dismisses after 3 s)
    chat_screen.py       Chat panel (Widget)
    rag_screen.py        RAG panel (Widget)
    settings_screen.py   Settings panel (Widget)
  widgets/
    message_list.py      scrollable chat bubble widget

Dependencies

Related

• litemind-ui — FastAPI backend + Streamlit web frontend
• API contract — HTTP API reference for frontend developers