moa-cli 0.5.2

Ask one question to multiple local AI coding CLIs in parallel and collect their answers.

One prompt, fanned out to the local agent CLIs you have, answered in parallel.
Each answer streams back attributed, as it lands.

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Some problems deserve more than one agent.

moa fans your prompt out to the local agent CLIs you have installed and runs them in parallel (the top 3 by default, tunable with -n), so you can see where independent models agree, differ, or are flat-out wrong. It uses the subscriptions you already pay for, no API key of its own.

uvx moa-cli ask "Is Postgres or SQLite better for a desktop app?"

Or install it for the plain moa command:

uv tool install moa-cli

Note: uvx moa ... (without the -cli) installs an unrelated, long-abandoned bioinformatics package that owns the moa name on PyPI. Always use uvx moa-cli ..., or install with uv tool install moa-cli to get the plain moa command.

Three modes

ask - a council

N agents answer in parallel, each attributed as it lands. The default, and the right call most of the time.

moa ask "Name one underrated CLI tool every dev should know. One sentence."

distill - one merged answer

The council answers, then a strong aggregator synthesizes them into a single response.

moa distill "What are the top 5 principles of good API design?"

debate - adversarial rounds

Two agents argue across rounds; a moderator weighs the exchange and writes the verdict.

moa debate "Should we move our database from SQLite to Postgres now?"

Supported agents

moa auto-detects whichever of these are on your PATH and drives them in their safest read-only mode. You need at least two for a real council; run moa doctor to see yours.

Agent	CLI	Default model	Read-only
Claude Code	claude	opus	yes
OpenAI Codex	codex	gpt-5.5	yes
Google Antigravity	agy	Gemini 3.1 Pro (High)	partial
opencode	opencode	(authed default)	yes

Adding a new agent is a single entry in the PROVIDERS table in src/moa_cli/providers.py.

Features

• Read-only by default - every agent runs in its tool's safest mode; pass --yolo only when you mean it.
• Built for agents to call agents - JSONL output, TTY-aware formatting, a ready-made skill for Claude Code.
• Honest about its limits - states caveats (like agy's partial sandbox, or debate's failure modes) on stderr instead of hiding them.
• One runtime dependency (typer), pure Python 3.12+, ~1.7k lines of source, ~2.1k lines of tests.

How it works

moa ask runs a parallel council. Each answer streams back, attributed, the instant it lands:

          ┌──► claude ──► "SQLite is almost always the right call..."
 prompt ──┼──► codex  ──► "Use SQLite unless you need concurrent writers..."
          └──► agy    ──► "For a single-user desktop app, SQLite wins..."

moa distill runs the same council, then one strong aggregator merges the answers into a single response (brand labels hidden, order shuffled):

          ┌──► claude ─┐
 prompt ──┼──► codex  ─┼──► synthesizer ──► one unified answer
          └──► agy    ─┘

moa debate runs a sequential adversarial exchange: two debaters critique each other across rounds while a moderator checks for convergence and writes the final verdict (transcript anonymized + shuffled to kill brand bias):

   round 1:  A answers cold
             B critiques A, then answers
   ┌─ round k:  each sees the other's latest, responds in turn
   │            moderator: DONE (converged) or CONTINUE?
   └─ loops up to N rounds (default 2, hard max 4)
   verdict:  moderator reads the full shuffled transcript, writes the final answer

Example

$ moa ask "Is Postgres or SQLite better for a desktop app?"
Asking claude, codex, agy (timeout 900s, read-only)

──────────────── claude (opus) · OK · 3.2s ────────────────

For a single-user desktop app, SQLite is almost always the right call:
zero-config, serverless, the whole DB is one file you can ship... [trimmed]

──────────────── codex (gpt-5.5) · OK · 4.1s ──────────────

Use SQLite unless you expect concurrent writers or need network access.
For a desktop app neither is likely, so SQLite wins on simplicity... [trimmed]

The selection note goes to stderr; the attributed answers go to stdout. In a terminal each answer gets the box-drawing rule shown above; when piped or read by another agent, the same blocks render as plain ## ... headings. Add --json for machine-readable JSONL.

Why

The synthesis prompt is adapted from the Mixture-of-Agents "Aggregate-and-Synthesize" prompt (Wang et al. 2024): the aggregator is told to critically evaluate its inputs (some may be biased or incorrect) and offer a refined, accurate, comprehensive reply rather than just replicating them.

It's also a drop-in replacement for hand-rolling parallel claude -p / codex exec / opencode run calls, or for a hand-rolled "peer review" agent skill: one command, clean attributed output, made to be called by a human or by another agent.

Usage

moa has three prompt verbs that share the same selection and output options:

• moa ask PROMPT - council / peer review: N agents answer the same prompt in parallel; every answer is returned with attribution, streamed as it lands.
• moa distill PROMPT - synthesis: run the council, then one strong aggregator merges the answers into a single unified response.
• moa debate PROMPT - sequential debate: two debaters answer and adversarially critique each other across rounds, with a moderator that checks for convergence between rounds and writes the final verdict. The costliest mode; read the caveats before reaching for it.

moa doctor                                  # run this first: which agent CLIs can moa find?

# The three collaboration modes (read-only by default):
moa ask "Should this feature use SQLite?"   # council: top 3 agents answer in parallel
moa distill "Design a rate limiter."        # council, then one merged answer
moa debate "Is this race condition real?"   # adversarial rounds + moderator verdict

# Built for agents to call agents:
moa ask --json -x claude "Review this plan."  # exclude yourself + emit JSONL
git diff | moa ask -f - "Review this diff."   # read the prompt from stdin

# Tune the panel:
moa ask -n 2 "..."              # only the top 2 (priority order)
moa ask -p claude -p agy "..."  # pin an exact set
moa ask -m claude=sonnet "..."  # override a tool's model
moa ask --yolo "..."            # allow file edits and shell (default is read-only)

The shared options (-n/--num, -p/--provider, -x/--exclude, -m/--model, -t/--timeout, -f/--file, --json, --yolo) work identically on all three verbs. distill adds -s/--synthesizer; debate adds -r/--rounds and --moderator.

Read-only by default

moa is built to be called autonomously, so by default no agent can write files or run mutating commands. Each agent runs in its tool's safest mode: it may read local files (and, where the tool allows, research online), but it cannot edit anything. This is enforced by spawning each CLI with its own read-only flags:

Provider	Read-only (default)	Reads files	Web research
claude	--permission-mode default	yes	yes
codex	-s read-only	yes	no (sandbox blocks network)
opencode	--agent plan	yes	yes
agy	--sandbox (partial: shell only - can still edit files)	yes	yes

agy has no true read-only mode - its --sandbox only restricts the shell, not its write_file tool (see Honesty & caveats). Per-tool nuances (why claude's default is read-only headless, why codex blocks network) and the full sandbox reference: docs/cli-permission-modes.md.

--yolo (full write access)

Pass --yolo to grant every agent full write access (file edits and shell commands, auto-approved). Use it only when you actually want the agents to change your working tree.

moa ask --yolo "Refactor this module and run the tests."

How agents are selected

-n/--num (default 3) picks the first N installed agents from a popularity-ordered priority list:

claude  ->  codex  ->  agy  ->  opencode

So moa ask -n 3 on a machine with all four installed asks Claude, Codex, and agy (opencode is #4). Use -p/--provider (repeatable) to pin an exact set and ignore -n.

Use -x/--exclude (repeatable) to drop one or more agents from the run. Exclusion is applied before -n takes the first N, and it also drops excluded names from an explicit -p set. It is off by default. The motivating case: an agent (e.g. Claude Code) calls moa for other opinions; moa ask -x claude makes sure one "peer" isn't just the caller's own model. So moa ask -n 3 -x claude asks Codex, agy, and opencode.

Choosing models

Each tool ships with a reasonable default model, but you can override which model any tool uses with -m/--model PROVIDER=MODEL (repeatable). Only the providers you name change; the rest keep their defaults.

moa ask -m claude=sonnet -m agy="Gemini 3.1 Pro (Low)" "..."

The model-string format differs per tool and is passed through verbatim (the tool's own CLI validates it):

Provider	Default	-m format
claude	opus	short id, e.g. claude=sonnet
codex	gpt-5.5	model id, e.g. codex=gpt-5.5
agy	Gemini 3.1 Pro (High)	exact display name, e.g. agy="Gemini 3.1 Pro (Low)"
opencode	(tool's authed default)	provider/model slug, e.g. opencode=anthropic/claude-sonnet-4

opencode has no built-in default; without an override it omits -m and lets opencode pick. Pass -m opencode=provider/model to pin one.

Configuration

Persist your own defaults at ~/.moa/config.toml so you don't repeat flags. Precedence is built-in default < config file < CLI flag; an absent file means today's behaviour. Set $MOA_CONFIG_DIR to relocate it.

# ~/.moa/config.toml
num = 2
exclude = ["claude"]

[providers.codex]
model = "gpt-5.5"
effort = "high"

Keys are shared across all verbs (num, timeout, exclude, synthesizer, moderator, and [providers.<name>] with model/effort). Edit them with moa config set ... / moa config show, or just write the TOML. See docs/configuration.md for the full key reference, the moa config command list, and the per-provider reasoning/effort mapping.

Output

• stdout carries only content. In a terminal, each agent's answer is fronted by a centered box-drawing rule naming it (──── claude (opus) · OK · 3.5s ────) with blank lines for separation, flushed the instant that agent finishes. When stdout is piped or read by an agent (not a TTY), the same block renders as a plain, low-noise ## claude (opus) · OK · 3.5s heading instead - no box-drawing. moa distill emits only the final merged block.
• stderr carries progress and selection notes (Asking claude, codex ...), so piping stdout stays clean.
• Live status line. On a TTY, stderr shows an in-place spinner naming each in-flight agent and model with an elapsed timer (⠋ claude (opus) 3.1s ⠙ codex (gpt-5.5) 3.1s) while they work, clearing the instant each answer lands. Off a TTY (piped, logged, or read by an agent) it is a strict no-op, so machine-readable output is byte-identical to a run with no status line.
• --json emits one JSON object per line (JSONL): ask writes a {"type": "response", ...} record per agent as it completes; distill writes a single {"type": "synthesis", ...} record (only the merged answer); debate writes a {"type": "debate_turn", "round": N, ...} record per turn plus a final {"type": "verdict", ...} record. Ideal when another agent calls moa and parses the result.

Modes in depth

moa distill (synthesis)

Runs the same council as ask, then one strong aggregator merges the answers into a single unified answer. It returns only the merged answer - proposer responses are intermediates (their arrival is noted on stderr). It needs at least two successful proposers, or it skips the merge and says so. Pick the aggregator with -s/--synthesizer (auto = highest-priority that ran, random, or a provider name).

moa debate (adversarial + moderator)

Two debaters critique each other across rounds while a moderator checks for convergence and writes the final verdict. The transcript is anonymized and shuffled before the moderator sees it, so brand and position bias can't steer the verdict. Needs 2 agents; -r/--rounds (default 2, max 4) and --moderator tune it. It's the costliest and least reliably beneficial mode - reach for it only to surface disagreement (see Honesty & caveats). Full roles, loop, and output format: docs/debate.md.

Attribution policy

The human (or agent) reading moa's output always gets correct attribution: every response block shows the real provider name. There is no human-facing anonymization toggle.

The distill aggregator is a different story. To stop it picking favourites by brand, it always receives the proposer answers anonymized as "Response A / B / C" and order-shuffled (no toggle). The merged answer itself is brand-agnostic prose, and the A/B/C labels never leak into stdout, stderr, or the JSON.

Honesty & caveats

moa is designed to be honest about where it can and can't help. Two things worth keeping in mind:

• agy's read-only is partial. agy has no true read-only mode. Its --sandbox restricts the shell but does not block its write_file tool, so agy can still edit files even in the default mode. moa applies --sandbox as the next-best safeguard and says so plainly on stderr rather than implying full sandboxing.
• Use debate sparingly. It is the costliest mode (roughly debaters × rounds calls, plus a moderator check per round and the verdict) and the least reliably beneficial. The research is mixed-to-negative: multi-agent debate can converge on a wrong answer through conformity, a confident-but-incorrect debater can win on persuasiveness over correctness, and more rounds can entrench an error rather than fix it. The moderator and the adversarial-stance prompt are there to fight these failure modes, but they do not eliminate them. For most questions, ask or distill is the better default; reach for debate when you specifically want to surface and stress-test disagreement. (See Can LLM Agents Really Debate? arXiv:2511.07784, Talk Isn't Always Cheap arXiv:2509.05396, and the conformity/position-bias work cited in the design notes.)

Costs & privacy

moa has no API key and no telemetry of its own, but it is still spending real resources through the CLIs it drives:

• It uses your subscriptions. Every selected agent runs a full request against the account you're logged into for that CLI, counting toward its usage/quota.
• distill and debate cost more. distill adds one aggregator call on top of the council; debate is roughly debaters × rounds calls plus a moderator check per round and a verdict.
• Your prompt still reaches the providers. moa sends no data anywhere itself, but each agent ships your prompt (and whatever local files its CLI reads) to its own model provider under that tool's terms.

Use moa from an agent

If you drive moa from an agent (e.g. Claude Code), there's a ready-made skill at skills/moa/SKILL.md: it tells an agent when to reach for moa and how to use it (verb choice, self-exclusion via -x <self>, parsing the JSONL output). It supersedes hand-rolling a "peer review" skill.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. moa uses a subagent-driven backlog workflow: each feature lives as a self-contained spec in backlog/, and a builder subagent implements it end to end (code + tests) before a separate fresh-eyes reviewer signs off. The backlog README documents the full loop, so any agent (or contributor) can pick up a ready ticket cold.

• Grab a ready ticket from backlog/ and open a PR.
• Keep new providers to one entry in the PROVIDERS table (src/moa_cli/providers.py).
• Match the existing style: pure functions in workflows.py, no new runtime deps without a strong reason.

Development

uv sync
uv run pytest
uv run ruff check src tests

CI runs ruff + pytest on Python 3.12 and 3.13. Releases are tag-driven: bump the version in pyproject.toml and src/moa_cli/__init__.py, tag vX.Y.Z, push, and the Release workflow publishes to PyPI and cuts a GitHub Release. See RELEASING.md.

License

MIT.