OpenWrt CLI

English | 简体中文

Remote OpenWrt admin over SSH or LuCI/ubus HTTP. The same services power CLI tables (typer + rich), the setup/wizard flows (questionary), and the full-screen TUI (textual).

The command is openwrt. openwrt-cli is still installed as a compatibility alias; docs and --help always say openwrt.

Network

Neighbors

Services

Process

Logs

Features

• Three surfaces — CLI tables, setup + wizard, and openwrt tui
• doctor — capability-aware SSH/HTTP health checks, structured, -f json ready
• Network — interfaces, routes, rules, neighbors, DHCP leases with MAC vendors, optional Bandix history
• One device model — SSH and HTTP share ubus / uci / shell semantics; missing capability fails loudly (no fake data)
• Agent-ready — -f json / -f compact, no TTY or color required
• English / 简体中文 UI — command names stay English

Quick Start

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Necho-dev/openwrt-cli/main/install.sh | bash
openwrt setup
openwrt doctor
openwrt tui

Non-interactive equivalent:

openwrt -H 192.168.1.1 -u root --password your_password --save-config

Installation

Requires Python >= 3.12.

Linux / macOS

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Necho-dev/openwrt-cli/main/install.sh | bash

Windows — clone, then run install.bat, or:

pip install git+https://github.com/Necho-dev/openwrt-cli.git

pip / pipx

pipx install git+https://github.com/Necho-dev/openwrt-cli.git

Development (Poetry)

git clone https://github.com/Necho-dev/openwrt-cli.git
cd openwrt-cli
poetry install
poetry run openwrt --help

poetry install --with dev
poetry run pytest -m "not live"           # no device, CI-safe
OPENWRT_LIVE=1 poetry run pytest -m live  # read-only against ~/.openwrt-cli.yaml

Destructive commands (reboot, reload, service restart, …) are not in the live set.

Release — bump [project].version in pyproject.toml, add a matching ## [x.y.z] section to both CHANGELOG.md and CHANGELOG.zh.md, then tag vx.y.z and push the tag. The publish workflow runs unit tests, checks the tag against pyproject.toml and PyPI (refuses a version that already exists), requires the two changelogs to list the same versions, builds the wheel, uploads it, and opens a GitHub Release from the English notes (with a link to the Chinese changelog).

Command Overview

Flags may sit before or after a subcommand (openwrt network leases -f json). Full help: openwrt --help and openwrt <group> --help.

Success and failure are one object with ok. Interactive commands (setup, tui, wizard) refuse JSON (error: interactive). Destructive actions prompt on a TTY; in a pipe or JSON mode they need --yes or they exit 2.

doctor / system / logs

openwrt doctor
openwrt doctor --quick
openwrt -f json doctor
openwrt system status
openwrt system memory
openwrt system processes
openwrt logs system --tail 80
openwrt logs system -f
openwrt logs kernel --tail 80
openwrt logs system --since 10m

network

openwrt network interfaces
openwrt network interfaces --rates
openwrt network routes
openwrt network rules
openwrt network neighbors          # IPv4 neighbors; Bandix overlays device rates when present
openwrt network leases
openwrt network metrics            # Bandix history (needs luci-app-bandix)
openwrt network metrics --ip 192.168.1.50 --since 30m
openwrt network wifi list
openwrt network lan show
openwrt network reload --yes

qos is OpenWrt SQM / tc (luci-app-sqm), not Bandix per-device limits.

firewall / qos

UCI views work over HTTP. Commands that need iptables or tc fail on HTTP instead of inventing data — use --ssh.

openwrt --https firewall zones     # UCI, OK
openwrt --https firewall rules     # needs iptables → fail (use --ssh)
openwrt qos status

service / user / backup

openwrt service list --running
openwrt service show firewall
openwrt service restart firewall --yes
openwrt user key add --yes
openwrt backup create -o /tmp/bak.tar.gz
openwrt backup restore /tmp/bak.tar.gz --yes

setup / wizard / tui

openwrt setup
openwrt wizard                 # menu
openwrt wizard wifi            # user | hostname | wifi | lan | service
openwrt tui

TUI keys: 1–6 tabs, r refresh, f filter, q quit, ? help.

Configuration

openwrt setup or --save-config writes ~/.openwrt-cli.yaml:

host: 192.168.1.1
user: root
port: 22
transport: ssh
# password: prefer an SSH key
identity_file: ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_openwrt

openwrt config show
openwrt config path
openwrt config set -H 192.168.1.1 --ssh
openwrt config set --language en

UI language (tables, TUI, setup, help) resolves as:

1. -L/--language or OPENWRT_LANG (en / zh)
2. language in the config file
3. System locale (LANG / LC_ALL) — Chinese locales get 简体中文, everything else English

openwrt setup detects the system language, asks you to confirm, and writes it to the config file.

Project Layout

src/openwrt_cli/
  app.py          # entry (openwrt / openwrt-cli)
  commands/       # Typer
  services/       # presentation-free business logic
  tui/            # textual dashboard
  ui/             # Rich / questionary
  core/           # DeviceClient, SSH / HTTP channels
  i18n/

flowchart LR
  CLI[CLI / wizard / TUI] --> Services
  Services --> DeviceClient
  DeviceClient --> SSH
  DeviceClient --> HTTP
  SSH --> Channels[ubus / uci / shell]
  HTTP --> Channels

FAQ

SSH will not connect

openwrt setup
ssh -v -p 22 root@192.168.1.1

Use a key instead of a password

openwrt user key add --yes
openwrt -H 192.168.1.1 -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_openwrt --save-config

Web admin only, no SSH

openwrt setup          # pick HTTP API
openwrt --https system status

firewall rules fails over HTTP — that path needs iptables. Use --ssh, or stick to UCI commands such as firewall zones.

JSON / pipe errors on reboot, reload, restart — add --yes.

openwrt is not on PATH — a pip install --user may have dropped the script in python -m site --user-base + /bin. Add that directory, or install with pipx.

Switch the UI language

openwrt -L zh doctor
openwrt config set --language zh

Acknowledgments

This project talks to OpenWrt through the official stack:

• openwrt/openwrt — the OpenWrt operating system
• openwrt/luci — LuCI web interface and ubus/HTTP API
• openwrt/uci — Unified Configuration Interface

Thanks to a6726170/openwrt-cli for the original inspiration.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.