# Install cai with Homebrew CLI tool for prompting LLMs. Version 0.13.0 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:cai ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install cai ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:cai - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.13.0 - **Source summary:** CLI tool for prompting LLMs - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** ISC - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - cai (cli) - cai (alias) ## Build dependencies - pkgconf - rust ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 0.13.0 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://github.com/ad-si/cai - Upstream latest detected: v0.13.0 (current) - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. ## Project history and usage cai is a Rust CLI for running LLM, image, OCR, speech, coding-context, and automation prompts from the terminal. ### Project history The public repository was created on 2024-03-28 and the changelog marks 0.1.0 as the initial release on the same date. Early releases added provider subcommands, proper clap-based argument handling, local Ollama support, stdin prompt input, Anthropic support, multi-model prompting through cai all, and markdown syntax highlighting. Through 2024 and 2025 cai expanded from a simple prompt CLI into a multi-provider terminal assistant, adding JSON output, raw output, OCR, file renaming, changelog generation, programming-language context commands, DeepSeek, Cerebras, xAI, Google Gemini, image generation, transcription, rewrite, and shell-adjacent helper commands. ### Adoption history cai belongs to the wave of post-ChatGPT command-line LLM clients. Its official README positions it as a user-friendly CLI with providers including Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Groq, Cerebras, DeepSeek, xAI, Ollama, and Llamafile, and it is distributed through Cargo and Homebrew. ### How it is used Typical usage is short natural-language prompts, stdin pipelines, provider-specific model shortcuts, simultaneous prompting across providers, OCR, image generation, shell command generation, database querying, and coding-context prompts. The README documents API key setup on first run and support for local LLM servers. ### Why package nerds care cai is a good snapshot of how AI tooling entered package managers: a fast-moving Rust CLI that maps commercial and local model providers into Unix-style commands, stdin/stdout workflows, and package-manager installation. ### Timeline - 2024: Initial 0.1.0 release. - 2024: Provider subcommands, Ollama, Anthropic, multi-model prompts, and JSON/raw output added. - 2025: OCR, file renaming, programming contexts, DeepSeek, Cerebras, xAI, Gemini, image generation, and transcription features added. - 2026: 0.13.0 adds more commands including photo, say, config, query, edit, and commit. ### Related projects - The official README lists related CLI LLM tools such as AIChat, clai, Ell, Goose, llm, smartcat, and tgpt. - cai integrates with hosted providers and local runtimes including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Groq, Cerebras, DeepSeek, xAI, Ollama, and Llamafile. ### Sources - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cai/config.yaml, ~/.config/cai/config.yaml ## Credential files - Unix: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cai/secrets.yaml, ~/.config/cai/secrets.yaml ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** cai - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Related links - [Source-control packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/source-control-tools/) - Belongs to a source-control command family. - [MCP tool packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/mcp-tools/) - Mentions MCP or Model Context Protocol. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [pkgconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pkgconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [rust](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/rust/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [qqqa](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/qqqa/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: ai, ai-cli, cli, developer-tools, llm. - [fabric-ai](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/fabric-ai/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: ai, cli, developer-tools, llm, prompting. - [toktop](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/toktop/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: anthropic, cli, developer-tools, llm, openai. - [chatblade](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/chatblade/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: ai, cli, developer-tools, openai. - [context7-mcp](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/context7-mcp/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: ai, cli, developer-tools, llm. - [gollama](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gollama/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: ai, cli, developer-tools, llm. - [gptme](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gptme/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: ai, cli, developer-tools, llm. - [gptscript](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gptscript/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: ai, cli, developer-tools, llm. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/cai.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/cai.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - cross-ecosystem install command graph