Show HN: I built a tool that turns any API into a CLI for agents

[stugreen13]

TLDR; I built a tool that turns any API into a CLI designed for ai agents

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Got tired of dealing with bloated context windows from MCP servers and skills that stuff entire API docs into the agent's context

CLIs fix this, agents run a single command to self-discover everything an API has to offer

So, built a tool to generate them for any api. All CLIs are written in Go, fast and lightweight, no dependencies

Help text (via the --help flag) is the killer feature: all context for each command/endpoint/parameter is extracted directly from the user-facing API docs and enhanced with llms. It's bundled directly with the CLI and agents fetch only what they need at runtime. No context overhead, no fumbled API calls.

Most APIs don't have a CLI yet. Can have Opus one-shot simple ones, but building a great one with cross-platform binaries, install scripts, detailed help text, and auto-updates takes time and is frustrating to repeat for every API. Maintaining it the API grows is a headache

Give InstantCLI any API docs url and it generates a production-ready CLI in minutes. It includes binaries + install scripts for all platforms, auto-updates as your API changes, docs-enhanced help text designed for agents, and hosting

[talljohnson1234]

Nice - can it work with docs hosted on readme or postman

[stugreen13]

Yep - as long as it's public url can crawl it. Lmk if any issues will fix

[yashpxl]

that's so cool

[esafranchik]

The new API2MCP

[stugreen13]

MCP is a mess, CLIs are the way

[bubblegumbi]

sweet - does it take openapi spec ?

[stugreen13]

Yep can use spec or docs

[rvz]

MCPs were already a mess an a bad standard, but this does not mean command line tools are any better.

This does not make any sense whatsoever and this looks like it is just because Kaparthy said so. Not every API has to be a CLI.

[stugreen13]

Depends on use-case for sure - I think there is room for both