Terminal (CLI) - OpenHands Docs

Overview

The Command Line Interface (CLI) is the default mode when you run openhands. It provides a rich, interactive experience directly in your terminal.

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Features

Real-time interaction: Type natural language tasks and receive instant feedback
Live status monitoring: Watch the agent’s progress as it works
Command palette: Press Ctrl+P to access settings, MCP status, and more

Command Palette

Press Ctrl+P to open the command palette, then select from the dropdown options:

Option	Description
Settings	Open the settings configuration menu
MCP	View MCP server status

Controls

Control	Action
`Ctrl+P`	Open command palette
`Esc`	Pause the running agent
`Ctrl+Q` or `/exit`	Exit the CLI

Starting with a Task

Start a conversation with an initial task:

# Provide a task directly
openhands -t "Create a REST API for user management"

# Load task from a file
openhands -f requirements.txt

Confirmation Modes

Control how the agent requests approval for actions:

# Default: Always ask for confirmation
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# Auto-approve all actions (use with caution)
openhands --always-approve

# Use LLM-based security analyzer
openhands --llm-approve

Resuming Conversations

Resume previous conversations:

# List recent conversations
openhands --resume

# Resume the most recent
openhands --resume --last

# Resume a specific conversation
openhands --resume abc123def456

For more details, see Resume Conversations.

Tips

Press Ctrl+P and select Settings to quickly adjust your LLM configuration without restarting the CLI.

Press Esc to pause the agent if it’s going in the wrong direction, then provide clarification.

​Overview

​Features

​Command Palette

​Controls

​Starting with a Task

​Confirmation Modes

​Resuming Conversations

​Tips

​See Also

Overview

Features

Command Palette

Controls

Starting with a Task

Confirmation Modes

Resuming Conversations

Tips

See Also