Openai CLI for AI Agents

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Introduction

CLIs are eating MCPs. The industry is converging on the very same idea. MCPs for all their merit can be token hungry, slow, and unreliable for complex tool chaining. However, coding agents have become incredibly good at working with CLIs, and in fact they are far more comfortable working with CLI tools than MCP.

With Composio's Universal CLI, your coding agents can talk to over 1000+ SaaS applications. With Openai, agents can list all available openai models, upload a file for fine-tuning, create a new assistant with gpt-4, and more — all without worrying about authentication.

This guide walks you through Composio Universal CLI and explains how you can connect it with coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, etc, for end-to-end Openai automation.

Also integrate Openai with

What is Universal CLI and why use it?

The idea behind building the universal CLI is to give agents a single command interface to interact with all your external applications. Here's what you'll get with it:

  • Agent-friendly: Coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode can use CLI tools natively — no MCP setup required.
  • Authentication handled: Connect once via OAuth or API Key, and all CLI commands work with your credentials automatically.
  • Tool discovery: Search, inspect, and execute 20,000+ tools across 1000+ apps from one interface.
  • Trigger support: Use triggers to listen for events across your apps, powered by real-time webhooks or polling under the hood.
  • Type generation: Generate typed schemas for autocomplete and type safety in your projects.

Prerequisites

Install the Composio CLI, authenticate, and initialize your project:

bash
# Install the Composio CLI
curl -fsSL https://composio.dev/install | bash

# Authenticate with Composio
composio login

During login you'll be redirected to sign in page, finish the complete flow and you're all set.

Composio CLI authentication flow

Connecting Openai to Coding Agents via Universal CLI

Once it is installed, it's essentially done. Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, OpenClaw, or any other agent will be able to access the CLI. A few steps to give agents access to your apps.

  1. Launch your Coding Agent — Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, anything you prefer.
  2. Prompt it to "Authenticate with Openai"
  3. Complete the authentication and authorization flow and your Openai integration is all set.
  4. Start asking anything you want.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Add Upload PartTool to add a part (chunk of bytes) to an Upload object.
Cancel batchTool to cancel an in-progress batch.
Cancel evaluation runTool to cancel an ongoing evaluation run.
Cancel ResponseTool to cancel a background model response by its ID.
Cancel RunTool to cancel a run that is currently in progress.
Cancel uploadTool to cancel an upload.
Compact ResponseTool to compact a conversation or response to reduce token usage.
Create Audio TranscriptionTool to transcribe audio files to text via OpenAI Audio Transcriptions API.
Create Audio TranslationTool to translate audio files to English text via OpenAI Audio Translations API.
Create BatchTool to create and execute a batch from an uploaded file of requests.
Create Chat CompletionTool to create a chat completion response from OpenAI models.
Create Completion (Legacy)Tool to generate text completions using OpenAI's legacy Completions API.
Create ContainerTool to create a new container with configurable memory, expiration, file access, and network policies.
Create Container FileTool to create a file in a container.
Create ConversationTool to create a new conversation for multi-turn interactions.
Create Conversation ItemsTool to create items in a conversation with the given ID.
Create EmbeddingsTool to generate text embeddings via the OpenAI embeddings endpoint.
Create EvalTool to create an evaluation structure for testing a model's performance.
Create Evaluation RunTool to create a new evaluation run for testing model configurations.
Create fine-tuning jobTool to create a fine-tuning job which begins the process of creating a new model from a given dataset.
Generate ImageTool to generate an image via the OpenAI Images API and return hosted image asset URL and metadata.
Edit ImageTool to create edited or extended images via OpenAI Images Edit API.
Create Image VariationTool to create a variation of a given image using the OpenAI Images API.
Create MessageTool to create a new message in a specific thread.
Create ModerationTool to classify text and/or image inputs for potentially harmful content via the OpenAI Moderation API.
Create Realtime CallTool to create a Realtime API call over WebRTC and receive the SDP answer needed to complete the peer connection.
Create Realtime Client SecretTool to create an ephemeral client secret for authenticating Realtime API connections.
Create Realtime SessionTool to create an ephemeral API token for client-side Realtime API applications.
Create Realtime Transcription SessionTool to create an ephemeral API token for realtime transcriptions via the Realtime API.
Create ResponseTool to generate a one-shot model response via the Responses API.
Create RunTool to create a run on a thread with an assistant.
Create SkillTool to create a skill from uploaded files.
Create Speech (TTS)Tool to generate text-to-speech audio using OpenAI's Audio API.
Create ThreadTool to create a new thread.
Create Thread And RunTool to create a thread and run it in one request.
Create UploadTool to create an intermediate Upload object for large file uploads.
Create Vector StoreTool to create a new vector store.
Create Vector Store FileTool to create a vector store file by attaching a File to a vector store.
Create vector store file batchTool to create a vector store file batch.
Create VideoTool to create a video using Sora models via the OpenAI Videos API.
Create Video RemixTool to create a video remix from an existing generated video using OpenAI's Video API.
Delete assistantTool to delete a specific assistant by its ID.
Delete chat completionTool to delete a stored chat completion by its ID.
Delete containerTool to delete a specific container by its ID.
Delete container fileTool to delete a file from a container.
Delete conversationTool to delete a conversation by its ID.
Delete conversation itemTool to delete an item from a conversation with the given IDs.
Delete evaluationTool to delete a specific evaluation by its ID.
Delete evaluation runTool to delete an evaluation run.
Delete fileTool to delete a file by its ID after confirming the target.
Delete messageTool to delete a message from a thread.
Delete responseTool to delete a model response with the given ID.
Delete skillTool to delete a specific skill by its ID.
Delete threadTool to delete a thread by its ID.
Delete Vector StoreTool to delete a vector store.
Delete Vector Store FileTool to delete a vector store file.
Delete videoTool to delete a video by its ID.
Download fileTool to download the contents of a specified file by its ID.
Download Video ContentTool to download video content (MP4) or preview assets from OpenAI Videos API.
Get Chat CompletionTool to retrieve a stored chat completion.
Get Chat Completion MessagesTool to retrieve messages from a stored chat completion.
Get ChatKit threadTool to retrieve a ChatKit thread by its ID.
Get Conversation ItemTool to retrieve a single item from a conversation.
Get EvalTool to retrieve an evaluation by ID.
Get Evaluation RunTool to retrieve an evaluation run by ID to check status and results.
Get Eval Run Output ItemTool to retrieve a specific output item from an evaluation run by its ID.
Get eval run output itemsTool to get a list of output items for an evaluation run.
Get Evaluation RunsTool to get a paginated list of runs for an evaluation.
Get Input Token CountsTool to calculate input token counts for OpenAI API requests.
Get MessageTool to retrieve a specific message from a thread by its ID.
Get ResponseTool to retrieve a model response by ID.
Get Run StepTool to retrieve a specific run step from an Assistants API run to inspect detailed execution progress, view tool calls, or check message creation.
Get Vector StoreTool to retrieve a vector store by its ID.
Get Vector Store FileTool to retrieve a file from a vector store.
Get Vector Store File BatchTool to retrieve a vector store file batch.
Get VideoTool to retrieve a video generation job by its unique identifier.
List AssistantsTool to list assistants to discover the correct assistant_id by name or metadata.
List BatchesTool to list your organization's batches.
List Chat CompletionsTool to list stored chat completions that were created with the `store` parameter set to true.
List ChatKit thread itemsTool to list ChatKit thread items.
List container filesTool to list files in a container.
List ContainersTool to list containers.
List Conversation ItemsTool to list all items for a conversation with the given ID.
List enginesTool to list available engines and their basic information.
List EvalsTool to list evaluations for a project.
List filesTool to retrieve a list of files uploaded to your organization/project context.
List Files in Vector Store BatchTool to list vector store files in a batch.
List fine-tunesTool to list your organization's fine-tuning jobs.
List fine-tuning job eventsTool to get status updates for a fine-tuning job.
List fine-tuning job checkpointsTool to list checkpoints for a fine-tuning job.
List Input ItemsTool to retrieve input items for a given response from the OpenAI Responses API.
List MessagesTool to list messages in an Assistants thread to fetch the assistant's generated outputs after a run completes.
List modelsTool to list available models scoped to the current account/organization — some public models may be absent due to permissions.
List RunsTool to list runs belonging to a thread.
List Run StepsTool to list run steps for an Assistants API run to track detailed execution progress, inspect tool calls, and view message creation events.
List SkillsTool to list skills.
List ChatKit ThreadsTool to list ChatKit threads with pagination and filtering.
List Vector Store FilesTool to list files in a vector store.
List Vector StoresTool to list vector stores to discover available vector stores by name or metadata.
List VideosTool to list all video generation jobs.
Modify AssistantTool to modify an existing assistant.
Modify MessageTool to modify an existing message's metadata in a thread.
Modify RunTool to modify a run's metadata.
Modify threadTool to modify an existing thread's metadata.
Modify Vector StoreTool to modify an existing vector store.
Retrieve assistantTool to retrieve details of a specific assistant.
Retrieve BatchTool to retrieve a batch by ID to check its status, progress, and results.
Retrieve containerTool to retrieve details of a specific container by its ID.
Retrieve container fileTool to retrieve metadata for a specific file in a container.
Retrieve container file contentTool to retrieve the content of a file within a container.
Retrieve engineTool to retrieve details of a specific engine.
Retrieve fileTool to retrieve information about a specific file.
Retrieve fine-tuning jobTool to retrieve information about a fine-tuning job.
Retrieve modelTool to retrieve details of a specific model, confirming its metadata (ownership, created date) and verifying access under your org — a model appearing in OPENAI_LIST_MODELS does not guarantee access.
Retrieve runTool to retrieve an Assistants run by ID to check status, errors, and usage.
Retrieve threadTool to retrieve metadata of a specific thread by its ID — does not include message bodies or assistant replies (those require a completed run and separate message listing).
Retrieve Vector Store File ContentTool to retrieve the parsed contents of a vector store file.
Run graderTool to run a grader to evaluate model performance on a given sample.
Search Vector StoreTool to search a vector store for relevant chunks based on a query and file attributes filter.
Submit Tool Outputs to RunTool to submit tool call outputs to continue a run that requires action.
Update Chat CompletionTool to update metadata for a stored chat completion.
Update ConversationTool to update a conversation's metadata.
Update EvalTool to update certain properties of an evaluation (name and metadata).
Update Vector Store File AttributesTool to update custom attributes on a vector store file.
Upload fileTool to upload a file for use across OpenAI endpoints.
Validate grader configurationTool to validate a grader configuration for fine-tuning jobs.

Universal CLI Commands for Openai

You can also manually execute CLI commands to interact with your Openai.

Connect your Openai account

Link your Openai account and verify the connection:

bash
# Connect your Openai account (opens OAuth flow)
composio connected-accounts link openai

# Verify the connection
composio connected-accounts list --toolkits openai

Discover Openai tools

Search and inspect available Openai tools:

bash
# List all available Openai tools
composio tools list --toolkit openai

# Search for Openai tools by action
composio tools search "openai"

# Inspect a tool's input schema
composio tools info OPENAI_CREATE_ASSISTANT

Common Openai Actions

Create AssistantTool to create a new assistant with specified parameters

bash
composio tools execute OPENAI_CREATE_ASSISTANT \
  --model "gpt-4o"

Create MessageTool to create a new message in a specific thread

bash
composio tools execute OPENAI_CREATE_MESSAGE \
  --role "<string>" \
  --content "Hello world!" \
  --thread_id "thread-123"

Create ThreadTool to create a new thread

bash
composio tools execute OPENAI_CREATE_THREAD \
  --messages "<array>" \
  --metadata "<object>"

Delete assistantTool to delete a specific assistant by its id

bash
composio tools execute OPENAI_DELETE_ASSISTANT \
  --assistant_id "assistant-abc123"

Generate Type Definitions

Generate typed schemas for Openai tools to get autocomplete and type safety in your project:

bash
# Auto-detect language
composio generate --toolkits openai

# TypeScript
composio ts generate --toolkits openai

# Python
composio py generate --toolkits openai

Tips & Tricks

  • Always inspect a tool's input schema before executing: composio tools info <TOOL_NAME>
  • Pipe output with jq for better readability: composio tools execute TOOL_NAME -d '{}' | jq
  • Set COMPOSIO_API_KEY as an environment variable for CI/CD pipelines
  • Use composio dev logs tools to inspect execution logs and debug issues

Next Steps

  • Try asking your coding agent to perform various Openai operations
  • Explore cross-app workflows by connecting more toolkits
  • Set up triggers for real-time automation
  • Use composio generate for typed schemas in your projects

How to build Openai MCP Agent with another framework

FAQ

What is the Composio Universal CLI?

The Composio Universal CLI is a single command-line interface that lets coding agents and developers interact with 1000+ SaaS applications. It handles authentication, tool discovery, action execution, and trigger setup — all from the terminal, without needing to configure MCP servers.

Which coding agents work with the Composio CLI?

Any coding agent that can run shell commands works with the Composio CLI — including Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, OpenClaw, and others. Once the CLI is installed, agents automatically discover and use the composio commands to interact with Openai and other connected apps.

How is the CLI different from using an MCP server for Openai?

MCP servers require configuration and can be token-heavy for complex workflows. The CLI gives agents a direct, lightweight interface — no server setup needed. Agents simply call composio commands like any other shell tool. It's faster to set up, more reliable for multi-step tool chaining, and works natively with how coding agents already operate.

How safe is my Openai data when using the Composio CLI?

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Openai data and credentials are handled as safely as possible. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials for full control.

Used by agents from

Context
Letta
glean
HubSpot
Agent.ai
Altera
DataStax
Entelligence
Rolai
Context
Letta
glean
HubSpot
Agent.ai
Altera
DataStax
Entelligence
Rolai
Context
Letta
glean
HubSpot
Agent.ai
Altera
DataStax
Entelligence
Rolai

Never worry about agent reliability

We handle tool reliability, observability, and security so you never have to second-guess an agent action.