Openrouter 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 850+ SaaS applications. With Openrouter, agents can generate python code from this prompt, summarize this article using claude-3, list all available llama-3 model endpoints, 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 Openrouter automation.

Also integrate Openrouter 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 850+ 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 Openrouter 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 Openrouter"
  3. Complete the authentication and authorization flow and your Openrouter integration is all set.
  4. Start asking anything you want.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Create Chat CompletionTool to generate a chat-style completion.
Create CompletionTool to generate a text completion for a given prompt or set of messages.
Get CreditsTool to get the current api credit balance for the authenticated user.
Get GenerationTool to retrieve a generation result by its unique id.
List Available ModelsTool to list available models via openrouter api.
OpenRouter List Model EndpointsTool to list endpoints for a specific model.
OpenRouter List ProvidersTool to list all ai model providers available through the openrouter api.

Universal CLI Commands for Openrouter

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

Connect your Openrouter account

Link your Openrouter account and verify the connection:

bash
# Connect your Openrouter account (opens OAuth flow)
composio connected-accounts link openrouter

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

Discover Openrouter tools

Search and inspect available Openrouter tools:

bash
# List all available Openrouter tools
composio tools list --toolkit openrouter

# Search for Openrouter tools by action
composio tools search "openrouter"

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

Common Openrouter Actions

Create Chat CompletionTool to generate a chat-style completion

bash
composio tools execute OPENROUTER_CREATE_CHAT_COMPLETION \
  --model "openai/gpt-4" \
  --messages "<array>"

Create CompletionTool to generate a text completion for a given prompt or set of messages

bash
composio tools execute OPENROUTER_CREATE_COMPLETION \
  --model "openai/gpt-3.5-turbo"

Get CreditsTool to get the current api credit balance for the authenticated user

bash
composio tools execute OPENROUTER_GET_CREDITS

Get GenerationTool to retrieve a generation result by its unique id

bash
composio tools execute OPENROUTER_GET_GENERATION \
  --id "gen-xxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

Generate Type Definitions

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

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

# TypeScript
composio ts generate --toolkits openrouter

# Python
composio py generate --toolkits openrouter

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 Openrouter 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 Openrouter 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 850+ 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 Openrouter and other connected apps.

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

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 Openrouter 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 Openrouter 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.