CLI

Read this when you want to run Ink from a shell: installation, print mode, piping, attachments, sessions, and every flag. Interactive-mode details live in sessions.md (tree, fork) — this page is the command line.

Install

npm install -g ink-agent@latest
ink

Or without installing: npm exec -- ink-agent@latest --help. Do not use npx ink — plain ink is an unrelated npm package. There is no imp executable alias.

Requires Node 22.19.0 or newer. From a source checkout: npm install (builds via the prepare script), npm start to launch. The registry package itself runs no install lifecycle scripts (the prepare build script only runs on git clones and local links).

Verify an installation non-interactively:

ink --version    # prints "Ink <version>"
ink --help       # flag reference, exits 0

Uninstall: npm uninstall -g ink-agent. If a global install fails with EACCES, the npm prefix is not user-writable — do not prefix the command with sudo; point npm at a user-owned prefix (npm config get prefix, then see the npm docs on fixing permissions) and retry. A note for scripted runs: ink refuses .ink/ project configuration in an untrusted directory (safe by default); pre-approve it with ink --trust once, per project.

Sign in with /login — the provider picker stores an API key in ~/.ink/auth.json (0600), where it beats the environment variable; the ChatGPT plan signs in via OAuth device code. Or set an environment variable before launching:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

Provider-specific setup: providers.md.

Invocation

ink -p "<prompt>"        # print mode: stream the response, then exit
ink "<prompt>"           # same as -p
ink @file.png "prompt"   # attach files: text embeds as <file> blocks,
                         # images attach to the first message
ink                      # interactive session (REPL)
echo "fix the typo" | ink   # piped: one turn, exits at EOF (empty pipe: help + exit 1)

Print/piped runs default to --max-turns 100; interactive TTY sessions are uncapped (a finite value applies when passed explicitly).

Options

Flag	Description
`-p`, `--print <prompt>`	Prompt to run, then exit
`-m`, `--model <id>`	Model id (default: `$INK_MODEL` or `claude-sonnet-4-5`)
`--thinking <level>`	`off` `minimal` `low` `medium` `high` `xhigh` `max`
`--max-tokens <n>`	Max output tokens per turn (default: model catalog limit)
`--max-turns <n>`	Max agent turns per run
`-nc`, `--no-context-files`	Skip AGENTS.md discovery
`-c`, `--continue`	Continue the most recent session in this directory
`-r`, `--resume <id>`	Resume a session by id (prefix ok)
`--no-session`	Do not persist this run (also disables auto-compaction)
`-e`, `--extension <path>`	Load an extension (file or dir; repeatable; loads regardless of trust)
`-ne`, `--no-extensions`	Skip extension discovery (explicit `-e` still loads)
`--skill <path>`	Load a skill (.md file or directory; repeatable; loads regardless of `--no-skills`)
`--no-skills`	Skip skill discovery (user + project + settings)
`--trust` / `--no-trust`	Record a trust decision for this directory's `.ink/` resources
`-h`, `--help` / `-v`, `--version`	Help / version

Subcommands

Command	Description
`ink sessions`	List saved sessions for this directory
`ink login`	OpenAI (ChatGPT plan) device-code OAuth
`ink logout`	Remove the stored ChatGPT-plan credential (keys saved by `/login` stay)

Environment variables

Variable	Description
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` / `ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN`	Anthropic key / Bearer token
`ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL`	Endpoint override for Anthropic-compatible services
`OPENAI_API_KEY` / `OPENAI_BASE_URL`	OpenAI key / endpoint override (any OpenAI-compatible service)
`ZAI_API_KEY`	Z.ai key (GLM Coding Plan)
`DEEPSEEK_API_KEY`	DeepSeek key
`MOONSHOT_API_KEY`	Moonshot/Kimi key (both families)
`INK_MODEL`	Default model id
`INK_THINKING`	Default thinking level (invalid values: notice + ignore)
`INK_CONTEXT_WINDOW`	Context window for auto-compaction (default 131072)
`INK_AUTOCOMPACT=0`	Disable auto-compaction
`INK_MCP=0`	Disable the MCP module entirely
`INK_HEALTH=0`	Disable the loop-health monitor
`INK_BRANCH_SUMMARY=0`	Disable branch summaries (hard off)
`INK_CHILD_SESSIONS=0`	Do not persist subagent transcripts
`INK_CATALOG_BASE_URL` / `INK_CATALOG_PATH`	Redirect / relocate the model catalog
`INK_SETTINGS_PATH`	Settings file override

INK_* gating variables use 0 to disable; anything else enables.

Renamed from imp

Ink reads ~/.ink, project .ink/, and INK_* only. It does not migrate .imp state or IMP_* settings; old sessions stay in .imp and cannot be resumed. Standard AGENTS.md, .agents/skills, and MCP config filenames are unchanged. The old FishInSalt/imp GitHub URLs redirect to FishInSalt/ink.