Getting Started

What is Tabnine CLI?

Tabnine CLI is an AI-powered coding assistant that runs directly in your terminal. It combines advanced AI models with intelligent code understanding to help you write, understand, and improve code faster.

What Can Tabnine CLI Do?

💬 Interactive Conversations

Ask questions and get intelligent answers about your code:

> What does this function do in @src/auth.ts?

> How can I improve the error handling in @utils/validator.js?

> Explain the authentication flow in this codebase

📝 Code Analysis and Review

Get comprehensive code reviews with actionable feedback:

> Review @src/api/users.ts and suggest improvements

> Check @src/services/ for security vulnerabilities

> Analyze the performance of @database/queries.ts

✍️ Code Generation and Editing

Generate new code or modify existing files:

> Create a REST API endpoint for user registration

> Add error handling to all functions in @src/utils/

> Refactor @src/payment.ts to use async/await

🔍 Powerful Code Search

Remote Code Search - Search across massive codebases:

> Find all functions that handle authentication

> Where is the database connection configured?

> Show all API endpoints that use JWT tokens

🎓 Learn Best Practices

Coaching Guidelines - Get AI-powered guidance:

> What are the best practices for error handling in Node.js?

> How should I structure my API endpoints?

> Review my code against security best practices

🛠️ File Operations

Work with files naturally:

> Read @package.json and list the main dependencies

> Create a new file README.md with project documentation

> Search for "TODO" comments in @src/

Key Features

Terminal-Native Experience

• Interactive Mode: Full-featured chat interface

• Non-Interactive Mode: Perfect for scripts and automation

• Keyboard Shortcuts: Efficient navigation

• Rich Output: Syntax highlighting and formatted code

Smart Context Understanding

Tabnine CLI automatically understands your:

• Current working directory

• File structure

• Code conventions

• Project context

Powerful Built-in Tools

• File Operations - Read, write, search files

• Shell Commands - Execute commands safely

• Remote Code Search - Search large codebases using cloud indexing

• Coaching Guidelines - AI-powered best practices

• Code Analysis - Deep understanding of your code

Enterprise-Ready

• Proxy Support - Works behind corporate firewalls

• Custom Certificates - Supports custom CA certificates

• Secure Authentication - OAuth-based authentication

• Privacy - Your code stays secure

How It Works

┌─────────────────┐
│  You ask a      │
│  question       │
└────────┬────────┘
         ↓
┌─────────────────┐
│  Tabnine CLI    │
│  gathers context│
└────────┬────────┘
         ↓
┌─────────────────┐
│  AI analyzes    │
│  with context   │
└────────┬────────┘
         ↓
┌─────────────────┐
│  Tools execute  │
│  as needed      │
└────────┬────────┘
         ↓
┌─────────────────┐
│  Results shown  │
│  in terminal    │
└─────────────────┘

Common Use Cases

Development Workflow

Code Review

> Review the changes in @src/auth.ts and suggest improvements

Bug Fixing

> I'm getting a TypeError in @src/server.ts line 45. Help me fix it

Refactoring

> Refactor @src/utils.ts to be more maintainable

Documentation

> Generate JSDoc comments for all functions in @src/api/

Learning and Exploration

Understand Code

> Explain how the authentication system works in this project

Learn Patterns

> Show me the best way to implement pagination in REST APIs

Troubleshoot

> Why am I getting a CORS error when calling the API?

Automation

CI/CD Integration

tabnine -p "Review the code changes" --output-format json

Batch Processing

tabnine -p "Add type annotations to all TypeScript files in src/"

Interface Overview

When you start Tabnine CLI, you'll see:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Tabnine CLI                                │  ← Header
│  Model: gpt-4o | Dir: /my/project           │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                             │
│  AI: How can I help you today?              │  ← Conversation
│                                             │
│  You: What files are in this directory?     │
│                                             │
│  AI: [Using list_directory tool...]         │
│  The current directory contains...          │
│                                             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  > █                                        │  ← Input
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Type /help for commands                    │  ← Footer
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

This screenshot shows the header, conversation area, input area, and footer