Open Interpreter CLI Cheatsheet - Terminal AI Coding Agent Full Reference

The substantive difference between Open Interpreter and other coding agents is that it plans first and shows you the steps before touching files, which makes it usable on a real project rather than only in a throwaway sandbox - useful precisely when you are not sure how far the agent will go. When it fits: the task is operating an environment you already have, such as batch file processing, config edits, running analysis scripts, rather than authoring a new feature; and you need it to execute commands to verify results instead of only emitting code for you to run. Model selection has an order too - verify prompts and safety flags against a cloud model first, then switch to a local model, so you are never debugging two variables at once. This sheet covers installation and launch, run modes and flags, safety and interaction, and advanced usage, with emphasis on the auto-execute switch: it suits read-only or confined environments, and before using it in a repo with uncommitted work, confirm the working tree is clean.