tgpt
Use AI chatbots directly in your terminal — no API key required. A cross-platform Go CLI.
About
tgpt is a cross-platform command-line tool (written in Go) that puts AI chat in your terminal without requiring you to bring an API key. It routes through free provider backends, supports multiple providers, and covers the platforms that matter: Linux, macOS, Windows, FreeBSD, plus distro packaging (Arch, Homebrew, Chocolatey) and a go install path.
With ~3,300 stars and commits within days of this writing, it is one of the most popular no-key terminal AI clients. The appeal is obvious: one static binary, zero signup, ask questions from the shell you are already in.
The honest caveat: "no API key" means you are using someone else's free tiers through the tool's provider integrations — availability, rate limits, and the terms-of-service posture of that arrangement are inherently fragile compared to paying for your own key. Treat tgpt as a convenient scratchpad, not infrastructure. It is GPL-3.0, so check the license implications if you embed it in commercial tooling.
What it can do
- Terminal AI chat with no API key required
- Multiple free provider backends (see providers list)
- Interactive chat plus one-shot prompt mode
- Cross-platform: Linux, macOS, Windows, FreeBSD
- Distro packaging: Homebrew, Arch, Chocolatey, Go install
- GPL-3.0 licensed
Setup
- Install:
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aandrew-me/tgpt/main/install | bash -s /usr/local/bin(orbrew install tgpt,pacman -S tgpt,go install github.com/aandrew-me/tgpt/v2@latest, or the Windows install script). - No API key setup needed — pick a provider from the providers list.
- Run
tgpt "your prompt"for one-shot answers or launch interactive chat.
Prerequisites
A supported OS (Linux, macOS, Windows, FreeBSD); no API key or account required.
Use cases
Works with
Trust score — 8/10
Scored 8/10 (verified tier, metrics-v1). Evidence: Adoption 7: starScore from 3,280 stars on aandrew-me/tgpt (log scale vs 298k peer max); Maintenance 9: pushed 2026-10-14 (recency 10); distro packaging maintained (Arch, Homebrew, Chocolatey); Openness 10: GPL-3.0 (0.7*10) + official docs verified (0.3*10); Manual 7: popular no-key terminal client corroborated by README and mirrors; docked: free-backend model is fragile vs own-key usage; GPL-3.0 embedding caveat. License: GPL-3.0.
★ 3,280 GitHub stars
How the trust score is built
Full methodology →- Adoption · stars/downloads, log-scaled vs peers
- 7.0/10
- Maintenance · recency, releases, issue load
- 9.0/10
- Openness · license + docs
- 10.0/10
- Manual review · sanity read + red-flag check
- 7.0/10
- · Adoption 7: starScore from 3,280 stars on aandrew-me/tgpt (log scale vs 298k peer max)
- · Maintenance 9: pushed 2026-10-14 (recency 10); distro packaging maintained (Arch, Homebrew, Chocolatey)
- · Openness 10: GPL-3.0 (0.7*10) + official docs verified (0.3*10)
- · Manual 7: popular no-key terminal client corroborated by README and mirrors; docked: free-backend model is fragile vs own-key usage; GPL-3.0 embedding caveat
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these sources. Where a claim comes from the provider and couldn't be independently verified, the text says so.