Install¶

pip install lionagi   # or: uv add lionagi

Authenticate your CLI providers¶

lionagi's CLI aliases (claude, codex) spawn subprocess tools, not REST API calls. Each requires its own login step.

claude (Claude Code CLI)¶

Option A — subscription login (recommended if you have Claude Max):

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
claude login

Option B — API key (works without a subscription):

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."

codex (OpenAI Codex CLI)¶

Requires ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscription. No API key — uses CLI session:

npm install -g @openai/codex
codex login

OpenAI API models (gpt-4.1-mini, etc.)¶

Used by Branch(chat_model=iModel(model="gpt-4o-mini")) in Python, not by li agent:

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

Add any export to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc to persist across shells.

Verify¶

li --help

# output:
usage: li [-h] {orchestrate,o,agent,team} ...

lionagi command line — spawn subagents via any CLI-backed provider.

positional arguments:
  {orchestrate,o,agent,team}
    orchestrate (o)     Multi-agent orchestration patterns.
    agent               Spawn one-shot subagent (blocking); prints final response.
    team                Team messaging — send/receive between named agents.

Optional extras¶

Next: Your first flow