A0 cli

[TerminallyLazy]

Summary

• Add a0 CLI tool for interacting with Agent Zero from the terminal
• Includes animated pixel-art banner, interactive launcher menu, REPL chat with real-time progress, Docker management, and ACP (Agent Client Protocol) server for IDE integration
• Built with Typer + Rich for a lightweight CLI experience without heavy TUI frameworks

What's in the CLI

Launcher experience: Running a0 with no arguments shows an animated pixel-art "A" logo with "AGENT ZERO" text in cyan-to-blue gradient, followed by an interactive 4-option menu (Chat, Status, Start/Stop, Settings) navigable via arrow keys or number keys.

REPL chat (a0 chat): Interactive chat session with real-time spinner that polls Agent Zero's log API to show what the agent is currently doing (thinking, using tools, browsing web, running code). Responses render as left-aligned Rich Markdown.

Single-shot mode (a0 chat "message"): Send a message and get a response without entering the REPL. Useful for scripting and piping.

1. Docker management (a0 start / a0 stop / a0 status): Start, stop, and check the Agent Zero container directly from the CLI. The REPL auto-detects when Agent Zero isn't running and offers to start it.

ACP server (a0 acp): JSON-RPC 2.0 over stdio bridge that translates between the Agent Client Protocol and Agent Zero's HTTP polling API. Enables IDE integrations (VS Code, etc.) to connect to Agent Zero as an agent backend.

Configuration (a0 config): TOML-based config at ~/.config/a0/config.toml with --show, --set key=value, and --reset options. Supports env var overrides (AGENT_ZERO_URL, AGENT_ZERO_API_KEY).

Architecture

  a0-cli/src/a0/
  ├── cli.py              # Typer app with all commands
  ├── banner.py           # Animated ANSI pixel-art banner
  ├── launcher/
  │   ├── menu.py         # Raw-mode interactive menu (no framework)
  │   └── actions.py      # Action handlers (REPL, status, docker, settings)
  ├── client/
  │   ├── api.py          # Async httpx client for Agent Zero API
  │   └── poller.py       # Log polling with typed events
  ├── acp/
  │   └── server.py       # ACP JSON-RPC stdio bridge
  └── utils/
      ├── config.py       # Pydantic config with TOML persistence
      └── docker.py       # Docker compose helpers

Test plan

• a0 — banner animates, menu renders, arrow keys navigate, Enter selects, Esc quits
• a0 chat — REPL connects, sends messages, shows real-time progress spinner, renders markdown responses
• a0 chat "hello" — single-shot mode returns response and exits
• a0 status — shows running/not-running status
• a0 start / a0 stop — manages Docker container
• a0 config --show — displays current config
• a0 config --set agent_url=http://localhost:8080 — persists to TOML
• a0 acp — accepts JSON-RPC on stdin, responds on stdout