Provider Setup Guide

CmdForge works with any AI CLI tool that accepts input via stdin or arguments. This guide covers setup for the most popular providers.

Provider Comparison

We profiled 12 providers with a 4-task benchmark (Math, Code, Reasoning, Data Extraction):

Provider	Speed	Score	Cost	Best For
opencode-deepseek	13s	4/4	~$0.28/M tokens	Best value - daily driver
opencode-pickle	13s	4/4	FREE	Best free - accurate
claude-haiku	14s	4/4	~$0.25/M tokens	Fast + high quality
codex	14s	4/4	~$1.25/M tokens	Reliable, auto-routes
claude	18s	4/4	Varies	Auto-routes to best
claude-opus	18s	4/4	~$15/M tokens	Highest quality
claude-sonnet	21s	4/4	~$3/M tokens	Balanced
opencode-nano	24s	4/4	Paid	GPT-5 Nano
gemini-flash	28s	4/4	~$0.075/M tokens	Google, faster
opencode-reasoner	33s	4/4	~$0.28/M tokens	Complex reasoning
gemini	91s	3/4	~$1.25/M tokens	1M token context
opencode-grok	11s	2/4	FREE	Fastest but unreliable

Recommendations

• Daily use: opencode-deepseek or opencode-pickle (free)
• Quality work: claude-haiku or claude-opus
• Complex reasoning: opencode-reasoner
• Large documents: gemini (1M token context window)
• Budget: opencode-pickle (free) or opencode-deepseek (cheap)

Provider Setup

OpenCode (Recommended)

OpenCode provides access to multiple models including free options.

Install:

curl -fsSL https://opencode.ai/install | bash

Authenticate:

~/.opencode/bin/opencode auth

Available Models:

Provider Name	Model	Cost
opencode-deepseek	deepseek-chat	Cheap
opencode-pickle	big-pickle	FREE
opencode-grok	grok-code	FREE
opencode-nano	gpt-5-nano	Paid
opencode-reasoner	deepseek-reasoner	Cheap

Test:

echo "Hello" | ~/.opencode/bin/opencode run --model opencode/big-pickle

Claude CLI

Anthropic's official CLI for Claude models.

Install:

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

Authenticate:

claude  # Opens browser for sign-in (auto-saves auth tokens)

Available Models:

Provider Name	Model	Cost
claude	Auto-routes	Varies
claude-haiku	Haiku 4.5	Cheap
claude-sonnet	Sonnet 4.5	Medium
claude-opus	Opus 4.5	Expensive

Test:

echo "Hello" | claude -p

Codex (OpenAI)

OpenAI's Codex CLI with auto-routing.

Install:

npm install -g @openai/codex

Authenticate:

codex  # Opens browser for sign-in (auto-saves auth tokens)

Test:

echo "Hello" | codex exec -

Gemini

Google's Gemini models. Best for large context (1M tokens).

Install:

npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

Authenticate:

gemini  # Opens browser for Google sign-in

Available Models:

Provider Name	Model	Notes
gemini	gemini-2.5-pro	Quality, slow CLI
gemini-flash	gemini-2.5-flash	Faster

Note: Gemini CLI has known performance issues. Use gemini-flash for interactive tasks, gemini for large documents.

Test:

echo "Hello" | gemini --model gemini-2.5-flash

Managing Providers

Interactive Installation (Recommended)

The easiest way to install providers:

cmdforge providers install

This interactive guide:

• Shows available AI providers with costs
• Runs the installation command
• Updates PATH automatically
• Shows next steps for authentication

List Providers

cmdforge providers list

Check Availability

cmdforge providers check

Add Custom Provider

cmdforge providers add myname "my-command --args" -d "Description"

Or edit ~/.cmdforge/providers.yaml:

providers:
  - name: my-custom
    command: my-ai-tool --prompt
    description: My custom AI tool

Provider Command Format

The command should:

1. Accept input via stdin
2. Output response to stdout
3. Exit 0 on success

Example commands:

# Claude
claude -p

# OpenCode
$HOME/.opencode/bin/opencode run --model deepseek/deepseek-chat

# Gemini
gemini --model gemini-2.5-flash

# Codex
codex exec -

# Custom (any tool that reads stdin)
my-tool --input -

Using Providers in Tools

In Tool Config

steps:
  - type: prompt
    prompt: "Summarize: {input}"
    provider: opencode-pickle  # Use this provider
    output_var: response

Override at Runtime

# Use a different provider for this run
cat file.txt | summarize --provider claude-opus

Provider Selection Strategy

1. Tool default - Set in tool's config.yaml
2. Runtime override - --provider flag
3. Cost optimization - Use cheap providers for simple tasks
4. Quality needs - Use opus/sonnet for important work

Troubleshooting

"Provider 'X' not found"

1. Check it's in your providers list: cmdforge providers
2. Verify the command works: echo "test" | <command>
3. Add it: cmdforge providers add

"Command 'X' not found"

The AI CLI tool isn't installed or not in PATH:

which claude  # Should show path
which opencode  # Might need full path

For OpenCode, use full path in provider:

command: $HOME/.opencode/bin/opencode run

Slow Provider

• Use gemini-flash instead of gemini
• Use claude-haiku instead of claude-opus
• Use opencode-deepseek for best speed/quality ratio

Cost Optimization

Free Providers

• opencode-pickle - Big Pickle model (FREE, accurate)
• opencode-grok - Grok Code (FREE, fast but less reliable)

Cheap Providers

• opencode-deepseek - ~$0.28/M tokens
• opencode-reasoner - ~$0.28/M tokens
• claude-haiku - ~$0.25/M tokens

Tips

1. Use opencode-pickle for simple tasks (free + accurate)
2. Use claude-haiku when you need reliability
3. Reserve claude-opus for important work
4. Use gemini only for large document analysis

Adding New Providers

Any CLI tool that:

• Reads from stdin
• Writes to stdout
• Exits 0 on success

Can be a provider. Examples:

Local LLM (Ollama):

- name: ollama-llama
  command: ollama run llama3
  description: Local Llama 3

Custom API wrapper:

- name: my-api
  command: curl -s -X POST https://my-api.com/chat -d @-
  description: My custom API

Python script:

- name: my-python
  command: python3 ~/scripts/my_ai.py
  description: Custom Python AI