title	Interactive CLI - Your AI Development Environment
description	Persistent interactive mode with conversation memory, session state, and MCP tool integration for rapid AI development
keywords	cli, interactive, loop mode, session state, conversation memory, repl, development environment

Interactive CLI: Your AI Development Environment

Since: v7.0.0 | Status: Production Ready | Availability: CLI

Why Interactive Mode?

NeuroLink's Interactive CLI transforms traditional command-line usage into a persistent development environment optimized for AI workflow iteration. Unlike standard CLIs where each command is isolated, Interactive Mode maintains session state, conversation memory, and configuration across all operations - enabling rapid experimentation, debugging, and production runbook execution.

Traditional CLI vs Interactive Mode

Feature	Traditional CLI	NeuroLink Interactive	Productivity Impact
Session State	None - lost after each command	Full persistence across session	10x faster parameter tuning
Memory	No context between commands	Conversation-aware with history	5x reduction in repeated context
Configuration	Flags required per command	`/set` persists across entire session	80% fewer keystrokes
Tool Testing	Manual per-tool invocation	Live discovery & testing with `/mcp`	3x faster integration testing
Streaming	Optional per command	Real-time default with progress bars	Immediate feedback
Error Recovery	Start over from scratch	Session preserved, fix and retry	90% time saved on errors
Workflow Replay	Copy-paste commands	Export/import full sessions	Reproducible workflows

Measured productivity gains:

80% faster onboarding for new users
60% fewer configuration errors
3-5x faster prompt engineering iteration
Universal accessibility from beginner to expert

Getting Started

Starting a Session

Basic session with auto-detected Redis memory:

npx @juspay/neurolink loop

🚀 NeuroLink Interactive Loop Mode
💬 Conversation Memory: Redis auto-detected
📍 Session ID: sess_abc123def456

Ready! Use /help to see available commands.

neurolink >

With explicit configuration:

# Enable conversation memory with Redis
npx @juspay/neurolink loop --enable-conversation-memory

# Disable memory entirely (prompt-by-prompt mode)
npx @juspay/neurolink loop --enable-conversation-memory=false

# Custom retention limits
npx @juspay/neurolink loop --max-sessions 100 --max-turns-per-session 50

# Start with specific provider
npx @juspay/neurolink loop --provider anthropic --model claude-3-sonnet

# Disable Redis auto-detection (in-memory only)
npx @juspay/neurolink loop --no-auto-redis

Your First Interactive Session

Step-by-step walkthrough:

$ npx @juspay/neurolink loop --enable-conversation-memory

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║         NeuroLink Interactive Loop Mode v8.26.1          ║
║  Universal AI Platform - 13 Providers | 58+ MCP Tools    ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

💬 Conversation Memory: Enabled (Redis)
📍 Session ID: sess_2026_01_01_143052
🔧 Provider: auto (will select best provider)
📊 Temperature: 0.7 (balanced creativity)

💡 Quick Start:
   • Type your prompt or question directly
   • Use /set to configure (e.g., /set provider anthropic)
   • Use /help to see all commands
   • Use /mcp discover to see available tools

Ready! What would you like to do?

neurolink > Set the provider to Google AI Studio

 Setting session variable...
✅ provider set to google-ai

neurolink > What capabilities do you have?

🤖 Generating response...

I'm an AI assistant powered by Google Gemini 3 Flash through NeuroLink. I have access to:

1. **Text Generation**: Complex reasoning, creative writing, coding
2. **Vision**: Image analysis and description
3. **Tool Usage**: 58+ MCP tools including:
   - Filesystem operations (read, write, list files)
   - Web search and browsing
   - GitHub integration
   - Database queries (PostgreSQL, SQLite, MongoDB)
   - And many more...

4. **Extended Thinking**: Deep reasoning for complex problems
5. **Structured Output**: JSON schema-based responses

Would you like me to demonstrate any of these capabilities?

neurolink > Yes, list the files in the current directory

🤖 Using tool: listDirectory
📁 Path: .

Files in current directory:
├── src/
├── docs/
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── README.md
└── LICENSE

neurolink > /mcp discover

🔍 Discovering MCP tools...

📋 Available MCP Servers (5):
╔═══════════════╦═════════════╦══════════════╗
║ Server        ║ Status      ║ Tools        ║
╠═══════════════╬═════════════╬══════════════╣
║ filesystem    ║ ✅ Active   ║ 9 tools      ║
║ github        ║ ✅ Active   ║ 15 tools     ║
║ postgres      ║ ✅ Active   ║ 8 tools      ║
║ brave-search  ║ ✅ Active   ║ 3 tools      ║
║ memory        ║ ✅ Active   ║ 4 tools      ║
╚═══════════════╩═════════════╩══════════════╝

Total: 39 tools available

💡 Use /mcp test <server> to test a specific server
💡 AI can use these tools automatically in conversations

neurolink > /export json session.json

💾 Exporting conversation...

✅ Exported 4 messages to session.json

Session Summary:
├── Provider: google-ai
├── Model: gemini-3-flash-preview
├── Messages: 4 (2 user, 2 assistant)
├── Tools Used: listDirectory (1x)
└── Duration: 3 minutes

neurolink > exit

👋 Goodbye! Session saved.

💡 Resume this session:
   npx @juspay/neurolink loop --session session.json

Loop Mode Deep Dive

Session Variables

Configure once, use throughout your session:

Setting Variables

neurolink > /set provider anthropic
✅ provider set to anthropic

neurolink > /set model claude-3-opus
✅ model set to claude-3-opus

neurolink > /set temperature 0.3
✅ temperature set to 0.3

neurolink > /set thinking-level high
✅ thinking-level set to high

neurolink > /set max-tokens 4000
✅ max-tokens set to 4000

Getting Current Values

neurolink > /get provider
📊 provider: anthropic

neurolink > /get all
📊 Current Session Configuration:
├── provider: anthropic
├── model: claude-3-opus
├── temperature: 0.3
├── thinking-level: high
├── max-tokens: 4000
└── conversation-memory: enabled

Unsetting Variables

neurolink > /unset temperature
✅ temperature unset (reverting to default: 0.7)

neurolink > /clear
⚠️  Clear all session variables? (y/n): y
✅ All session variables cleared

Conversation Memory

How Memory Works

Interactive mode maintains conversation context automatically:

neurolink > My name is Alice and I work on the backend team

🤖 Nice to meet you, Alice! As a backend developer, you might be interested in...

neurolink > What's my name?

🤖 Your name is Alice, and you mentioned you work on the backend team.

neurolink > /history

📜 Conversation History (4 messages):

1. USER: My name is Alice and I work on the backend team
2. ASSISTANT: Nice to meet you, Alice! As a backend developer...
3. USER: What's my name?
4. ASSISTANT: Your name is Alice, and you mentioned you work on the backend team.

neurolink > /clear

⚠️  This will clear conversation history but preserve session variables.
   Continue? (y/n): y

✅ Conversation history cleared
💡 Session variables (provider, model, etc.) preserved

Memory Persistence (Redis)

With Redis enabled, conversations persist across sessions:

# Session 1
neurolink > I'm debugging the authentication service

🤖 I can help with that. What specific issue are you seeing?

neurolink > exit
💾 Session saved to Redis

# Later - Session 2 (same session ID)
npx @juspay/neurolink loop --session sess_abc123

neurolink > What was I working on?

🤖 You were debugging the authentication service. Have you made progress?

Provider Switching

Switch providers mid-session to compare responses:

neurolink > /set provider openai
✅ provider set to openai

neurolink > Explain quantum computing

🤖 [OpenAI GPT-4 response]

neurolink > /set provider anthropic
✅ provider set to anthropic

neurolink > Explain quantum computing

🤖 [Anthropic Claude response]

neurolink > /set provider google-ai
✅ provider set to google-ai

neurolink > Explain quantum computing

🤖 [Google Gemini response]

Model Experimentation

A/B test different models in the same session:

# Test different models on same prompt
neurolink > /set provider anthropic

neurolink > /set model claude-3-haiku
neurolink > Write a haiku about coding
🤖 [Haiku response - fast, concise]

neurolink > /set model claude-3-sonnet
neurolink > Write a haiku about coding
🤖 [Sonnet response - balanced]

neurolink > /set model claude-3-opus
neurolink > Write a haiku about coding
🤖 [Opus response - creative, detailed]

# Compare thinking levels
neurolink > /set thinking-level minimal
neurolink > Solve this logic puzzle: ...
🤖 [Quick response]

neurolink > /set thinking-level high
neurolink > Solve this logic puzzle: ...
🤖 [Deep reasoning response with extended thinking]

Command Reference

Session Management

Command	Description	Example
`/set <key> <value>`	Set session variable (persists across commands)	`/set provider anthropic`
`/get <key>`	Get current value of variable	`/get temperature`
`/get all`	Show all session variables	`/get all`
`/unset <key>`	Remove session variable (revert to default)	`/unset temperature`
`/show`	Alias for `/get all`	`/show`
`/clear`	Clear conversation history (keeps variables)	`/clear`
`/reset`	Reset everything (history + variables)	`/reset`
`/history`	View conversation history	`/history`
`/history <n>`	View last N messages	`/history 10`
`/export <format> <file>`	Export session (json, markdown, text)	`/export json session.json`
`/import <file>`	Import previous session	`/import session.json`
`exit` / `quit` / `:q`	Exit loop mode	`exit`

Available Session Variables

Variable	Type	Example	Description
`provider`	string	`anthropic`	AI provider to use
`model`	string	`claude-3-opus`	Specific model
`temperature`	number	`0.7`	Creativity level (0-1)
`max-tokens`	number	`4000`	Maximum response length
`thinking-level`	string	`high`	Extended thinking mode
`streaming`	boolean	`true`	Enable streaming responses
`tools`	boolean	`true`	Enable MCP tool usage

MCP Tools Commands

Command	Description	Example
`/mcp discover`	List all available MCP servers and tools	`/mcp discover`
`/mcp list`	Alias for discover	`/mcp list`
`/mcp test <server>`	Test connectivity to MCP server	`/mcp test github`
`/mcp add <name> <command>`	Add MCP server to session	`/mcp add myserver "npx my-mcp-server"`
`/mcp remove <name>`	Remove MCP server	`/mcp remove myserver`
`/mcp status`	Show status of all servers	`/mcp status`
`/mcp exec <tool> <args>`	Manually execute a tool	`/mcp exec github create_issue --params '{"title":"Bug"}'`

HITL Commands

Command	Description	Example
`/hitl status`	View pending approvals	`/hitl status`
`/hitl approve <id>`	Approve pending action	`/hitl approve 1`
`/hitl reject <id>`	Reject with reason	`/hitl reject 2 --reason "Security concern"`
`/hitl history`	View approval history	`/hitl history --last 10`
`/hitl config`	View HITL configuration	`/hitl config`

Help Commands

Command	Description	Example
`/help`	Show all available commands	`/help`
`/help <command>`	Help for specific command	`/help set`
`/?`	Alias for help	`/?`

Real-World Workflows

Workflow 1: Development Iteration

Complete session showing code generation, refinement, and testing:

neurolink > /set provider anthropic
neurolink > /set model claude-3-sonnet
neurolink > /set temperature 0.3  # Lower temp for code

# Initial generation
neurolink > Create a TypeScript function to validate email addresses

🤖 Here's an email validation function:

```typescript
function validateEmail(email: string): boolean {
  const emailRegex = /^[^\s@]+@[^\s@]+\.[^\s@]+$/;
  return emailRegex.test(email);
}

neurolink > Add support for validating domains

🤖 [AI remembers previous context, extends the function]

function validateEmail(email: string, allowedDomains?: string[]): boolean {
  const emailRegex = /^[^\s@]+@[^\s@]+\.[^\s@]+$/;

  if (!emailRegex.test(email)) {
    return false;
  }

  if (allowedDomains) {
    const domain = email.split("@")[1];
    return allowedDomains.includes(domain);
  }

  return true;
}

neurolink > Add unit tests

🤖 [AI remembers the function, generates tests]

import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";

describe("validateEmail", () => {
  it("should validate correct emails", () => {
    expect(validateEmail("user@example.com")).toBe(true);
  });

  it("should reject invalid emails", () => {
    expect(validateEmail("invalid")).toBe(false);
  });

  it("should validate against allowed domains", () => {
    expect(validateEmail("user@company.com", ["company.com"])).toBe(true);
  });
});

neurolink > /export markdown code-session.md ✅ Exported to code-session.md


### Workflow 2: Model Experimentation

Comparing responses across providers and models:

```bash
# Test prompt engineering across models
PROMPT="Explain dependency injection in 50 words"

neurolink > /set provider openai
neurolink > /set model gpt-4-turbo

neurolink > $PROMPT
🤖 [GPT-4 Turbo response]
Word count: 48

neurolink > /set provider anthropic
neurolink > /set model claude-3-opus

neurolink > $PROMPT
🤖 [Claude Opus response]
Word count: 52

neurolink > /set provider google-ai
neurolink > /set model gemini-3-flash

neurolink > $PROMPT
🤖 [Gemini 3 Flash response]
Word count: 47

# Compare thinking levels
neurolink > /set thinking-level minimal
neurolink > Solve: What is 15% of 280?
🤖 42 [instant]

neurolink > /set thinking-level high
neurolink > Solve: If a train leaves at 2pm going 60mph...
🤖 [extended thinking visible]
   Thinking... analyzing problem structure
   Thinking... calculating distances
   Thinking... verifying solution
   Answer: [detailed solution with reasoning]

neurolink > /export json model-comparison.json

Workflow 3: MCP Tool Testing

Discovering, testing, and using MCP tools:

neurolink > /mcp discover

📋 Available MCP Servers (8):
╔═══════════════╦═════════════╦══════════════╗
║ Server        ║ Status      ║ Tools        ║
╠═══════════════╬═════════════╬══════════════╣
║ filesystem    ║ ✅ Active   ║ 9 tools      ║
║ github        ║ ✅ Active   ║ 15 tools     ║
║ postgres      ║ ❌ Inactive ║ 0 tools      ║
...

neurolink > /mcp test postgres

🔍 Testing MCP server: postgres
❌ Connection failed: ECONNREFUSED

💡 Fix: Set POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING environment variable
   export POSTGRES_CONNECTION_STRING="postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/db"

neurolink > Great, let me fix that [sets env var externally]

neurolink > /mcp test postgres
✅ Connection successful!
📋 8 tools available: query, schema, tables, insert, update...

neurolink > Use the GitHub tool to list my repositories

🤖 Using tool: github_list_repos

Found 23 repositories:
1. neurolink-examples (public)
2. ai-playground (private)
3. docs-site (public)
...

neurolink > Create an issue in neurolink-examples titled "Add HITL example"

🤖 Using tool: github_create_issue
🔔 HITL Approval Required

Action: github_create_issue
Args:
  repo: neurolink-examples
  title: Add HITL example
  body: [AI-generated description]

Approve? (y/n): y

✅ Issue created: neurolink-examples#42
🔗 https://github.com/user/neurolink-examples/issues/42

neurolink > /export json github-workflow.json

Workflow 4: Documentation Generation

Using AI to generate docs with iterative refinement:

neurolink > /set provider anthropic
neurolink > /set temperature 0.5

neurolink > Read the file src/lib/neurolink.ts

🤖 Using tool: readFile

[File contents displayed]

neurolink > Generate API documentation for the NeuroLink class

🤖 # NeuroLink API Documentation

## Class: NeuroLink

Main SDK class for interacting with AI providers...

[Generated docs]

neurolink > Add examples for each method

🤖 [AI remembers the documentation, adds examples]

## Examples

### generate()
```typescript
const result = await neurolink.generate({
  input: { text: "Hello" }
});

...

neurolink > Save this to docs/api/neurolink.md

🤖 Using tool: writeFile ✅ Saved to docs/api/neurolink.md

neurolink > Now generate docs for the MessageBuilder class

🤖 Reading src/lib/utils/messageBuilder.ts...

[Continues documentation generation]

neurolink > /export json doc-generation-session.json


---

## Tips & Tricks

### Power User Features

#### Keyboard Shortcuts

- **↑ / ↓** - Navigate command history
- **Tab** - Auto-complete commands and variables
- **Ctrl+C** - Cancel current operation (doesn't exit)
- **Ctrl+D** - Exit loop mode
- **Ctrl+L** - Clear screen
- **Ctrl+R** - Search command history

#### Multi-line Input

Use backslash continuation for multi-line prompts:

```bash
neurolink > Write a function that: \
... 1. Validates user input \
... 2. Sanitizes the data \
... 3. Returns typed result

🤖 [AI processes full multi-line prompt]

Or use triple backticks for code blocks:

neurolink > Review this code:

function process(data) { return data.map(x => x * 2); }


🤖 [AI reviews the code block]

Command Aliases

Create shortcuts for common operations:

# In your shell profile (.bashrc, .zshrc)
alias nlg="npx @juspay/neurolink loop --provider google-ai"
alias nla="npx @juspay/neurolink loop --provider anthropic"
alias nlo="npx @juspay/neurolink loop --provider openai"

# Usage
$ nlg  # Starts loop with Google AI
$ nla  # Starts loop with Anthropic

Session Persistence

Saving Sessions

Explicit save to file:

neurolink > /export json my-session.json
✅ Exported 15 messages to my-session.json

# Session includes:
# - All conversation history
# - Session variables
# - Tool usage logs
# - Timestamps

Resuming Sessions

# Resume from file
npx @juspay/neurolink loop --session my-session.json

# Resume from Redis (if enabled)
npx @juspay/neurolink loop --session-id sess_abc123

Sharing Sessions

Share reproducible workflows with team:

# Developer 1
neurolink > [Creates workflow]
neurolink > /export json workflow.json

# Developer 2
npx @juspay/neurolink loop --session workflow.json
# Can replay exact same workflow

Integration with Scripts

Piping Input

# Pipe file contents to AI
cat README.md | npx @juspay/neurolink generate "Summarize this:"

# Process output from commands
git diff | npx @juspay/neurolink generate "Review these changes"

# Chain with other tools
curl https://api.example.com/data | \
  npx @juspay/neurolink generate "Analyze this JSON"

Non-Interactive Mode

# Run single command and exit
npx @juspay/neurolink generate "Hello" --provider anthropic --exit

# Batch processing
for file in *.md; do
  npx @juspay/neurolink generate "Summarize: $(cat $file)" \
    --provider google-ai \
    --output summary-$file
done

CI/CD Usage

# .github/workflows/ai-review.yml
- name: AI Code Review
  run: |
    npx @juspay/neurolink loop --non-interactive <<EOF
    /set provider anthropic
    /set model claude-3-sonnet
    Review the code changes:
    $(git diff)
    EOF

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Issue: Command Not Recognized

Symptom:

neurolink > /set provider anthropic
Unknown command: /set

Solution: Ensure you're in loop mode:

# Wrong - regular CLI
npx @juspay/neurolink set provider anthropic

# Right - loop mode
npx @juspay/neurolink loop
neurolink > /set provider anthropic

Issue: Conversation Memory Not Working

Symptom: AI doesn't remember previous context

Solution:

# Check if memory is enabled
neurolink > /get all
...
conversation-memory: disabled  # <-- Problem!

# Enable memory
npx @juspay/neurolink loop --enable-conversation-memory

# Or set Redis URL
export REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379
npx @juspay/neurolink loop  # Auto-detects Redis

Issue: Provider Connection Failed

Symptom:

Error: Failed to connect to provider 'anthropic'

Solution:

# Check API key is set
echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

# Set API key
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

# Or in .env file
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

Issue: Session Export Empty

Symptom: Exported session has no messages

Solution:

# Check if conversation memory is enabled
neurolink > /get all

# Memory disabled - enable it
npx @juspay/neurolink loop --enable-conversation-memory

# Now messages will be tracked for export

Issue: MCP Tools Not Showing

Symptom:

neurolink > /mcp discover
No MCP servers found

Solution:

# Install MCP servers first
npx @juspay/neurolink mcp install filesystem
npx @juspay/neurolink mcp install github

# Verify in .mcp-config.json or configure manually

Debug Mode

Enable verbose logging:

# Via environment variable
export NEUROLINK_DEBUG=true
npx @juspay/neurolink loop

# Via flag
npx @juspay/neurolink loop --debug

# Debug output shows:
# - Session initialization
# - Variable changes
# - Provider selections
# - Tool executions
# - Memory operations

Example debug output:

[DEBUG] Initializing loop session
[DEBUG] Session ID: sess_abc123
[DEBUG] Redis connection: redis://localhost:6379 (connected)
[DEBUG] Conversation memory: enabled
[DEBUG] Loading session variables...
[DEBUG] Variable set: provider=google-ai
[DEBUG] Provider initialized: GoogleAIStudioProvider
[DEBUG] Model: gemini-3-flash-preview
[DEBUG] MCP servers discovered: 5
[DEBUG] Tools available: 39

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Interactive CLI: Your AI Development Environment

Why Interactive Mode?

Traditional CLI vs Interactive Mode

Getting Started

Starting a Session

Your First Interactive Session

Loop Mode Deep Dive

Session Variables

Setting Variables

Getting Current Values

Unsetting Variables

Conversation Memory

How Memory Works

Memory Persistence (Redis)

Provider Switching

Model Experimentation

Command Reference

Session Management

Available Session Variables

MCP Tools Commands

HITL Commands

Help Commands

Real-World Workflows

Workflow 1: Development Iteration

Workflow 3: MCP Tool Testing

Workflow 4: Documentation Generation

Command Aliases

Session Persistence

Saving Sessions

Resuming Sessions

Sharing Sessions

Integration with Scripts

Piping Input

Non-Interactive Mode

CI/CD Usage

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Issue: Command Not Recognized

Issue: Conversation Memory Not Working

Issue: Provider Connection Failed

Issue: Session Export Empty

Issue: MCP Tools Not Showing

Debug Mode

See Also