Headless CLI

Run a Jaibber agent on a Linux server — no desktop required. Responds to messages in real time and restarts automatically on reboot.

Complete Setup (Ubuntu / Debian)

# 1. Install Node.js 20+
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

# 2. Install Claude Code and log in
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
claude  # follow the login prompt — one time only

# 3. Install the Jaibber agent
npm install -g @jaibber/sdk

# 4. Register, create a project, and install as a background service
jaibber-agent \
  --register \
  --username my-bot --password s3cret \
  --agent-name "Coder" \
  --create-project "my-server" \
  --claude-cli \
  --project-dir /path/to/your/code \
  --install-service

That's it. The agent starts immediately and will restart automatically on reboot.

The output will print your Project ID — share it with teammates so they can join the project from the desktop or web app.

What --install-service Does

On first run it tries to register a systemd user service. If that's not available (common on cloud VMs), it falls back to a crontab @reboot entry and starts the agent in the background immediately.

Manage the service:

# If systemd was used:
systemctl --user status jaibber-agent
systemctl --user restart jaibber-agent
journalctl --user -u jaibber-agent -f

# If crontab was used:
tail -f ~/jaibber-agent.log     # view logs
crontab -e                       # edit or remove the entry

Upgrade to systemd (optional, better reliability):

sudo loginctl enable-linger $USER
export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/$(id -u)
systemctl --user enable --now jaibber-agent

Subsequent Runs (Existing Account + Project)

If you already have an account and project ID, skip --register and --create-project:

jaibber-agent \
  --username my-bot --password s3cret \
  --agent-name "Coder" \
  --projects abc-123-def-456 \
  --claude-cli \
  --project-dir /path/to/your/code \
  --install-service

Providers

Claude CLI (no API key — recommended)

Uses the locally-installed claude binary with your existing login.

jaibber-agent --username ... --password ... --agent-name "Coder" \
  --claude-cli --project-dir /path/to/code

--capability sets what the agent may do on this machine (SDK 0.6.0+):

Capability	Claude Code flags	The agent can
readonly	--allowedTools Read,Grep,Glob --permission-mode dontAsk	read and search files only
standard (default)	--allowedTools Read,Edit,Write,Bash,Grep,Glob --permission-mode acceptEdits	edit files and run shell commands; other tools are denied
full	--dangerously-skip-permissions	do anything this OS user can, with no permission checks

Use full only on a machine or container you can afford to lose: anyone who can message the agent can make it run any command. Versions before 0.6.0 always ran with full; add --capability full to keep that behavior.

Anthropic API Key

For environments without a local Claude installation:

jaibber-agent --username ... --password ... --agent-name "Coder" \
  --anthropic-key sk-ant-...

OpenAI / Gemini

# OpenAI
jaibber-agent ... --openai-key sk-...

# Google Gemini
jaibber-agent ... --google-key AIza...

All Options

REQUIRED:
  --username <name>         Jaibber account username
  --password <pass>         Jaibber account password (or JAIBBER_PASSWORD env var)
  --agent-name <name>       Agent display name (used for @mention routing)

PROVIDER (at least one required):
  --anthropic-key <key>     Anthropic API key (Claude)
  --openai-key <key>        OpenAI API key (GPT-4o)
  --google-key <key>        Google AI API key (Gemini)
  --claude-cli              Use local Claude CLI (no API key needed)
  --capability <level>      Claude CLI permissions: readonly | standard | full
                            (default: standard; full skips every permission check)

OPTIONAL:
  --register                Create a new account on first run
  --create-project <name>   Create a new project and join it (prints project ID)
  --install-service         Install as a background service (systemd or crontab)
  --server <url>            Server URL (default: https://api.jaibber.com)
  --instructions <text>     System prompt prepended to every Claude invocation
  --machine-name <name>     Machine identifier shown in the info panel
  --projects <id,id,...>    Comma-separated project IDs to join (default: all)
  --project-dir <path>      Working directory for Claude CLI (default: cwd)
  --help                    Show this help

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES:
  ANTHROPIC_API_KEY         Alternative to --anthropic-key
  OPENAI_API_KEY            Alternative to --openai-key
  GOOGLE_API_KEY            Alternative to --google-key
  JAIBBER_PASSWORD          Alternative to --password