cli-web-gai

Google AI Mode search: AI answers with source references, rendered through headless Playwright (Chromium). Install: pip install cli-web-gai

Commands

• search ask QUERY — submit a question. Options: --lang CODE (response language, e.g. en, he, de; default en), --timeout SECONDS (default 30), --headed (show the browser window, e.g. to solve a CAPTCHA)
• search followup QUERY — follow-up in the same conversation; requires a prior ask in the same session

Examples

# Ask a question — returns answer + sources
cli-web-gai search ask "What is quantum computing?" --json

# Extract just the source URLs
cli-web-gai search ask "best static site generators" --json | \
  python3 -c "import json,sys; [print(s['url']) for s in json.load(sys.stdin)['data']['sources']]"

# Answer in another language
cli-web-gai search ask "What is machine learning?" --lang he --json

# Follow-up (same session only)
cli-web-gai search followup "How is it used in cryptography?" --json

JSON output

Add --json for structured output: {"success": true, "data": {query, answer, sources: [{title, url, snippet}], follow_up_prompt}}. Errors: {"error": true, "code": "...", "message": "..."}.

Utilities

cli-web-gai doctor [--json] diagnoses local setup. cli-web-gai mcp-serve exposes the commands as MCP tools over stdio. Running with no subcommand opens a REPL with ask / followup shortcuts.

Agent tips

• Google rate-limits headless browsers; space out queries. If a CAPTCHA appears, rerun with --headed and solve it manually.
• Conversation threading (followup) only persists within a single CLI session, not across invocations.