Amazon Q CLI

What is Amazon Q CLI?

Amazon Q CLI is an AI-powered assistant that operates directly within your command-line interface. Developed by AWS, it acts as a pair-programmer for the terminal, designed to understand natural language prompts and translate them into executable commands, code snippets, and API calls. It streamlines development workflows by helping users write, edit, debug, and automate tasks without leaving the terminal environment.

Key Features

• Natural Language to Command: Translate plain English descriptions into complex shell commands for various CLIs (e.g., aws, git, npm).
• Code Generation & Explanation: Generate code in languages like Python, JavaScript, and Go, and get explanations for what the code does.
• In-Terminal Debugging: Get suggestions for fixing errors in shell scripts or other code directly from the error output.
• Context-Aware Assistance: Amazon Q can use the context of your local files to provide more relevant and accurate suggestions.
• Command Autocompletion: Provides intelligent, AI-driven autocompletion for hundreds of popular command-line tools.

Use Cases

• AWS Service Management: “How do I create an S3 bucket and make it public?”
• Scripting: “Write a shell script to find all files larger than 100MB in the current directory and its subdirectories.”
• Git Operations: “Show me the git command to squash the last 3 commits into one.”
• Learning New Tools: “What’s the kubectl command to view logs for a pod?”

Getting Started

Getting started with Amazon Q CLI is straightforward.

1. Installation: Download and run the installer provided by AWS. It will add the q executable to your system’s PATH.

   # Example installation command (check official docs for the latest)
   curl -o q-installer.sh <INSTALLER_URL> && bash q-installer.sh
   

2. Authentication: Log in using your free AWS Builder ID or an IAM Identity Center account for Pro features.

   q login
   

3. Start Asking: You can now ask questions directly.

   q "how to list all running docker containers"
       
   # Q will suggest the command:
   # docker ps
   

Pricing

Amazon Q follows a freemium model:

• Free Tier: Available to all developers with a free AWS Builder ID. It offers core features with certain usage limits.
• Pro Tier: Priced at $19/user/month, this tier unlocks advanced capabilities, higher usage limits, and allows the AI to access your AWS account context for more personalized assistance.