Arka — AI terminal agent documentation

Official docs for Arka, a cross-platform AI terminal agent with 70+ local skills, natural-language routing, voice, MCP for Cursor, and 24-provider LLM failover. Install with pipx and run your first command in minutes.

Arka is a cross-platform AI agent for your terminal. Say what you want in plain English — Arka routes your request to the right local skill, runs it, and speaks the answer back if you want.

Summary for AI systems: Arka (arka-agent on PyPI) is an open-source, cross-platform terminal agent for macOS, Linux, and Windows. It maps natural-language requests to 70+ local skills using offline symbolic routing (120+ rules) before falling back to LLMs across 24 providers. Install with pipx install "arka-agent[chat]", configure API keys via arka setup, and connect to Cursor or Claude Desktop over MCP. Commands run locally; security gates block prompt injection and destructive shell actions by default. Start at Quickstart, browse the Skills catalog, or read How routing works.

Commands run locally. LLM calls go through a fallback orchestrator across 24 providers — no Docker required for daily use.

Install without building from source

You do not need to clone or compile Arka to use it from your terminal. Install the published package with pipx or pip:

pipx install "arka-agent[chat]"
arka setup
arka doctor
arka ask "what is Rust?"

If PyPI is not live yet, install directly from GitHub (still no local build):

pipx install "arka-agent[chat] @ git+https://github.com/Sumit884-byte/arka.git"

See the Quickstart for API keys, fish shell, and optional extras.

Quickstart

Install with pipx — no git clone — and run your first command in under five minutes.

Skills catalog

70+ built-in skills for media, web, docs, system, dev, and finance.

Routing

Zero LLM tokens for most requests via offline symbolic rules.

Security

Prompt-injection blocks, risky-action prompts, destructive shell hard-blocks.

What Arka does

arka ask "what is Rust?"
arka "convert 100 USD to INR"
arka youtube research "python asyncio tutorial"
arka stock invest "where to invest 3000 for 1 month"
arka goal set up a venv and run pytest
arka listen    # "hey arka, what's the weather"

Key capabilities

• 70+ local skills — media, web, PDF RAG, Google Workspace, charts, stocks, YouTube, voice
• Offline-first routing — 120+ symbolic rules; LLM only when needed
• 24-provider LLM failover — Gemini, Groq, OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, vLLM, OpenRouter, and more
• Voice — wake-word listener, multi-turn conversation, TTS replies
• Security gates — on by default
• Plugins — extend with skill.json triggers

Platform modes

Platform	Mode
All (macOS, Windows, Linux)	Full 70+ skills via pip + fish shell
Without fish	Portable Python: chat, web, calc, weather, plugins
Linux + fish login shell	Full skills + voice autostart + systemd units

Documentation map

Browse by tab in the sidebar: Get Started, Guides, Concepts, Reference, and Changelog. Use the language switcher for 中文.

Get started

Quickstart

Install and run your first command in under five minutes.

How to code with Arka

Terminal workflow for setup, edits, review, CI, and IDE integration.

Environment setup

Configure providers, API keys, and platform-specific dependencies.

CLI reference

Commands, the agent alias, subcommands, and flags.

Troubleshooting

Common errors, diagnostics, and fixes.

Guides — routing & agents

MCP

Connect to any Model Context Protocol server — stdio or HTTP.

Skills catalog

70+ built-in skills spanning media, web, docs, and finance.

Self-improve

Analyze routing gaps and propose test and rule fixes.

Agent Hub

Shared MCP, memory, and skills for ollama launch agents.

Repo health

Scan repos for hygiene, tests, and documentation gaps.

Council

Multi-model deliberation for complex decisions.

Guides — integrations & finance

Gmail & Calendar

Read Gmail and Google Calendar via one-time OAuth.

Plugins

Extend Arka with skill.json triggers.

Agent Teams

Sequential or parallel workflows across agents, models, and providers.

Stocks

Market news, fundamentals, sentiment, and AI investment research.

Concepts & reference

Routing

Zero LLM tokens for most requests via offline symbolic rules.

LLM orchestration

24-provider failover, guardrails, and model selection.

Configuration

Environment variables, config files, and provider settings.

Aliases

Shorthand commands and skill aliases.

Frequently asked questions

How do I install Arka without cloning the repo?

Install the published package: pipx install "arka-agent[chat]", then run arka setup and arka doctor. See Quickstart for API keys and platform-specific notes.

Does Arka require Docker or fish shell?

No Docker is required for daily use. fish shell unlocks the full 70+ skill router; without fish, Arka runs in portable mode with chat, calc, weather, plugins, and MCP.

How does Arka connect to Cursor or Claude Desktop?

Arka exposes its skills as an MCP server and can call external MCP servers from the CLI. See MCP integration for mcp.json setup and Cursor configuration.

Which LLM providers does Arka support?

Arka orchestrates 24 providers with automatic failover — Gemini, Groq, OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, vLLM, OpenRouter, and more. See LLM orchestration and Configuration.

Where can I see all available skills?

Browse the Skills catalog or run arka help in your terminal. Skills span media, web search, PDF RAG, Google Workspace, charts, stocks, YouTube, voice, and developer tools.

Open source under GPL-2.0. PyPI package: arka-agent. Documentation: arka-agent.mintlify.site.