Explore with the CLI

The axilio CLI exposes phone control and platform operations to people, shell scripts, and coding agents. Human-readable tables are the default. Most commands also provide structured JSON output.

Install

Homebrew
Install script
Windows (PowerShell)
Release archive

On macOS, install the CLI with Homebrew:

brew install axilioai/tap/axilio

Homebrew also installs the manual. Read it with man axilio.

On macOS or Linux, install the latest release and verify its published checksum with the install script:

curl -fsSL https://axilio.ai/install.sh | sh

The script chooses the binary for your operating system and architecture. Set INSTALL_DIR if you need a non-default destination.

On Windows, install the latest release from PowerShell. The script verifies the published checksum, installs axilio.exe to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\axilio\bin, and adds that folder to your user PATH:

irm https://axilio.ai/install.ps1 | iex

Open a new terminal afterwards. The script works in Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7 and needs no administrator rights. Set $env:INSTALL_DIR first if you need a non-default destination. Windows has no man, so read the installed manual with axilio help --html.

Prebuilt archives for Linux, macOS, and Windows are available on the GitHub releases page. On Windows, extract the zip and add the folder that contains axilio.exe to your PATH.

Use browser authentication for an interactive terminal:

axilio login
axilio status

For CI or another non-interactive environment, supply an organization-scoped API key through AXILIO_API_KEY. See Authentication.

Inspect a phone from the terminal

List the dedicated phones available to allocate, start a session, inspect the screen, and save a screenshot:

axilio phones list
eval "$(axilio sessions start --phone-id ph_123 --export)"

axilio phone observe
axilio phone screenshot --out screen.png

axilio sessions stop "$AXILIO_SESSION" --yes && unset AXILIO_SESSION

axilio phones list
axilio sessions start --phone-id ph_123 --export | Invoke-Expression

axilio phone observe
axilio phone screenshot --out screen.png

axilio sessions stop $env:AXILIO_SESSION --yes
if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) { Remove-Item Env:AXILIO_SESSION }

Replace ph_123 with an ID returned by axilio phones list. The exported AXILIO_SESSION selects the session for subsequent axilio phone commands. Unlike an SDK context manager, the CLI session remains active until you stop it, so always release the phone when you finish.

Explore a read-only task

Work out a mobile task one action at a time before turning it into an SDK script. This example opens X, searches for agentic infrastructure, and scrolls through the first few Top results without changing the account.

Before you start

Install the CLI above, run axilio login, and verify the setup with axilio doctor.
Use a dedicated phone where X is already installed and signed in.
Make sure you are authorized to inspect the signed-in account. This guide does not post, follow, like, message, or change settings.

Explore the available commands with axilio --help. Run axilio help --html for the complete installed reference, or man axilio on macOS and Linux.

Start a session

List dedicated phones that can be allocated now, then start a session on one and select it for the current shell:

axilio phones list
eval "$(axilio sessions start --phone-id ph_123 --export)"

cleanup() {
  if [ -n "${AXILIO_SESSION:-}" ]; then
    axilio sessions stop "$AXILIO_SESSION" --yes && unset AXILIO_SESSION
  fi
}
trap cleanup EXIT

axilio phones list
axilio sessions start --phone-id ph_123 --export | Invoke-Expression

function cleanup {
  if ($env:AXILIO_SESSION) {
    axilio sessions stop $env:AXILIO_SESSION --yes
    if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) { Remove-Item Env:AXILIO_SESSION }
  }
}

Replace ph_123 with an ID from the first command. Every following axilio phone command uses AXILIO_SESSION automatically. In Bash or Zsh, the cleanup trap releases the phone if a later command fails or you exit the shell. PowerShell has no exit trap for an interactive session, so run cleanup yourself when you finish. cleanup clears AXILIO_SESSION only after the stop succeeds, so if a stop fails you can run it again.

The pre-existing demo below uses axilio phones mine, which remains a valid way to inspect all dedicated inventory. This guide uses axilio phones list because it filters the result to phones that can be allocated immediately.

The CLI saves session connection information locally. When several local sessions exist, use --session or AXILIO_SESSION to select the one a phone command should control.

Open X

Observe the launcher, open the app drawer, and tap X:

axilio phone observe
axilio phone swipe 244 950 244 300
axilio phone tap --query "the X app"
axilio phone observe

The swipe uses coordinates because opening the whole app drawer is a screen gesture, not a tappable element. These coordinates match the 488x1080 frame in the demo. Adjust them if observe reports a different screen size. The X tap uses a semantic target because one is available.

Search

X opens on the home timeline, where search is an icon. Open the search screen, focus the field, enter the query, and submit it:

axilio phone tap --query "the search icon"
axilio phone tap --query "the Search field"
axilio phone type "agentic infrastructure"
axilio phone key enter
axilio phone observe

The final observe verifies that X opened the Top results for the intended query before you continue.

Scroll through the top results

Run these commands up to three times. Observe after each swipe so you can check the screen before continuing:

axilio phone swipe 244 900 244 260
axilio phone observe

This swipe also uses coordinates because it scrolls the whole results view.

Stop the session

Stop as soon as you finish. Keep the session ID for the recording, because cleanup clears AXILIO_SESSION:

SESSION_ID=$AXILIO_SESSION
cleanup
trap - EXIT

$sessionId = $env:AXILIO_SESSION
cleanup

Screen recording is enabled by default unless the session or workflow turns it off. Download the recording from the CLI once processing finishes:

axilio sessions recording "$SESSION_ID" --wait --out axilio-session.mp4

axilio sessions recording $sessionId --wait --out axilio-session.mp4

--wait polls while the recording is still processing. Without --out the command prints the status and a short-lived URL instead. Or open Sessions, select the completed session, and use its recording when the status becomes ready. Python, Go, and REST lookup options are documented in Recordings.

Watch the demo

The original poster and recording still match the X interaction above. The inventory command shown in the recording is the supported phones mine variant described earlier.

Turn the exploration into code

Once the sequence is reliable, reproduce it with the Python or Go SDK. Keep semantic targets for taps, retain coordinate gestures only where the whole screen must move, observe after important transitions, and preserve guaranteed session cleanup.

Command map

Command group	Customer tasks
`axilio phones`, `axilio sessions`	Discover phones and manage phone sessions
`axilio phone`	Observe and control the selected session’s phone
`axilio workflows`, `axilio runs`	Author workflows and start, inspect, cancel, or watch runs
`axilio files`	Upload, list, download, push, and delete library files
`axilio usage`	Read usage metrics and per-inference records
`axilio billing`	Read the organization’s balance and plan
`axilio api-keys`	List, create, and delete API keys
`axilio orgs`	List and select organizations for a browser session

Run axilio <command> --help for flags and examples. Run axilio help --html to open the self-contained browser manual installed with the CLI.

Structured output

Use -o json for scripting:

axilio files list -o json

Most successful commands emit one JSON document. Two live commands use newline-delimited JSON because frames arrive over time:

axilio sessions trace <session-id> --follow -o json emits one object per frame and finishes with a trace_end summary.
axilio runs watch <run-id> -o json emits one object per frame and finishes with a watch_end summary.

axilio sessions start --phone-id <id> --export emits a shell assignment, not JSON. Bash and Zsh apply it with eval, PowerShell with Invoke-Expression. On Windows it prints PowerShell syntax by default; --shell posix, --shell powershell, or --shell cmd picks one explicitly. Progress, notes, and prompts go to standard error so standard output remains usable by scripts.

Source

The CLI is open source at github.com/axilioai/cli. Homebrew packages are published through axilioai/homebrew-tap. The install scripts are install.sh and install.ps1.

Get Started

Phones and Sessions

Workflows and Runs

Files

Observability

Telemetry

Usage

Billing

Organization

Reference

Explore with the CLI

Install

Inspect a phone from the terminal

Explore a read-only task

Before you start

Start a session

Open X

Search

Scroll through the top results

Stop the session

Watch the demo

Turn the exploration into code

Command map

Structured output

Source

Next steps

SDK quickstart

Control reference

​Install

​Sign in

​Inspect a phone from the terminal

​Explore a read-only task

​Before you start

​Start a session

​Open X

​Search

​Scroll through the top results

​Stop the session

​Watch the demo

​Turn the exploration into code

​Command map

​Structured output

​Source

​Next steps

SDK quickstart

Control reference

Install

Sign in

Inspect a phone from the terminal

Explore a read-only task

Before you start

Start a session

Open X

Search

Scroll through the top results

Stop the session

Watch the demo

Turn the exploration into code

Command map

Structured output

Source

Next steps