# CLI

> Query WhisperGraph from the command line with the whisper CLI: raw Cypher, named recipes, a local MCP server for Claude Code and Cursor, and a graph explorer.

*Source: https://www.whisper.security/docs/cli*

---
`whisper` is one signed binary that talks to WhisperGraph from your terminal. Same graph as the [HTTP API](/docs/cypher-api), same read-only Cypher, same recipes these docs describe. No HTTP client to write and no JSON to hand-assemble.

Four commands make up the graph side.

| Command | What it does | Page |
|---|---|---|
| `whisper query` | Run one Cypher statement and print a table, or the raw JSON envelope | [Query](/docs/cli/query) |
| `whisper graph` | Run a named recipe from the catalog | [Recipes from the terminal](/docs/cli/recipes) |
| `whisper mcp` | Serve the graph to Claude Code, Cursor or any stdio MCP client | [Local MCP server](/docs/cli/mcp) |
| `whisper explore` | Walk the graph from a node in a full-screen view | [below](#explore-the-graph) |

The same binary also gives an AI agent its own IPv6 address and routes the agent's traffic from it. That half of the tool (`connect`, `run`, `init`, `ip`, `verify`, `sign`) is documented at [whisper.online/docs/cli](https://whisper.online/docs/cli). This chapter does not repeat it.

## Install

One line fetches the signed binary, checks its SHA-256, and puts it on your `PATH`:

```bash
curl -fsSL https://get.whisper.online | sh
```

Homebrew works too:

```bash
brew install whisper-sec/tap/whisper
```

Windows (PowerShell), Scoop, signed apt, dnf and apk repositories, `go install` and mise are all in the [README](https://github.com/whisper-sec/whisper-cli#install). Every build is static, and every release is signed with the AS219419 key, so `gpg --verify` works on any binary you download by hand.

Check it landed:

```bash
whisper version
```

## Sign in

The graph commands use your API key. Sign in once and every later command finds it:

```bash
whisper login
```

Press Enter to approve the login in your browser, or paste a key at the prompt. The key is saved to `~/.config/whisper/key` with owner-only permissions.

In CI or a container, set `WHISPER_API_KEY` in the environment instead. For a single command, pass `--key`; it wins over both. `whisper config` shows which source is in effect.

No account yet? [Sign in](https://console.whisper.security/sign-in?redirect_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whisper.security%2Fdocs%2Fcli) and a key is created for you. There is no card to enter.

## One flag for scripts

Add `--json` to any graph command and it prints the raw response instead of a table. For `whisper query` that is the same `columns`, `rows`, `statistics` envelope the [HTTP API](/docs/cypher-api) returns, so a script written against the API reads CLI output unchanged. `--no-color` (or the `NO_COLOR` variable) drops the colour.

## Explore the graph

```bash
whisper explore api.openai.com
```

This opens a full-screen view. You stand on a node, see its edges and neighbours, and step along any of them. The recipe catalog is one keystroke away from wherever you are. With a key the view is live; without one it runs on demo data, which is a fine way to learn the [schema](/docs/whisper-graph/schema) before you write a query.

## Where next

The query, recipes and local-MCP pages are listed at the top of this chapter.
When a recipe does not cover your question, [Cypher](/docs/cypher) is the
dialect the graph runs.