CodeRabbit CLI: The Missing Reviewer, Right Inside Your Terminal

Bringing senior-engineer level reviews to the place you code the fastest: your CLI by CodeRabbit

Hello Everyone

Welcome to your AKVAverse, I’m Abhishek Veeramalla, aka the AKVAman, your guide for Cloud, DevOps, and AI.

Last week, I paired with a friend who is fully leaning into AI coding agents.

Instead of launching VS Code, he was literally writing and testing code in the terminal using agents like Auggie CLI, Claude Code and Cursor CLI.

It was speedy. It was efficient. It was almost like magic.

But midway through, he took a pause and asked me:

Abhishek, this code looks good, but who is going to review this before I push?

That is when it hit me.

AI agents write code great, but they also do not always know when they are wrong. And by the time your Pull Request gets to GitHub, a lot of confusing logic may already have occurred.

The Gap in AI Coding Workflows

Here’s the thing:

Code generation is a solved problem. AI can produce functions, modules, or even tests but can’t review code.

The most common type of code review happens at the PR stage, but that's too late in the process.

Errors might have been replicated across multiple commits. Logical gaps may be more difficult to extract. Teams are wasting cycles fixing instead of building.

We need code review at terminal velocity - where feedback is instantaneous, where the AI is writing the code.

Enter CodeRabbit CLI

This is precisely the problem CodeRabbit CLI addresses.

If you’ve been around GitHub Marketplace, you know CodeRabbit. It is the #1 installed AI app, trusted with 13M+ Pull Requests across 2M repos and over 85k installs.

They’ve now brought that same proven AI review engine into the terminal.

And it feels like you are pairing with a senior engineer, while still being able to keep your flow.

Why It Matters

CodeRabbit CLI is not another AI agent. It is the quality layer between code generation and production.

Here’s what it brings to the table:

1. Code reviews at supersonic speed of terminal: CodeRabbit CLI puts immediate AI reviews directly in your terminal, so you never break flow. It's like pair-programming with a superleeping senior engineer.

2. Free AI code reviews: For solo devs, CodeRabbit CLI is free, staff-level feedback without the staff cost addition of sharp insights.

3. Catch AI slop before it ships: Acts as a safeguard against hallucinations, security vulnerabilities, and logical errors in AI-generated code.

4. Review uncommitted changes: Enables feedback on staged or unstaged code, allowing for early detection and correction of issues before committing.

5. Works with all CLI coding agents: Seamlessly integrates with popular coding agents like Claude Code, Cursor CLI, Gemini, Codex, and OpenCode.

6. Supports every major programming language: Compatible with a wide range of programming languages, including JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Java, C#, C++, Go, Rust, Ruby, PHP, and more.

   

What Makes It Different

Plenty of tools promise to make your AI code safer. But CodeRabbit CLI isn’t just another review add-on; it’s built for the real flow of developers who live in the terminal. That’s why it distinguishes itself through a major critical differentiator

1. Terminal-native experience: Allows developers to code, review, and commit without leaving the terminal environment, minimizing context switching and maximizing efficiency.

2. Pre-commit reviews: Enable the identification and resolution of bugs before they are committed to the repository and potentially spread to other parts of the codebase.

3. AI agent orchestration: Serves as the first CLI tool that can pass review context back to the coding agent for automated fixes, streamlining the correction process.

4. Multi-layered review process: Offers a combination of CLI checks and PR reviews, providing double protection against errors and ensuring code quality. It is like having a safety net and a second safety net.

How It Works

Using CodeRabbit CLI is designed to be intuitive and integrate seamlessly into the existing development workflow. Developers can write or generate code as usual within their CLI. Before committing, they simply execute the review command.

Here's what happens next:

1. CodeRabbit meticulously inspects the staged or unstaged changes line by line.

2. It provides inline comments, similar to a senior developer offering guidance and suggestions.

3. Developers can instantly accept fixes with a single command.

4. Alternatively, they can hand off the review context to their AI coding agent (e.g., Claude, Cursor) for structured auto-fixes.

No GitHub PR required. No Slack message begging for reviews. It’s just… right there, in flow.

Try It Yourself

The setup is as simple as it gets. One command:

curl -fsSL https://cli.coderabbit.ai/install.sh | sh

And just like that, your terminal now has a senior engineer on standby.

Try CodeRabbit CLI for free: https://fnf.dev/41aHXwv

A Thought to Leave You With

AI coding agents are incredible; they make us faster. But without reviews, faster can mean shipping more mistakes, more technical debt, more late-night firefighting.

CodeRabbit CLI flips that around. It ensures the code AI writes for you is also reviewed, refined, and production-ready, all without leaving your terminal.

So the next time your AI agent spits out hundreds of lines of code in seconds, pause and ask yourself:

Who’s reviewing this before it goes live?

With CodeRabbit CLI, you finally have an answer.

So start small, stay curious, and get hands-on.

Until next time, keep building, keep experimenting, and keep exploring your AKVAverse. 💙

Abhishek Veeramalla, aka the AKVAman