q
TLDR
Start an interactive chat session
SYNOPSIS
q [command] [options] [prompt]
DESCRIPTION
Amazon Q Developer CLI is an AI-powered terminal assistant from AWS that provides agentic chat, command autocompletion, and natural language code generation. The enhanced CLI agent, powered by Anthropic's Claude, can read and write files locally, query AWS resources, run bash commands, and help debug issues.
The tool offers two assistance features: an autocomplete dropdown menu showing available command options, and inline suggestions appearing as gray ghost text as you type. It supports natural language translation to shell commands via q translate and interactive coding sessions via q chat.
Available for macOS and Linux, it integrates with terminals including macOS Terminal, iTerm2, and VS Code's built-in terminal.
COMMANDS
chat
Start an interactive chat session (default command)translate
Convert natural language to shell commandsdoctor
Diagnose and fix common issues
CHAT OPTIONS
--no-interactive
Run in non-interactive mode--trust-all-tools
Trust all tools for execution without prompting--resume
Resume a previous chat session--agent NAME
Use a specific agent configuration--help
Display help information
IN-SESSION COMMANDS
/save
Save the current chat session/load
Recover a previous chat history/quit
Exit the chat (or use Ctrl+D)
CAVEATS
Requires AWS authentication and an Amazon Q Developer subscription (Free or Pro tier). The enhanced CLI agent is available in all AWS regions where Q Developer is available. Set Q_LOG_LEVEL environment variable to debug for troubleshooting.
HISTORY
Amazon Q Developer CLI was released by AWS as part of the Amazon Q Developer suite. The enhanced CLI agent with agentic coding capabilities was announced in March 2025, powered by Anthropic's Claude 3.7 Sonnet. In 2025, users can upgrade to the Kiro CLI for additional features while retaining Q Developer functionality.
