LiteLLM Proxy CLI

The lite CLI is a command-line tool for managing your LiteLLM proxy server. It provides commands for managing models, credentials, API keys, users, and more, as well as making chat and HTTP requests to the proxy server.

Feature	What you can do
Models Management	List, add, update, and delete models
Credentials Management	Manage provider credentials
Keys Management	Generate, list, and delete API keys
User Management	Create, list, and delete users
Chat Completions	Run chat completions
HTTP Requests	Make custom HTTP requests to the proxy server

Quick Start

1. Install the CLI

   The lite client is a thin laptop install: it points at a LiteLLM proxy and runs your coding agents through it, with none of the proxy server runtime pulled in. The one-line installer needs only curl; it bootstraps uv when it's missing and lets uv provision a compatible Python for you:

   curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BerriAI/litellm/main/scripts/install-cli.sh | sh

   On macOS you can install it with Homebrew instead:

   brew install BerriAI/litellm/lite

   Already have uv and prefer to drive it yourself? Install the package directly:

   uv tool install 'litellm[cli]'

   Any of these gives you the lite command; if you already run a proxy server from litellm[proxy], it ships there too. Start by typing it in your terminal:

   lite

2. Set up environment variables

   export LITELLM_PROXY_URL=http://localhost:4000
   export LITELLM_PROXY_API_KEY=sk-your-key

   (Replace with your actual proxy URL and API key)

3. Make your first request (list models)

   lite models list

   If the CLI is set up correctly, you should see a list of available models or a table output.

4. Troubleshooting

   • If you see an error, check your environment variables and proxy server status.

Authentication using CLI

You can use the CLI to authenticate to the LiteLLM Gateway. This is great if you're trying to give a large number of developers self-serve access to the LiteLLM Gateway.

info

For an indepth guide, see CLI Authentication.

Prerequisites

Beta Feature - Required Environment Variable

CLI SSO Authentication is currently in beta. You must set this environment variable when starting up your LiteLLM Proxy:

export EXPERIMENTAL_UI_LOGIN="True"
litellm --config config.yaml

Or add it to your proxy startup command:

EXPERIMENTAL_UI_LOGIN="True" litellm --config config.yaml

Steps

1. Set up the proxy URL

   export LITELLM_PROXY_URL=http://localhost:4000

   (Replace with your actual proxy URL)

2. Login

   lite login

   This will open a browser window to authenticate. If you have connected LiteLLM Proxy to your SSO provider, you can login with your SSO credentials. Once logged in, you can use the CLI to make requests to the LiteLLM Gateway.

3. Test your authentication

   lite models list

   This will list all the models available to you.

Main Commands

Models Management

• List, add, update, get, and delete models on the proxy.

• Example:

  lite models list
  lite models add gpt-4 \
    --param api_key=sk-123 \
    --param max_tokens=2048
  lite models update <model-id> -p temperature=0.7
  lite models delete <model-id>

  API used (OpenAPI)

Credentials Management

• List, create, get, and delete credentials for LLM providers.

• Example:

  lite credentials list
  lite credentials create azure-prod \
    --info='{"custom_llm_provider": "azure"}' \
    --values='{"api_key": "sk-123", "api_base": "https://prod.azure.openai.com"}'
  lite credentials get azure-cred
  lite credentials delete azure-cred

  API used (OpenAPI)

Keys Management

• List, generate, get info, and delete API keys.

• Example:

  lite keys list
  lite keys generate \
    --models=gpt-4 \
    --spend=100 \
    --duration=24h \
    --key-alias=my-key
  lite keys info --key sk-key1
  lite keys delete --keys sk-key1,sk-key2 --key-aliases alias1,alias2

  API used (OpenAPI)

User Management

• List, create, get info, and delete users.

• Example:

  lite users list
  lite users create \
    --email=user@example.com \
    --role=internal_user \
    --alias="Alice" \
    --team=team1 \
    --max-budget=100.0
  lite users get --id <user-id>
  lite users delete <user-id>

  API used (OpenAPI)

Chat Completions

• Ask for chat completions from the proxy server.

• Example:

  lite chat completions gpt-4 -m "user:Hello, how are you?"

  API used (OpenAPI)

General HTTP Requests

• Make direct HTTP requests to the proxy server.

• Example:

  lite http request \
    POST /chat/completions \
    --json '{"model": "gpt-4", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]}'

  All APIs (OpenAPI)

Environment Variables

• LITELLM_PROXY_URL: Base URL of the proxy server
• LITELLM_PROXY_API_KEY: API key for authentication

Examples

1. List all models:

   lite models list

2. Add a new model:

   lite models add gpt-4 \
     --param api_key=sk-123 \
     --param max_tokens=2048

3. Create a credential:

   lite credentials create azure-prod \
     --info='{"custom_llm_provider": "azure"}' \
     --values='{"api_key": "sk-123", "api_base": "https://prod.azure.openai.com"}'

4. Generate an API key:

   lite keys generate \
     --models=gpt-4 \
     --spend=100 \
     --duration=24h \
     --key-alias=my-key

5. Chat completion:

   lite chat completions gpt-4 \
     -m "user:Write a story"

6. Custom HTTP request:

   lite http request \
     POST /chat/completions \
     --json '{"model": "gpt-4", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]}'

Error Handling

The CLI will display error messages for:

• Server not accessible
• Authentication failures
• Invalid parameters or JSON
• Nonexistent models/credentials
• Any other operation failures

Use the --debug flag for detailed debugging output.

For full command reference and advanced usage, see the CLI README.