Parallel CLI

Command-line tool for web search, content extraction, data enrichment, deep research, entity discovery, and web monitoring

For AI agents: a documentation index is available at https://docs.parallel.ai/llms.txt. The full text of all docs is at https://docs.parallel.ai/llms-full.txt. You may also fetch any page as Markdown by appending .md to its URL or sending Accept: text/markdown.

The parallel-cli is a command-line tool for interacting with the Parallel API. It works interactively or fully via command-line arguments, making it the recommended way to use Parallel in standalone agents. For best results, pair the CLI with Agent Skills or Claude Code to give your agent structured access to search, extract, enrich, and research capabilities.

View the source and full README on GitHub.

Already have parallel-cli installed? Run parallel-cli update to get the latest features and improvements.

Installation

pipx

Install in an isolated environment so parallel-cli is on your PATH:

pipx install "parallel-web-tools[cli]" && pipx ensurepath

pipx ensurepath is only required on first-ever pipx use; including it here makes the command safe to copy-paste either way. For the minimal CLI without YAML configs / interactive planner, use pipx install parallel-web-tools.

uv

uv is Astral’s faster modern alternative to pipx. It writes a PATH-aware shim on first run, so no ensurepath step is needed:

uv tool install "parallel-web-tools[cli]"

Requires uv to be installed first — see Astral’s install guide.

Homebrew

brew install parallel-web/tap/parallel-cli

pip

Use pip when you’re embedding parallel-web-tools in a Python project (rather than using parallel-cli as a standalone tool — see the pipx tab for that):

# Minimal SDK
pip install parallel-web-tools

# With YAML config files and interactive planner
pip install parallel-web-tools[cli]

# With data integrations
pip install parallel-web-tools[duckdb]    # DuckDB
pip install parallel-web-tools[bigquery]  # BigQuery
pip install parallel-web-tools[spark]     # Apache Spark

# Everything
pip install parallel-web-tools[all]

npm

npm install -g parallel-web-cli

Shell Script

Install the standalone binary (no Python or Node required):

curl -fsSL https://parallel.ai/install.sh | bash

This detects your platform (macOS/Linux, x64/arm64) and installs to ~/.local/bin.

Some agent skill registries flag the curl | bash pattern as a supply-chain risk. If you’re installing parallel-cli for use with Agent Skills, prefer pipx or Homebrew.

Authentication

# Interactive OAuth login (opens browser)
parallel-cli login

# Device authorization flow — for SSH, containers, CI, or headless environments
parallel-cli login --device

# Or set environment variable
export PARALLEL_API_KEY="your_api_key"

# Check auth status
parallel-cli auth

Get your API key from Platform.

Commands

Search

Search the web with natural language objectives or keyword queries.

# Natural language search
parallel-cli search "What is Anthropic's latest AI model?" --json

# Keyword search with date filter
parallel-cli search -q "bitcoin price" --after-date 2026-01-01 --json

# Search specific domains
parallel-cli search "SEC filings for Apple" --include-domains sec.gov --json

# Set search mode
parallel-cli search "latest AI research" --mode one-shot --json

Option	Description
-q, --query	Keyword search query (repeatable)
--mode	one-shot or agentic (default)
--max-results	Maximum results (default: 10)
--include-domains	Only search these domains
--exclude-domains	Exclude these domains
--after-date	Only results after this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
--json	Output as JSON
-o, --output	Save results to file

Extract

Extract clean markdown content from URLs.

# Basic extraction
parallel-cli extract https://example.com --json

# Extract with a specific focus
parallel-cli extract https://company.com --objective "Find pricing info" --json

# Get full page content
parallel-cli extract https://example.com --full-content --json

Option	Description
--objective	Focus extraction on a specific goal
-q, --query	Keywords to prioritize (repeatable)
--full-content	Include complete page content
--no-excerpts	Exclude excerpts from output
--json	Output as JSON
-o, --output	Save results to file

Research

Run deep research on open-ended questions.

# Run deep research
parallel-cli research run "What are the latest developments in quantum computing?" --json

# Use a specific processor tier
parallel-cli research run "Compare EV battery technologies" --processor ultra --json

# Read query from file
parallel-cli research run -f question.txt -o report

# Async: launch then poll separately
parallel-cli research run "question" --no-wait --json    # returns run_id
parallel-cli research status trun_xxx --json              # check status
parallel-cli research poll trun_xxx --json                # wait and get result

# List available processors
parallel-cli research processors --json

Option	Description
-p, --processor	Processor tier: lite, base, core, pro (default), ultra, and -fast variants
--no-wait	Return immediately after creating task
--timeout	Max wait time in seconds (default: 3600)
-o, --output	Save results (creates .json and .md files)
--json	Output as JSON

Enrich

Enrich CSV or JSON data with AI-powered web research.

# Let AI suggest output columns
parallel-cli enrich suggest "Find the CEO and annual revenue" --json

# Run enrichment directly
parallel-cli enrich run \
    --source-type csv \
    --source companies.csv \
    --target enriched.csv \
    --source-columns '[{"name": "company", "description": "Company name"}]' \
    --intent "Find the CEO and annual revenue"

# Enrich with inline data (no file needed)
parallel-cli enrich run \
    --data '[{"company": "Google"}, {"company": "Apple"}]' \
    --target output.csv \
    --intent "Find the CEO"

# Enrich a JSON file
parallel-cli enrich run \
    --source-type json \
    --source companies.json \
    --target enriched.json \
    --source-columns '[{"name": "company", "description": "Company name"}]' \
    --enriched-columns '[{"name": "ceo", "description": "CEO name"}]'

# Run from YAML config
parallel-cli enrich run config.yaml

# Async: launch then poll
parallel-cli enrich run config.yaml --no-wait --json
parallel-cli enrich status tgrp_xxx --json
parallel-cli enrich poll tgrp_xxx --json

Option	Description
--source-type	csv or json
--source	Source file path
--target	Target file path
--source-columns	Source columns as JSON
--enriched-columns	Output columns as JSON
--intent	Natural language description (AI suggests columns)
--processor	Processor tier (e.g. core-fast, pro, ultra)
--data	Inline JSON data array
--no-wait	Return immediately
--dry-run	Preview without making API calls
--json	Output as JSON

YAML configuration format

You can also define enrichment jobs in YAML:

source: input.csv
target: output.csv
source_type: csv
processor: core-fast

source_columns:
  - name: company_name
    description: The name of the company

enriched_columns:
  - name: ceo
    description: The CEO of the company
    type: str
  - name: revenue
    description: Annual revenue in USD
    type: float

Create YAML configs interactively or programmatically:

# Interactive
parallel-cli enrich plan -o config.yaml

# Non-interactive (for scripts/agents)
parallel-cli enrich plan -o config.yaml \
    --source-type csv \
    --source companies.csv \
    --target enriched.csv \
    --source-columns '[{"name": "company", "description": "Company name"}]' \
    --intent "Find the CEO and annual revenue"

YAML config files and the interactive planner require pip install parallel-web-tools[cli].

FindAll

Discover entities from the web using natural language.

# Discover entities
parallel-cli findall run "AI startups in healthcare" --json

# Control generator tier and match limit
parallel-cli findall run "Find roofing companies in Charlotte NC" -g base -n 25 --json

# Exclude specific entities
parallel-cli findall run "Find AI startups" \
    --exclude '[{"name": "Example Corp", "url": "example.com"}]' --json

# Preview schema before running
parallel-cli findall run "Find YC companies in developer tools" --dry-run --json

# Async workflow
parallel-cli findall run "AI startups" --no-wait --json
parallel-cli findall status frun_xxx --json
parallel-cli findall poll frun_xxx --json
parallel-cli findall result frun_xxx --json

# Cancel a running job
parallel-cli findall cancel frun_xxx

Option	Description
-g, --generator	Generator tier: preview, base, core (default), pro
-n, --match-limit	Max matched candidates, 5-1000 (default: 10)
--exclude	Entities to exclude as JSON array
--no-wait	Return immediately
--dry-run	Preview schema without creating the run
--json	Output as JSON

Monitor

Continuously track the web for changes.

# Create a monitor
parallel-cli monitor create "Track price changes for iPhone 16" --json

# Set check frequency
parallel-cli monitor create "New AI funding announcements" --cadence hourly --json

# With webhook delivery
parallel-cli monitor create "SEC filings from Tesla" \
    --webhook https://example.com/hook --json

# Manage monitors
parallel-cli monitor list --json
parallel-cli monitor get mon_xxx --json
parallel-cli monitor update mon_xxx --cadence weekly --json
parallel-cli monitor delete mon_xxx

# View events
parallel-cli monitor events mon_xxx --json

# Test webhook
parallel-cli monitor simulate mon_xxx --json

Option	Description
-c, --cadence	hourly, daily (default), weekly, every_two_weeks
--webhook	Webhook URL for event delivery
--output-schema	Output schema as JSON string
--json	Output as JSON

Non-Interactive Mode

All commands support --json output and can be fully controlled via CLI arguments, making the CLI ideal for use in scripts and by AI agents.

# Structured JSON output
parallel-cli search "query" --json

# Read input from stdin
echo "What is the latest funding for Anthropic?" | parallel-cli search - --json
echo "Research question" | parallel-cli research run - --json

# Exit codes
# 0 = success, 2 = bad input, 3 = auth error, 4 = API error, 5 = timeout

Updating

The standalone binary automatically checks for updates and will notify you when a new version is available. To update:

# pipx
pipx upgrade parallel-web-tools

# uv
uv tool upgrade parallel-web-tools

# Standalone binary
parallel-cli update

# Check for updates without installing
parallel-cli update --check

# Homebrew
brew upgrade parallel-cli

# npm
npm update -g parallel-web-cli

# pip
pip install --upgrade parallel-web-tools

To disable automatic update checks:

parallel-cli config auto-update-check off