# elia

> Terminal-based interface for chatting with LLMs like ChatGPT, Claude, and local models via ollama

Stars: 2.5k · Categories: AI

- Repository: https://github.com/darrenburns/elia
- Page: https://www.trmn.sh/tools/elia

## Install

- pipx: `pipx install --python 3.11 elia-chat`

## Overview

elia is a terminal user interface for interacting with large language models, providing keyboard-centric chat functionality directly from the command line. It supports both cloud-based models like ChatGPT, Claude 3, and Gemini, as well as local models running through ollama or LocalAI. The application stores conversation history in a local SQLite database and offers both inline and full-screen chat modes.

The tool provides flexible model configuration through a TOML config file, allowing users to add custom model endpoints, set API keys, and configure model-specific parameters like temperature and retry counts. Users can launch chats with specific models using command-line flags, import ChatGPT conversation exports, and customize the interface with various built-in themes or custom YAML theme files. elia handles multiple instances of the same model for different contexts (like work and personal OpenAI organizations).

Developers and AI enthusiasts who prefer terminal-based workflows will find elia useful for quick model interactions without leaving their command line environment. The application requires Python 3.11+ and API keys for proprietary models, while local model support requires ollama installation and setup.

### Installation

```bash
# via pipx
pipx install --python 3.11 elia-chat
```

![elia screenshot collage](https://media.trmn.sh/cached/33e16471eff34fd282756f2d44eb2dd13739563f1a43ac50b401469940826925.png)

## Alternatives

- [models](https://www.trmn.sh/tools/models.md): TUI and CLI for browsing AI models, benchmarks, coding agents, and provider statuses from multiple data sources. (Rust, 517 stars)
- [mods](https://www.trmn.sh/tools/mods.md): CLI tool that adds AI capabilities to command line pipelines by processing stdin through LLMs (Go, 4.5k stars)
- [aic](https://www.trmn.sh/tools/aic.md): CLI tool that fetches the latest changelogs for popular AI coding assistants like Claude, Codex, Gemini, and Copilot. (27 stars)
- [kubectl-ai](https://www.trmn.sh/tools/kubectl-ai.md): Terminal assistant that turns natural-language requests into kubectl and bash operations using Gemini, OpenAI, Bedrock, Ollama and other LLM providers. (Go, 7.6k stars)
- [code2prompt](https://www.trmn.sh/tools/code2prompt.md): CLI and TUI that converts a codebase into a single LLM prompt with a source tree, Handlebars templates, git context, and token estimates. (Rust, 7.7k stars)

---

Canonical: https://www.trmn.sh/tools/elia