> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bland.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Dev Terminal

> An interactive AI-powered REPL for building, testing, and deploying phone agents, without leaving your terminal.

An interactive AI-powered development REPL for building phone agents. Powered by Claude. Streams responses, executes tools, edits pathways, and pushes to production without leaving your terminal.

```bash theme={null}
bland dev
```

## Options

```bash theme={null}
bland dev                      # Launch the dev terminal
  -m, --model <model>          #   Claude model (default: claude-opus-4-6)
  -t, --max-tokens <n>         #   Max output tokens per response
  -k, --key <key>              #   Claude API key
  --no-banner                  #   Skip ASCII banner
```

## Slash Commands

| Command   | Description                                                      |
| --------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `/help`   | Show available commands                                          |
| `/status` | Show session status                                              |
| `/model`  | List models or switch (`/model claude-sonnet-4-6`)               |
| `/tokens` | View or set max output tokens (`/tokens 64000` or `/tokens max`) |
| `/key`    | Update Claude API key                                            |
| `/clear`  | Clear conversation history                                       |
| `/exit`   | Exit                                                             |

## Available Models

| Model                       | Max Output | Context |
| --------------------------- | ---------- | ------- |
| `claude-opus-4-6`           | 128k       | 1M      |
| `claude-sonnet-4-6`         | 64k        | 1M      |
| `claude-haiku-4-5-20251001` | 64k        | 200k    |
| `claude-opus-4-20250514`    | 32k        | 200k    |
| `claude-sonnet-4-20250514`  | 64k        | 200k    |

## Capabilities

The dev terminal has access to all MCP tools plus local pathway operations (read, write, diff, push, pull). Type `/` then Tab to autocomplete commands, or just type naturally.

The terminal includes the built-in guide system, so the AI understands how to write good phone prompts, structure pathways, configure tools, and test effectively.

## Built-in Guides

The CLI ships with guides designed to give LLMs the context they need to build good pathways, not just call the API, but actually understand how phone conversations work.

```bash theme={null}
bland guide                  # List all guides
bland guide phone-tone       # Writing natural phone prompts
bland guide pathways         # Node/edge architecture and execution model
bland guide tools            # Webhook and custom tools on nodes
bland guide testing          # Chat, simulate, node tests
bland guide variables        # Extracting and using caller data
```

| Guide        | What it teaches                                                                                                                                                |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `phone-tone` | How to write prompts that sound like a real person on the phone, not a chatbot. Covers back-channeling, brevity, empathy, and topic transitions.               |
| `pathways`   | How the conversation graph works: nodes, edges, global nodes, variables, the global prompt, and the execution model.                                           |
| `tools`      | Attaching webhook and custom tools to nodes for real-time data. Covers `speech`, `behavior`, and `response_data`.                                              |
| `testing`    | The full testing workflow: `pathway chat` for interactive testing, `simulate` for end-to-end AI personas, `node-test` for stress-testing individual nodes.     |
| `variables`  | Extracting structured data from natural conversation with `extract_variables`, using `{{curly_braces}}` in prompts, and `spelling_precision` for names/emails. |

***

Docs for agents: [llms.txt](/llms.txt)