Troubleshooting

Common issues and their fixes when running Agora CLI. For broader install guidance see Install. For programmatic error inspection, prefer agora project doctor --json and agora auth status --json.

Diagnostics first

Before opening an issue, capture these:

agora --version
agora project doctor --json
agora auth status --json

The output above is what the bug report template asks for and is the fastest path to a fix.

Symptom: the OAuth browser window does not open, or you are running over SSH / in a container.

agora login --no-browser

This prints the login URL so you can open it on another machine and paste the callback. You can also disable auto-open globally:

agora config update --browser-auto-open=false

“command not found: agora”

The installer printed the install directory but it is not on PATH.

# macOS / Linux
echo "$PATH"
sh install.sh                      # re-run installer (PATH wiring is auto-on by default)

# Windows PowerShell
$env:Path -split ';'
.\install.ps1                      # re-run installer (PATH wiring is auto-on by default)

Multiple `agora` binaries on PATH

The installer detects when another agora shadows the freshly installed binary and warns. You can also check directly:

which -a agora     # macOS / Linux
where.exe agora    # Windows PowerShell

Reorder PATH so the installer’s directory comes first, or remove the older binary.

If the older binary came from a global npm install and you want to switch to the standalone installer, either migrate in one installer run:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AgoraIO/cli/main/install.sh | sh -s -- --replace-npm

Or uninstall npm first and then run the standalone installer:

npm uninstall -g agoraio-cli
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AgoraIO/cli/main/install.sh | sh

Use --force only when you intentionally want two installs and understand that the first agora on PATH wins.

`agora init` or `agora quickstart create` fails on `git clone`

The CLI shells out to git clone for quickstarts. Most failures map to a stable error code:

Error code	Meaning	Fix
`QUICKSTART_GIT_MISSING`	`git` is not on `PATH`.	Install git (git-scm.com/downloads) and retry.
`QUICKSTART_REF_INVALID`	`--ref` is empty, dash-prefixed, or contains whitespace.	Pass a valid branch/tag/commit.
`QUICKSTART_REPO_OVERRIDE_INVALID`	The `AGORA_QUICKSTART_<TEMPLATE>_REPO_URL` env override is malformed.	Set it to an `https://`, `ssh://`, `git://`, `file://`, `git@host:path`, or absolute local path URL — or unset it.

If the clone reaches git but still fails, verify connectivity:

git --version
git ls-remote https://github.com/AgoraIO-Conversational-AI/agent-quickstart-nextjs.git

Check proxies and corporate firewall rules if ls-remote hangs or fails.

The CLI invokes git with -c credential.helper= so credential helpers (including macOS keychain) are not consulted for these public clones — agent and CI subprocesses no longer fail with “Device not configured.”

Workshops and internal forks can override the clone URL per template, e.g.:

AGORA_QUICKSTART_NEXTJS_REPO_URL=https://github.com/my-org/fork agora init demo --template nextjs

A clone:override progress event is emitted whenever this is in use, so JSON automation runs show which fork was cloned.

“project does not have an app certificate”

quickstart env write, init, and project env --with-secrets need a project with an App Certificate. Either pick another project or enable the certificate in Agora Console.

agora project list --json
agora project use <project-name>
agora project doctor --json

`--yes` or `AGORA_NO_INPUT=1` is not skipping the OAuth browser

This is intentional. --yes accepts the default for confirmation prompts; it does not start a brand-new interactive OAuth flow in JSON, CI, or non-TTY contexts. Authenticate once on the host first:

agora login

Then re-run your automation. CI runners should authenticate as part of their bootstrap, not as part of every command.

CI: “command requires authentication” without prompting

CI auto-detection is intentional: in CI, the CLI never spawns an OAuth browser flow even with --yes. Pre-authenticate the runner:

agora login

Or set AGORA_HOME=$(mktemp -d) per job for an isolated session and provision credentials via your secret store before invoking the CLI.

CI accidentally self-upgraded the binary

agora upgrade performs an in-place update for installer-managed installs. In CI and agent automation, prefer non-mutating checks:

agora upgrade --check --json
agora --upgrade-check --json

Installer-managed self-update is blocked in CI by default (v0.2.1+). Blocked runs return status: "manual" with ciBlocked: true in JSON. Set AGORA_ALLOW_UPGRADE_IN_CI=1 only when a job intentionally needs to mutate the installed binary.

For package-manager installs, use the package manager’s own upgrade command.

Upgrade from v0.1.7–v0.2.0 fails

Release archives were renamed from agora-cli-go_v* to agora-cli_v* starting in v0.2.1. Binaries installed from v0.1.7 through v0.2.0 embed upgrade logic that only knows the old prefix, so agora upgrade may fail when downloading v0.2.1+.

Re-run the installer once (it always fetches the latest script and archive names):

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AgoraIO/cli/main/install.sh | sh

npm and other package-manager installs are unaffected.

`agora init --yes` fails with QUICKSTART_TEMPLATE_REQUIRED

In JSON, CI, or non-TTY runs, agora init requires an explicit template. Pass --template (list options with agora quickstart list):

agora init my-demo --template nextjs --new-project --yes --json

Output looks wrong in scripts (color codes, table widths)

The CLI auto-detects CI and disables color and progress bars there. In local TTYs you can override:

agora <command> --no-color
NO_COLOR=1 agora <command>
agora <command> --json

For wrappers that parse output, always pass --json. Pretty output is not a stable contract.

“did you mean” suggestions

If you mistype a subcommand the CLI prints the closest matches:

$ agora projct doctor
Error: unknown command "projct" for "agora"

Did you mean this?
        project

Debug logging

Use --debug (equivalent to AGORA_DEBUG=1) to mirror structured log records to stderr. JSON envelopes and exit codes are unchanged.

v0.2.0 removed the legacy --verbose / -v alias and the AGORA_VERBOSE environment variable. If you still have a 0.1.x config file with a verbose key, it is silently migrated to debug on first load — no action required. Update any scripts that set AGORA_VERBOSE=1 to set AGORA_DEBUG=1 instead.

agora --debug project list
AGORA_DEBUG=1 agora init my-demo --template nextjs --json

The same lines are written to a rotating log file. Print the path with:

agora config path        # parent directory

The log file is agora-cli.log next to the config file.

Telemetry / Sentry

Telemetry is opt-out. Disable with any of:

agora telemetry disable
agora config update --telemetry-enabled=false
DO_NOT_TRACK=1 agora <command>

See Telemetry for the field schema.

Boolean config flags are not turning off

Boolean flags in agora config update need explicit =false syntax. For example:

agora config update --telemetry-enabled=false
agora config update --browser-auto-open=false
agora config update --debug=false

Passing only --telemetry-enabled sets the value to true; omitting the flag leaves the existing config unchanged.

Still stuck?

Open a GitHub Discussion for “how do I” questions.
Open a bug report for a reproducible defect.
Email security@agora.io for a suspected security vulnerability (see SECURITY.md).