The article explores whether combining a command-line agent (like Claude Code or Gemini CLI) with Unix-like file system tools and SemTools is sufficient for complex tasks, particularly document search. It details a benchmark testing the limits of coding agents with and without SemTools, focusing on search, cross-referencing, and temporal analysis. The conclusion is that CLI access is powerful and SemTools enhances agent capabilities for document search and RAG.
AI coding tools are increasingly interacting directly with the system shell (terminal) rather than traditional code editors, driven by the rise of agentic AI and tools like Claude Code, Gemini CLI, and CLI Codex. This shift, highlighted by benchmarks like Terminal-Bench, is occurring as some code-based tools face challenges and offers a versatile interface for developers.
