A cli to browse and watch anime (alone AND with friends). This tool scrapes the site allanime.

Showcase

ani-cli-demo.webm

Table of Contents

• Fixing errors
• Install
  • Tier 1: Linux, Mac, Android
  • Tier 2: Windows, WSL, iOS, Steam Deck
  • From Source
• Uninstall
• Dependencies
  • Ani-Skip
• Homies
• Contribution Guidelines
• Disclaimer

Fixing errors

If you encounter No results found (and are sure the prompt was correct) or any breaking issue, then make sure you are on latest version by typing sudo ani-cli -U to update on Linux, Mac and Android. On Windows, run ani-cli -U. If after this the issue persists then open an issue.

Install

Tier 1 Support: Linux, Mac, Android

These Platforms have rock solid support and are used by maintainers and large parts of the userbase.

Linux

Native Packages

Native packages have a more robust update cycle, but sometimes they are slow to upgrade.
If the one for your platform is up-to-date we suggest going with it.

Debian 13/unstable

sudo apt install ani-cli

Fedora

To install mpv (and vlc) you need RPM Fusion free enabled. Simply follow the instructions here: https://rpmfusion.org/Configuration To be able to install syncplay, you'll need to enable this copr repo (instructions included): https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/batmanfeynman/syncplay/.

To install ani-cli:

sudo dnf copr enable derisis13/ani-cli
sudo dnf install ani-cli

If for your distro uses rpm and you would like to see a native package, open an issue.

Arch

Build and install from the AUR:

yay -S ani-cli

Also consider ani-cli-git

Gentoo

Build and install from the GURU:

sudo eselect repository enable guru
sudo emaint sync -r guru
sudo emerge -a ani-cli

Consider using the 9999 ebuild.

sudo emerge -a =app-misc/ani-cli-9999

OpenSuse

On Suse the provided MPV and VLC packages are missing features that are used by ani-cli. The only required is the "Only Essentials" repository which has versions for each Suse release. You can find instructions on this here.

To add the ani-cli copr repo, update then install ani-cli run (on both versions):

zypper addrepo https://download.copr.fedorainfracloud.org/results/derisis13/ani-cli/opensuse-tumbleweed-x86_64/ ani-cli
zypper dup
zypper install ani-cli

You'll get a warning about Signature verification failed [4-Signatures public key is not available] but this can be ignored from the prompt.

Note: package is noarch, so any architecture should work, even though the repo is labelled x86-64

MacOS

Install dependencies (See below)

Install HomeBrew if not installed.

git clone "https://github.com/pystardust/ani-cli.git" && cd ./ani-cli
cp ./ani-cli "$(brew --prefix)"/bin
cd .. && rm -rf ./ani-cli

To install (with Homebrew) the dependencies required on Mac OS, you can run:

brew install curl grep aria2 ffmpeg git fzf yt-dlp && \
brew install --cask iina

Why iina and not mpv? Drop-in replacement for mpv for MacOS. Integrates well with OSX UI. Excellent support for M1. Open Source.

Android

Install termux (Guide)

Termux package

pkg up -y
pkg install ani-cli

If you're using Android 14 make sure to run this due to #1206:

pkg install termux-am

For players you can use the apk (playstore/fdroid) versions of mpv and vlc. Note that these cannot be checked from termux so a warning is generated when checking dependencies.

Tier 2 Support: Windows, WSL, iOS, Steam Deck

While officially supported, installation is more involved on these platforms and sometimes issues arise.
Reach out if you need help.

Windows

ani-cli is on scoop. Please read further for setup instructions.

We will set up the bash.exe that comes with Git for Windows to be used with Windows Terminal. You may use terminals such as Wezterm or Alacritty, but this guide only covers Windows Terminal. The Git Bash terminal (i.e., mintty) has problems with fzf.

First, you'll need to install the scoop package manager. (Install) Follow quickstart.

Next, get Windows Terminal. It comes preinstalled on Windows 11. If you do not have it, install it by running the following commands in powershell.

scoop bucket add extras
scoop install extras/windows-terminal

Next, get git. If you have it, please update it. If you do not already have it, install it by running scoop install git in powershell.

Ensure that Git Bash is present in the Windows Terminal tab drop down, as shown below.

If it is not there, please add it. To add it, first click the drop-down button beside the new tab button (shown above).

Then, navigate to Settings > Profiles > Add a new profile. Click + New empty profile.

Next:

• If you installed git with scoop: Set Name as "Git Bash", set Command line as %GIT_INSTALL_ROOT%\bin\bash.exe -i -l, and set Icon as %GIT_INSTALL_ROOT%\mingw64\share\git\git-for-windows.ico.
• If you installed git by other means: Set Name as "Git Bash", set Command line as C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe -i -l, and set Icon as C:\Program Files\Git\mingw64\share\git\git-for-windows.ico.

Ensure that this Profile is not set to Hidden and save your changes.

You will use this profile to run ani-cli in this bash shell. Under Startup in Windows Terminal Settings, you may set this profile as the default so that you do not have to switch to it every time you want to run ani-cli.

Now restart Windows Terminal. In the Git Bash profile, install ani-cli by running the following commands.

scoop bucket add extras
scoop install extras/windows-terminal

Next, install its dependencies.

scoop bucket add extras
scoop install fzf ffmpeg mpv

Consider also installing yt-dlp and aria2 for downloading to work.

Restart Windows Terminal. Go to the Git Bash profile and update ani-cli with ani-cli -U. You will use this keep ani-cli up-to-date.

Now you can use ani-cli. Read the output of ani-cli -h for more help.

Windows: Known Problems and Solutions

If you have a problem, please update ani-cli to the latest version with ani-cli -U. If you still have a problem, please read further.

• Stuck in "Search anime:". This shouldn't happen if you are using the Windows Terminal + Bash setup described above. It happens if you are using the Git Bash terminal (i.e., the mintty terminal). This is a problem between fzf and mintty, which should be resolved in future versions of fzf. For the time being, either use the Windows Terminal setup described above or, if you are dead-set on using the mintty terminal, run export MSYS=enable_pcon before running ani-cli.
• "No such file or directory" or WSL-related errors: This shouldn't happen if you are using the Window Terminal + Bash setup described above. This happens if you run ani-cli in powershell or cmd. This is due WSL's bash.exe being called instead of Git for Windows' bash.exe in %USERPROFILE%\scoop\shims\ani-cli.cmd. If you must use powershell or cmd, edit the %USERPROFILE%\scoop\shims\ani-cli.cmd file. In File Explorer, go to the C:\Users\USERNAME\scoop\shims directory and open the ani-cli.cmd file with notepad. Next:
  • If you installed git with scoop, replace @bash with @"%GIT_INSTALL_ROOT%\bin\bash.exe", or
  • If you installed git by other means, replace @bash with @"C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe". This should be fixed if the ani-cli scoop manifest gets updated in this PR.
• curl can cause issues. ani-cli has been tested unsuccessfully with curl 7.83.1 and successfully with 7.86.0. If you run into issues, try installing a newer one with scoop.
• If you installed mpv with scoop, your mpv configuration will get read from C:\Users\USERNAME\scoop\apps\mpv\current\portable_config. See the mpv documentation regarding portable_config for more details.

WSL

Follow the installation instructions of your Linux distribution.

Note that the media player (mpv or vlc) will need to be installed on Windows, not WSL. See the justification for this in the comment (here). Instructions on how to use the media player from WSL instead are also included in the linked comment.

When installing the media player on Windows, make sure that it is on the Windows Path. An easy way to ensure this is to download the media player with a package manager (on Windows, not WSL) such as scoop.

iOS

Install iSH and VLC from the app store.

Make sure apk is updated using apk update; apk upgrade then run this:

apk add grep sed curl fzf git aria2 ncurses
apk add ffmpeg
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/pystardust/ani-cli ~/.ani-cli
cp ~/.ani-cli/ani-cli /usr/local/bin/ani-cli
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/ani-cli
rm -rf ~/.ani-cli

note that downloading is going to be very slow. This is an iSH issue, not an ani-cli issue.

Steam Deck

Copypaste script:

• Switch to Desktop mode (STEAM Button > Power > Switch to Desktop)
• Open Konsole (Steam Deck Icon in bottom left corner > System > Konsole)
• Copy the script, paste it in the CLI and press Enter("A" button on Steam Deck)

[ ! -d ~/.local/bin ] && mkdir ~/.local/bin && echo "export PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:\$PATH" >> ".$(echo $SHELL | sed -nE "s|.*/(.*)\$|\1|p")rc"

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/junegunn/fzf.git ~/.fzf
~/.fzf/install

mkdir ~/.aria2c
curl -o ~/.aria2c/aria2-1.36.0.tar.bz2 https://github.com/q3aql/aria2-static-builds/releases/download/v1.36.0/aria2-1.36.0-linux-gnu-64bit-build1.tar.bz2
tar xvf ~/.aria2c/aria2-1.36.0.tar.bz2 -C ~/.aria2c/
cp ~/.aria2c/aria2-1.36.0-linux-gnu-64bit-build1/aria2c ~/.local/bin/
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/aria2c

curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp

mkdir ~/.patch
curl -o ~/.patch/patch.tar.zst https://mirror.sunred.org/archlinux/core/os/x86_64/patch-2.7.6-10-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
tar xvf ~/.patch/patch.tar.zst -C ~/.patch/
cp ~/.patch/usr/bin/patch ~/.local/bin/

git clone https://github.com/pystardust/ani-cli.git ~/.ani-cli
cp ~/.ani-cli/ani-cli ~/.local/bin/

flatpak install io.mpv.Mpv

press enter("A" button on Steam Deck) on questions

Installation in steps:

Install mpv (Flatpak version):

flatpak install io.mpv.Mpv

press enter("A" button on Steam Deck) on questions

Install fzf:

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/junegunn/fzf.git ~/.fzf
~/.fzf/install

press enter("A" button on Steam Deck) on questions

Make a ~/.local/bin folder if doesn't exist and add it to $PATH

[ ! -d ~/.local/bin ] && mkdir ~/.local/bin && echo "export PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:\$PATH" >> ".$(echo $SHELL | sed -nE "s|.*/(.*)\$|\1|p")rc"

Install aria2 (needed for download feature only):

mkdir ~/.aria2c
curl -o ~/.aria2c/aria2-1.36.0.tar.bz2 https://github.com/q3aql/aria2-static-builds/releases/download/v1.36.0/aria2-1.36.0-linux-gnu-64bit-build1.tar.bz2
tar xvf ~/.aria2c/aria2-1.36.0.tar.bz2 -C ~/.aria2c/
cp ~/.aria2c/aria2-1.36.0-linux-gnu-64bit-build1/aria2c ~/.local/bin/
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/aria2c

Install yt-dlp (needed for download feature only):

curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp

Install patch (needed for self-update feature [ -U ] ):

mkdir ~/.patch
curl -o ~/.patch/patch.tar.zst https://mirror.sunred.org/archlinux/core/os/x86_64/patch-2.7.6-10-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
tar xvf ~/.patch/patch.tar.zst -C ~/.patch/
cp ~/.patch/usr/bin/patch ~/.local/bin/

Install ani-cli:

git clone https://github.com/pystardust/ani-cli.git ~/.ani-cli
cp ~/.ani-cli/ani-cli ~/.local/bin/

Optional: add desktop entry:

echo '[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Type=Application
Exec=bash -c "source $HOME/.'$(echo $SHELL | sed -nE "s|.*/(.*)\$|\1|p")'rc && konsole --fullscreen -e ani-cli"
Name=ani-cli' > $HOME/.local/share/applications/ani-cli.desktop

The .desktop entry will allow to start ani-cli in Konsole directly from "Gaming Mode" In Steam Desktop app: Add game > Add a non-steam game > tick a box for ani-cli > Add selected programs

Installing from source

This method works for any unix-like operating system and is a baseline for porting efforts.

Install dependencies (See below)

git clone "https://github.com/pystardust/ani-cli.git"
sudo cp ani-cli/ani-cli /usr/local/bin
rm -rf ani-cli

Uninstall

• apt:

sudo apt remove ani-cli
# to remove the repository from apt
sudo rm -f /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/ani-cli.asc /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ani-cli-debian.list

• dnf:

sudo dnf remove ani-cli      # for ani-cli
# disable the repo in dnf
dnf copr disable derisis13/ani-cli

You might want to uninstall RPM fusion if you don't use it otherwise

• zypper:

zypper remove ani-cli
zypper removerepo ani-cli

You might want to remove packman-essentials if you don't need it otherwise

• AUR:

yay -R ani-cli

• Scoop:

scoop uninstall ani-cli

• Linux:

sudo rm "/usr/local/bin/ani-cli"

• Mac:

rm "$(brew --prefix)/bin/ani-cli"

• Windows: In Git Bash run (as administrator):

rm "/usr/bin/ani-cli"

• Termux package

pkg remove ani-cli

• Android:

rm "$PREFIX/bin/ani-cli"

• Steam Deck

rm "~/.local/bin/ani-cli"
rm -rf ~/.ani-cli

optionally: remove dependencies:

rm ~/.local/bin/aria2c
rm ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp
rm -rf "~/.aria2"
rm -rf "~/.fzf"
flatpak uninstall io.mpv.Mpv

• iOS

rm -rf /usr/local/bin/ani-cli

To uninstall other dependencies:

apk del grep sed curl fzf git aria2 ffmpeg ncurses

Dependencies

• grep
• sed
• curl
• mpv - Video Player
• iina - mpv replacement for MacOS
• aria2c - Download manager
• yt-dlp - m3u8 Downloader
• ffmpeg - m3u8 Downloader (fallback)
• fzf - User interface
• ani-skip (optional)
• patch - Self updating

Ani-Skip

Ani-skip is a script to automatically skip anime opening sequences, making it easier to watch your favorite shows without having to manually skip the intros each time (from the original README).

For install instructions visit ani-skip.

Ani-skip uses the external lua script function of mpv and as such – for now – only works with mpv.

Warning: For now, ani-skip does not seem to work under Windows.

Note: It may be, that ani-skip won't know the anime you're trying to watch. Try using the --skip-title <title> command line argument. (It uses the aniskip API and you can contribute missing anime or ask for including it in the database on their discord server).

Homies

• animdl: Ridiculously efficient, fast and light-weight (supports most sources: allanime, zoro ... (Python)
• jerry: stream anime with anilist tracking and syncing, with discord presence (Shell)
• anipy-cli: ani-cli rewritten in python (Python)
• Dantotsu: Rebirth of Saikou, Best android app for anime/manga/LN with anilist integration (Kotlin)
• mangal: Download & read manga from any source with anilist sync (Go)
• lobster: Watch movies and series from the terminal (Shell)
• mov-cli: Watch everything from your terminal. (Python)
• dra-cla: ani-cli equivalent for korean dramas (Shell)
• redqu: A media centric reddit client (Clojure)
• doccli: A cli to watch anime with POLISH subtitles (Python)
• GoAnime: A CLI tool to browse, play, and download anime in Portuguese(Go)