# Web app vs Soku CLI

Two ways to use Soku: the web app, where you collaborate with the agent in chat, and the Soku CLI, which gives a shell-based AI agent access to Soku. When to use each.

# Web app vs Soku CLI

There are two ways to work with Soku, and they're built for different moments:

- **The web app** — you collaborate with the Soku agent in chat, with a dashboard, automations, and a skill marketplace. This is the main product, and where most people start.
- **The Soku CLI** — you give your own shell-based AI agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and similar) access to Soku. Connect once, and that agent can read your data, use Soku skills, and call covered APIs from the terminal.

They're not either/or — the same workspace, brands, and connected accounts power both.

## At a glance

| | Web app | Soku CLI |
|---|---|---|
| **Who drives** | You, chatting with the Soku agent | Your own coding agent, in its terminal |
| **Where it runs** | Browser ([soku.ai](https://soku.ai)) | Your shell, alongside Claude Code / Cursor / Codex |
| **Best for** | Day-to-day marketing work, reports, dashboards | Embedding Soku's data + skills into an external agent workflow |
| **Setup** | Sign up, connect accounts | Install, device login, pick a workspace, then complete one useful task |
| **Interface** | Chat, Dashboard, Automations, Marketplace | Typed commands (`soku ads`, `soku ga4`, `soku posthog`, `soku egress`…) |
| **Skills** | Install from the Marketplace, `@mention` in chat | Install with `soku skill install`, used by your agent |

## When to use the web app

Use the web app for the everyday work — it's the full product with a UI:

- You want to chat with the agent, review its output, and iterate.
- You need the **Dashboard** to see spend, trends, and KPIs across accounts.
- You want to schedule recurring reports with **Automations**.
- You're inviting teammates and managing brands, roles, and billing.

If you're not sure which to use, use the web app. See [Working in a brand](/docs/using-soku) for a tour.

## When to use the Soku CLI

Use the CLI when you already work in a shell-based AI agent and want it to reach Soku's data and skills directly:

- You run **Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex** and want it to pull ads, GA4, and PostHog data without leaving the terminal.
- You want your agent to use **Soku-authored skills** (playbooks) as part of a larger workflow it's running.
- You need it to **call covered third-party APIs** (Ahrefs, DataForSEO, and more) with credentials injected server-side via `soku egress`.
- You're managing **SEO Hosting** content or scripting repeatable data pulls.

Connect once with the default `soku auth login` device flow, select the remote org and brand to operate on, and install only the business skill needed for the task. Sensitive ads mutations create a **pending human review** before execution. Some operator surfaces—including SEO Hosting publishing and Brand Skill management—execute directly, so your agent prompt or harness must obtain your confirmation before it runs those commands.

> Install from npm with Node.js 20 or newer (`npm i -g @soku-ai/cli`). Full setup and the ready-to-paste agent prompt live on the [CLI page](https://soku.ai/cli).

## What counts as successful setup

Installation and login are prerequisites, not the result. A good first CLI session ends with a useful, saved output tied to a selected account and date window—for example, a read-only 30-day marketing performance health check with evidence and next actions.

The ready-to-paste prompt on the CLI page tells the agent to:

1. Read the machine-readable setup guide at `https://soku.ai/cli/skill.md`.
2. Install or update the official CLI package and use device login.
3. Ask before choosing among multiple workspaces or accounts.
4. Install the narrowest relevant Soku skill instead of the entire catalog.
5. Stop for browser approval or any human review gate.
6. Produce the first useful read-only result before considering setup complete.