Mistral CLI: A European Alternative to Claude Code

Abstract

Mistral CLI is an open-source conversational AI assistant for your terminal, built on Mistral AI's Devstral models. It provides natural language programming capabilities similar to Anthropic's Claude Code, offering developers an alternative option based on European AI technology.

Claude Code Background

Claude Code has become a significant product for Anthropic, contributing to the company's revenue growth from $1 billion to $4 billion annual run rate in 2025. Claude Code alone generates over $200 million in annualized revenue, indicating strong market demand for AI-powered development tools integrated into existing workflows.

Key factors behind Claude Code's success include:

• Deep codebase understanding without manual context selection
• Terminal integration that enhances existing development stacks
• IDE support for VS Code and JetBrains
• Enterprise adoption by companies like Figma, Rakuten, and Intercom

Mistral CLI Features

Mistral CLI is built on Mistral AI's Devstral models, designed specifically for code understanding and generation. It offers similar functionality to Claude Code through a different model architecture and provider.

Natural Language Interface - Simply describe what you want to do, and Mistral CLI understands your intent and executes the appropriate tools automatically.

Smart File Management - Create, edit, and manage files through natural conversation, making complex file operations as simple as asking.

Command Execution - Run bash commands naturally without memorizing syntax or flags.

Web Search Integration - Search the internet directly from your terminal, powered by optional Linkup API integration.

Beautiful Terminal UI - A clean, responsive interface that makes AI assistance feel native to your terminal environment.

Quick Start Guide

Getting started with Mistral CLI is straightforward:

git clone https://github.com/garciamathias/mistral-cli.git
cd mistral-cli
npm install
npm run build
npm link

To configure Mistral CLI, set your API keys:

export MISTRAL_API_KEY=your_mistral_api_key_here
# Optional: For web search functionality
export LINKUP_API_KEY=your_linkup_api_key_here

Simply run mistral in your terminal and start conversing:

• "Show me what's in the src folder"
• "Create a new React component called Button"
• "Find all TODO comments in the codebase"
• "Search the web for the latest Node.js features"

Customization and Extensibility

Mistral CLI supports project-specific instructions through .mistral/MISTRAL.md files, allowing teams to maintain consistent coding standards and practices:

# Project-Specific Instructions

- Always use TypeScript
- Follow our ESLint configuration
- Write tests for new features
- Use functional components for React

Technical Architecture

Mistral CLI is built on Mistral AI's Devstral models and offers:

• European-based infrastructure with data processing in EU regions
• Open-source codebase available for inspection and modification
• Community contributions accepted through standard GitHub workflows

Availability

Mistral CLI is now available as an open-source project. It combines Mistral AI's language models with a terminal interface to provide AI-assisted development capabilities. The tool supports natural language interactions for common development tasks including file management, code generation, and command execution.

The project is available at github.com/garciamathias/mistral-cli under an open-source license. Installation requires Node.js 16+ and a Mistral API key.

Mistral CLI is actively maintained and accepts community contributions through GitHub.