QZX stands for Quick Zap Exchange. It is the name of an open-source Python CLI—and of its qzx package and executable—that gives AI agents, automation, and people one consistent command vocabulary across Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Is QZX completely free?

Yes. QZX is completely free to use, with no paid plans or paid features. Optional donations support ongoing development, but never unlock features or change the product experience.

What makes QZX different from Bash or PowerShell?

Traditional shells expose platform-specific commands. QZX provides one documented vocabulary for supported operations and a consistent result contract, avoiding separate Windows, Linux, and macOS instructions.

How does QZX help AI agents?

With --json, QZX returns structured fields such as success and message, plus command-specific details. Agents can inspect those fields instead of parsing terse terminal text.

Where can I check availability and risk?

Each command page states whether the command is on PyPI, whether it changes state, which privileges it may require, and whether dry-run is available.

The CLI for AI agents · Windows · Linux · macOS

10 commands.
One zap.

Your AI agent burns turns improvising shell: Git here, manifests there, DNS, TLS, HTTP, disk scans, duplicate hunts — spelled differently on every OS. QZX does that work in one cross-platform command and hands back answers you can act on. Readable for you. Structured JSON for your agent.

Watch the race

Tool calls: 21 → 318 fewer round trips
Shell your agent writes: 28× less664 → 24 tokens
Faster, end to end: 1.9×26.4 s → 13.6 s

Measured on three everyday diagnostics, same machine, same day. How we measured

QZX / Recorded example

qzx diagnoseProject . --json

Understand before you edit

A project briefing, in one command.

TechnologyPython

Declared packagehttpx

1 finding

Git repository not detected.

Next checkspytest · ruffConfigured · not run

Inspect the JSON

{
    "success": true,
    "details": {
        "technologies": [
            "Python"
        ],
        "dependencies": {
            "unique_declared_package_count": 1,
            "unique_packages": [
                "httpx"
            ]
        },
        "version_control": {
            "status": "not_repository"
        },
        "file_scan": {
            "scanned_file_count": 3,
            "scan_complete": true
        },
        "summary": {
            "issue_count": 1,
            "verification": {
                "release_readiness": "not_assessed"
            }
        },
        "validation": {
            "tests": {
                "status": "configured_not_run"
            },
            "lint": {
                "status": "configured_not_run"
            }
        }
    }
}

Recorded sample: project-doctor. Selected fields from the actual result.

qzx diagnoseStorage . --min-file-size 1KB --max-files 10 --duplicate-min-size-kb 1 --max-depth 2 --json

Turn a full disk into a clear next step

See the pressure. Find the candidates.

99.4%

of the recorded host's disk used

Critical capacity

19.85 GBfree on that host

1confirmed duplicate group

Read-only diagnosis. No files deleted.

Inspect the JSON

{
    "success": true,
    "read_only": true,
    "partial": false,
    "scan_scope": {
        "max_depth": 2,
        "large_file_min_size": "1KB"
    },
    "assessment": {
        "capacity_status": "critical",
        "percent_used": 99.4,
        "free_readable": "19.85 GB",
        "duplicate_groups": 1,
        "confirmed_reclaimable_bytes": 9984,
        "reclaimable_space_basis": "logical_content_bytes",
        "physical_reclaimable_bytes": null
    }
}

Recorded sample: storage-triage, depth 2, files ≥1 KB. Capacity is from the recorded host.

qzx checkUrlStatus <url> 10 --json

An HTTP response you can act on

The request worked. The page didn't.

HTTP404Page not found

Check completedsuccess: true

Page unavailableis_online: false

Next: inspect the URL and the server route.

Inspect the JSON

{
    "success": true,
    "is_online": false,
    "status_code": 404
}

Controlled local HTTP 404 example. No live check of your website is performed here.

Recorded results from the documentation pipeline. JSON shown as reviewed excerpts. Explore the result contract

Install. Verify. You're ready.Alpha 0.2.2.0.15

python -m pip install --upgrade qzx
qzx getCurrentDateTime --output-format iso --json

Installation guide PyPI ↗ More examples

Prefer an isolated install?

Use pipx to keep QZX separate from your project's Python dependencies.

Free & open source · No account · Alejandro Sánchez

One vocabulary on every machine.

WindowsLinuxmacOS

At home in your agent's terminal.

CodexClaude CodeGemini CLI

Measured, not imagined

Same evidence.
One command.

We ran each diagnosis two ways on the same machine: the native commands an agent would type, one tool call at a time, and the single QZX command. Pick a job and watch them race.

Without QZX · PowerShell10 commands · 10.3 s

git -C '.' status --short --branch
git -C '.' log --oneline -5
git -C '.' remote -v
Get-ChildItem '.' -Recurse -File | Where-Object FullName -notmatch '\\.git\\' | Group-Object Extension | Sort-Object Count -Descending | Select-Object -First 10 Name,Count
Get-ChildItem '.' -File | Where-Object Name -in 'pyproject.toml','setup.py','setup.cfg','requirements.txt','package.json','Cargo.toml','go.mod','composer.json' | Select-Object Name
Get-Content './pyproject.toml'
Get-ChildItem '.' -File | Where-Object Name -in 'pytest.ini','tox.ini','ruff.toml','.ruff.toml','Makefile','noxfile.py' | Select-Object Name
python --version
Get-ChildItem '.' -Recurse -File | Where-Object FullName -notmatch '\\.git\\' | Sort-Object Length -Descending | Select-Object -First 10 FullName,Length
Get-ChildItem '.' -Recurse -File -Include *.py | Select-String -Pattern 'TODO|FIXME' | Measure-Object | Select-Object Count

…and different spellings on Linux (10) and macOS (10)

Linux

git status --short --branch
git log --oneline -5
git remote -v
find . -type f -not -path './.git/*' | sed -n 's/.*\.//p' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head
ls pyproject.toml setup.py setup.cfg requirements.txt package.json Cargo.toml go.mod 2>/dev/null
cat pyproject.toml
ls pytest.ini tox.ini ruff.toml .ruff.toml Makefile noxfile.py 2>/dev/null
python3 --version
find . -type f -not -path './.git/*' -printf '%s %p\n' | sort -rn | head
grep -rIn --include='*.py' -E 'TODO|FIXME' . | wc -l

macOS

git status --short --branch
git log --oneline -5
git remote -v
find . -type f -not -path './.git/*' | sed -n 's/.*\.//p' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head
ls pyproject.toml setup.py setup.cfg requirements.txt package.json Cargo.toml go.mod 2>/dev/null
cat pyproject.toml
ls pytest.ini tox.ini ruff.toml .ruff.toml Makefile noxfile.py 2>/dev/null
python3 --version
find . -type f -not -path './.git/*' -exec stat -f '%z %N' {} + | sort -rn | head
grep -rIn --include='*.py' -E 'TODO|FIXME' . | wc -l

10 fragments to stitch together before the first edit.

With QZX · any OS1 command · 8.0 s

qzx diagnoseProject .

Technologies
Dependencies
Environment
Tests & lint
Git state
Source analysis
Large files
Findings

1.3× faster. One briefing with findings and the next checks to run.

Without QZX · PowerShell8 commands · 11.9 s

Resolve-DnsName example.com -Type A
Resolve-DnsName example.com -Type AAAA
Resolve-DnsName example.com -Type CNAME
Resolve-DnsName example.com -Type MX
Resolve-DnsName example.com -Type TXT
Resolve-DnsName example.com -Type NS
$c = [Net.Sockets.TcpClient]::new('example.com', 443); $s = [Net.Security.SslStream]::new($c.GetStream(), $false, { $true }); $s.AuthenticateAsClient('example.com'); $x = [Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Certificate2]$s.RemoteCertificate; $ch = [Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Chain]::new(); [pscustomobject]@{ Subject = $x.Subject; Issuer = $x.Issuer; NotAfter = $x.NotAfter; Trusted = $ch.Build($x); Protocol = $s.SslProtocol; Cipher = $s.NegotiatedCipherSuite }; $c.Close()
$t = Measure-Command { $r = Invoke-WebRequest 'https://example.com' -Method Head -UseBasicParsing }; [pscustomobject]@{ Status = $r.StatusCode; Ms = $t.TotalMilliseconds; Server = $r.Headers.Server }

…and different spellings on Linux (8) and macOS (8)

Linux

dig +short A example.com
dig +short AAAA example.com
dig +short CNAME example.com
dig +short MX example.com
dig +short TXT example.com
dig +short NS example.com
echo | openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -servername example.com 2>/dev/null | openssl x509 -noout -subject -issuer -dates -ext subjectAltName
curl -sS -o /dev/null -I -w '%{http_code} %{time_total}\n' https://example.com

macOS

dig +short A example.com
dig +short AAAA example.com
dig +short CNAME example.com
dig +short MX example.com
dig +short TXT example.com
dig +short NS example.com
echo | openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -servername example.com 2>/dev/null | openssl x509 -noout -subject -issuer -dates -ext subjectAltName
curl -sS -o /dev/null -I -w '%{http_code} %{time_total}\n' https://example.com

Including a .NET TLS one-liner nobody remembers under pressure.

With QZX · any OS1 command · 3.9 s

qzx diagnoseWebsite https://example.com

DNS records
TLS certificate
Chain trust
Hostname match
HTTP status
Response time
Failing layer
Next step

3.0× faster. It names the failing layer for you.

How we measured: on 2026-10-08, on Windows 11 10.0.26200 with QZX 0.2.2.0.14. Each native command ran in a fresh PowerShell 7 process, like a separate agent tool call, with lean column selections that favor the native side. Tokens counted with tiktoken o200k_base. Linux and macOS spellings are shown for reference and were not timed. QZX results also carry conclusions — scores, the failing layer, recommendations — that native output leaves for your agent to reason out.

How it works

Your agent asks once. QZX handles the platform.

QZX is an open-source Python CLI. You or your agent call one documented command; QZX does the platform-specific work on Windows, Linux or macOS and answers in the same shape everywhere: a readable summary for people, structured JSON with --json for programs.

Install
One package from PyPI, with pip or pipx. No account, no server, no daemon.
Ask for the job
Call the command by name, for example qzx inspectPort 3000. The same spelling works on every supported system.
Read or parse
People get a summary. Agents add --json, test success, read message and use the typed evidence.

Diagram showing Codex, Claude Code, Gemini CLI and scripts calling one QZX command across Windows, Linux and macOS, then receiving the shared success, message, output and meta result fields. — One documented command can cover supported work on several hosts while the shared result core stays predictable. Platform limits and command-specific evidence remain explicit.

A dozen everyday jobs

One QZX command. Three different native answers.

Each card shows what you or your agent would type without QZX — different on Windows, Linux and macOS — next to the single QZX command for the same job. Every QZX command below is read-only and was run while preparing this page.

System

Who is holding port 3000?

Free or bound, plus the owning process — inspected, never killed.

Without QZX

WindowsGet-NetTCPConnection -LocalPort 3000 -State Listen | % { Get-Process -Id $_.OwningProcess }

Linuxss -ltnp 'sport = :3000'

macOSlsof -nP -iTCP:3000 -sTCP:LISTEN

With QZX

qzx inspectPort 3000

Command docs

Network

Is this TLS certificate healthy?

Validity dates, chain trust, hostname coverage, TLS version and days remaining, as fields.

Without QZX

WindowsNo OpenSSL by default: write a .NET SslStream script

Linux · macOS

openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -servername example.com </dev/null | openssl x509 -noout -dates -subject -ext subjectAltName

With QZX

qzx checkSslCertificate example.com

Command docs

Network

What do the DNS records say?

A, AAAA, MX, TXT, NS and CNAME in one call and one result.

Without QZX

Windows'A','AAAA','MX','TXT','NS','CNAME' | % { Resolve-DnsName example.com -Type $_ }

Linux · macOSfor t in A AAAA MX TXT NS CNAME; do dig +short example.com $t; done

With QZX

qzx checkDns example.com

Command docs

Files

Which files are exact duplicates?

Size, SHA-256, then byte-for-byte confirmation. Nothing is deleted.

Without QZX

WindowsGet-ChildItem Pictures -Recurse -File | Get-FileHash | Group-Object Hash | ? Count -gt 1

Linuxfind Pictures -type f -exec sha256sum {} + | sort | uniq -w64 -D

macOSfind Pictures -type f -exec shasum -a 256 {} + | sort | awk 'seen[$1]++'

With QZX

qzx findDuplicateFiles Pictures

Command docs

Files

What are the biggest files here?

Filter by size and date, sort and limit, with structured metadata for every file.

Without QZX

WindowsGet-ChildItem Downloads -Recurse -File | ? Length -gt 100MB | Sort-Object Length -Desc | Select-Object -First 20

Linuxfind Downloads -type f -size +100M -printf '%s %p\n' | sort -nr | head -20

macOSfind Downloads -type f -size +100M -exec stat -f '%z %N' {} + | sort -nr | head -20

With QZX

qzx findFiles Downloads "*" --min-size 100MiB --sort-by size --descending true --limit 20

Command docs

Files

Does this download match its checksum?

SHA-256 by default, MD5 or SHA-1 on request — the same verb on every system.

Without QZX

WindowsGet-FileHash release.zip -Algorithm SHA256

Linuxsha256sum release.zip

macOSshasum -a 256 release.zip

With QZX

qzx calculateFileHash release.zip

Command docs

Development

Where does this repository stand?

Branch, remote, pending changes and recent commits in one structured snapshot.

Without QZX

Any systemgit branch --show-current; git remote -v; git status --porcelain; git log -5 --oneline

With QZX

qzx getGitStatus

Command docs

Development

Show me this project's layout.

A bounded tree: ASCII for you, JSON for your agent, symbolic links not followed.

Without QZX

Windowstree /F src

Linuxtree -L 3 src

macOSbrew install tree && tree -L 3 src

With QZX

qzx getProjectTree src 3

Command docs

Development

Where is this environment variable used?

References in code plus .env and .env.example templates, in one report.

Without QZX

WindowsGet-ChildItem -Recurse -File -Include *.py,*.js,*.ts,.env* | Select-String DATABASE_URL

Linux · macOSgrep -rn DATABASE_URL --include='*.py' --include='*.js' --include='*.ts' --include='.env*' .

With QZX

qzx traceEnvVar DATABASE_URL

Command docs

Development

Are there circular imports?

Follows module imports recursively and names every loop it finds.

Without QZX

Any systemNo built-in equivalent: install a separate, language-specific tool

With QZX

qzx traceCircularImports src

Command docs

System

What is eating memory?

The top processes sorted by memory, with the same fields on every system.

Without QZX

WindowsGet-Process | Sort-Object WS -Descending | Select-Object -First 10

Linuxps aux --sort=-%mem | head -n 11

macOSps aux -m | head -n 11

With QZX

qzx listProcesses null memory 10

Command docs

System

Which python runs — and is PATH broken?

Every match on PATH, with broken and duplicate entries flagged.

Without QZX

Windowswhere.exe python; $env:Path -split ';' | ? { $_ -and -not (Test-Path $_) }

Linux · macOSwhich -a python; echo "$PATH" | tr ':' '\n' | while read d; do [ -d "$d" ] || echo "$d"; done

With QZX

qzx checkSystemPath python

Command docs

Browse all 89 commands

Why developers and teams switch

Fast to run. Comfortable to use. Hard to outgrow.

Fewer turns, less shell, more done

Every tool call is another model turn. QZX collapses multi-step diagnostics into one, so your agent writes 28× less shell (664 → 24 tokens) and skips 18 round trips — with the conclusions already computed.

21 → 3

Faster end to end

One process instead of a chain of shells. 1.9× faster across our three diagnostics, 3.0× when a website is down.

3.0×

One vocabulary, three systems

Stop branching prompts by operating system.

Resolve-DnsNamedigopenssl s_clientqzx diagnoseWebsite

89 published commands and counting

System, network, files, Git, development, storage and project scaffolding — one install.

Explore the toolkit

Safe by default

Diagnostics are read-only. Commands that change things preview first and keep their backup and approval barriers.

Security & telemetry

A contract your agent can trust

Every --json result carries an explicit success and a useful message, plus typed evidence. No scraping tables, no guessing from exit codes. The schema is open and downloadable.

Explore the result contract

Start with a real problem

Useful before your next change.

Pick the job in front of you. Start with a read-only diagnosis, then decide what to do next.

Replaces 10 commands

Make an unfamiliar project familiar.

Discover technologies, dependencies, Git state and concrete findings before your agent starts editing.

qzx diagnoseProject .

Explore the project workflow

Replaces 3 pipelines

Find what is filling your disk.

Inspect capacity, large files and duplicate evidence. Understand your options before removing anything.

qzx diagnoseStorage .

Explore the storage workflow

Replaces 8 commands

Get past “the site is down.”

Check DNS, certificates and HTTP in one pass. Follow the evidence to your next check.

qzx diagnoseWebsite <url>

Explore the website workflow

An open contract others can implement

Answers your agent can trust, without parsing prose

Every JSON result has an explicit boolean success and a useful, non-empty message. Each command then adds typed evidence — here, a real certificate check — instead of a wall of text your agent has to interpret.

Read the specification Inspect Golden Core readiness Download the JSON Schema

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "SSL certificate diagnostic for 'example.com:443': …",
  "host": "example.com",
  "is_valid": true,
  "chain_trusted": true,
  "hostname_match": true,
  "days_remaining": 78,
  "ssl_version": "TLSv1.3",
  "subject_alt_names": ["example.com", "*.example.com"],
  "meta": { "command": "checkSslCertificate", "duration_ms": 216.817, "schema_version": 1 }
}

Excerpt of a real qzx checkSslCertificate example.com --json run on 8 October 2026.

Built for both sides of the keyboard

For the developer at the terminal. For the company behind the fleet.

Developers

Give your agent one durable rule: use QZX first.

Works with Codex, Claude Code, Gemini CLI and any agent with a terminal.
The same instruction works on your Windows laptop and your Linux server.
Readable output when you run it; strict JSON when your agent does.

Set up your AI agent in five minutes

Companies

Standardize how agents inspect your machines.

One auditable command vocabulary across Windows, Linux and macOS.
Structured evidence your automation can log, diff and act on.
Apache-2.0, no account, no lock-in. Custom integrations available from the creator.

Talk about your use case

Go deeper

Guides for the decision behind the install

Set up your AI agent

Install, verify the real catalog, start read-only and give Codex, Claude Code or Gemini CLI a durable JSON-first rule.

MCP, CLI or direct API?

Compare discovery, transport, permissions, portability and maintenance — without pretending one interface wins every workload.

When to use QZX — and when not

Where a documented command beats ad-hoc shell, and where native APIs remain the better tool.

Security model and telemetry

Which commands can change state, how dry-run works, what telemetry records and how to switch it off.

Compatibility evidence

Platform claims, Python requirements, current test status and optional dependencies.

Choose QZX with the boundary in view

QZX is a local command interface, not a sandbox or a guarantee of native parity. Prefer it when a documented command covers the operation and a consistent result contract helps. Use native APIs or the shell for capabilities QZX does not model.

Published on PyPI: QZX 0.2.2.0.15 · 89 capabilities in the wheel · Python >=3.11

From curiosity to your terminal

Make your next command a QZX command.

Install the published release, run your first check and let your agent do in one call what used to take 10 calls.

Install QZX Set up your AI agent

Apache-2.0Python >=3.11Platform compatibility Security & telemetry When to use QZX

Created and maintained by Alejandro Sánchez.

Work with the creator ↗Support development ↗

10 commands.One zap.

A project briefing, in one command.

See the pressure. Find the candidates.

The request worked. The page didn't.

Same evidence.One command.

Your agent asks once. QZX handles the platform.

Install

Ask for the job

Read or parse

One QZX command. Three different native answers.

Who is holding port 3000?

Is this TLS certificate healthy?

What do the DNS records say?

Which files are exact duplicates?

What are the biggest files here?

Does this download match its checksum?

Where does this repository stand?

Show me this project's layout.

Where is this environment variable used?

Are there circular imports?

What is eating memory?

Which python runs — and is PATH broken?

Fast to run. Comfortable to use. Hard to outgrow.

Fewer turns, less shell, more done

Faster end to end

One vocabulary, three systems

89 published commands and counting

Safe by default

A contract your agent can trust

Useful before your next change.

Make an unfamiliar project familiar.

Find what is filling your disk.

Get past “the site is down.”

Answers your agent can trust, without parsing prose

For the developer at the terminal. For the company behind the fleet.

Give your agent one durable rule: use QZX first.

Standardize how agents inspect your machines.

Guides for the decision behind the install

Set up your AI agent

MCP, CLI or direct API?

When to use QZX — and when not

Security model and telemetry

Compatibility evidence

Choose QZX with the boundary in view

Make your next command a QZX command.

10 commands.
One zap.

Same evidence.
One command.