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NICo CLI Installation Prompt (for coding agents)

This file is a prompt: paste it (or a link to it) into a coding agent that has shell access and the agent will install the NICo CLI (nicocli) for you. The agent will clone the repo, run the make target, handle common errors, and verify the install. If you are a human reading this, follow the steps yourself or use cli/README.md instead.

Instructions to the agent

You are installing the NICo CLI (nicocli) for the user. Follow the steps below in order. Do not skip the verification step. If a step fails, consult the "Common failures" section before retrying; do not retry the same failing command more than twice without changing something.

Success criteria

When you are done, all of the following must be true:

  1. A binary named nicocli exists at a known path.
  2. That path is on the user's PATH in a fresh shell (or the user has been told explicitly how to add it).
  3. nicocli --version runs without error.
  4. You have told the user the install path and version.

If any of those are not true, the task is not complete.

Steps

  1. Check prerequisites. Run:

    go version
git --version
make --version

    You need Go 1.25.4 or newer, plus working git and make. If any is missing or too old, stop and tell the user what to install. Do not attempt to install Go, git, or make yourself unless the user explicitly asks.

  2. Pick a working directory the user owns. Default to ~/Developer/nicocli-install/. Do not use /tmp/ (some agent sandboxes block it, and some build systems treat it as ephemeral):

    WORKDIR="$HOME/Developer/nicocli-install"
mkdir -p "$WORKDIR"
cd "$WORKDIR"

  3. Clone the upstream repo (shallow clone is fine; this is a build workspace, not a development checkout):

    git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/NVIDIA/infra-controller-rest.git
cd infra-controller-rest

  4. Build and install with the provided make target:

    make nico-cli

    This builds nicocli and installs it to $(go env GOPATH)/bin/nicocli by default. To install elsewhere (for example, system-wide), pass INSTALL_DIR:

    make nico-cli INSTALL_DIR="$HOME/.local/bin"
# or, with sudo for a system path:
sudo make nico-cli INSTALL_DIR=/usr/local/bin

    Prefer a user-owned directory over /usr/local/bin so you don't need sudo.

  5. Verify the binary exists and reports a version. Use the absolute path first so you don't depend on PATH:

    "$(go env GOPATH)/bin/nicocli" --version

    Then verify it is on PATH in a fresh shell. If not, see "PATH not set" below.

  6. Report back to the user with:

    • The absolute install path ($(go env GOPATH)/bin/nicocli or the INSTALL_DIR you used)
    • The version string printed by nicocli --version
    • Any PATH shell-rc edit the user still needs to make

Common failures

  • command not found: go — Go is not installed. Stop and tell the user to install Go 1.25.4 or newer from https://go.dev/dl/. Do not auto-install Go.

  • go: go.mod requires go >= 1.25.4 — Installed Go is too old. Stop and ask the user to upgrade.

  • command not found: make — make is not installed. On macOS, suggest xcode-select --install. On Debian/Ubuntu, suggest sudo apt install build-essential. If the user cannot install make, fall back to a direct go build:

    go build -o "$(go env GOPATH)/bin/nicocli" ./cli/cmd/cli

  • command not found: git — install git first. macOS: xcode-select --install. Linux: use the distro package manager.

  • PATH not set: nicocli: command not found after a successful build — $(go env GOPATH)/bin is not on PATH. Tell the user to add it. Detect the shell first:

    echo "$SHELL"

    For zsh (default on macOS):

    echo 'export PATH="$(go env GOPATH)/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc

    For bash:

    echo 'export PATH="$(go env GOPATH)/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc

    For fish:

    fish_add_path "$(go env GOPATH)/bin"

    Tell the user to open a new shell or source the rc file before running nicocli.

  • permission denied writing to /usr/local/bin or another system path — re-run with sudo or switch INSTALL_DIR to a user-owned directory (~/.local/bin, ~/bin, etc.). Do not chmod the system directory.

  • fatal: unable to access 'https://github.com/...': ... or go mod download network errors — confirm the user has internet access and (if behind a corporate proxy) that HTTPS_PROXY / GOPROXY are set. Surface the exact error to the user; do not retry indefinitely.

  • Repo not found at NVIDIA/infra-controller-rest — the repo may have been renamed. Check https://github.com/NVIDIA for a repo whose name contains infra-controller or nico. If you cannot find it, stop and ask the user for the current location.

  • go: cannot find main module — you are not inside the cloned repo. Re-run cd into the cloned directory.

  • Build succeeds but nicocli --version prints nothing or hangs — the binary may be partially built or running TUI mode. Confirm you are passing --version exactly, and run with a 10-second timeout:

    timeout 10 nicocli --version

    If it still hangs, surface the issue to the user.

What not to do

  • Do not modify any source files in the cloned repo.
  • Do not create commits, branches, or PRs in the cloned repo — it is a build workspace, not a development checkout.
  • Do not delete or overwrite the user's existing ~/.nico/config.yaml.
  • Do not install Go, git, or make automatically; ask the user instead.
  • Do not retry the same failing command more than twice. After two failures, change strategy or surface the failure to the user.

Cleanup

Once nicocli --version works, you may leave the cloned repo in place at $WORKDIR (so the user can rebuild later) or ask the user whether to remove it. Default: leave it in place.

Where to send agents

To install via your agent, paste the URL of this file as a prompt. Example phrasings: