I love prediction markets. There's something honest about putting money behind an opinion. But if you're a developer or a power user, using a web interface for frequent trading can feel... slow.
Between the wallet pop-ups, the heavy frontend frameworks, and the endless clicking, it sometimes feels like the tool is fighting you.
That's why I was genuinely excited to find polymarket-cli.
It’s exactly what it sounds like: a command-line interface for Polymarket written in Rust. It’s fast, it’s scriptable, and it lets you interact with markets without ever leaving your terminal.
If you’re the kind of person who prefers git over a GUI client, or if you’ve been looking for a way to automate some simple trading strategies without building a full bot from scratch, you need to check this out.
Why use a CLI?
Speed and focus.
When I'm working, I usually have a terminal open. Switching context to a browser, navigating to the site, and waiting for the UI to load just to check a price or close a position breaks my flow.
With this tool, I can type a quick command and get the data I need in milliseconds. Plus, because it outputs structured data (JSON), I can pipe that output into other tools. Want to alert yourself when a "Yes" share drops below 30 cents? You can script that in a few lines of bash.
Getting started
Since it's written in Rust, it’s snappy. The installation is straightforward, especially if you're on a Mac or Linux machine.
Homebrew (easiest for Mac)
If you have Homebrew installed, you can just tap the repository and install it:
brew tap Polymarket/polymarket-cli
brew install polymarket
Curl (universal)
For a quick install script:
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Polymarket/polymarket-cli/main/install.sh | sh
Building from source
If you have Rust installed (cargo), you can build it yourself. This is what I usually do to ensure I have the absolute latest version:
cargo install --path .
Once installed, type polymarket --help to verify it's working. You should see a list of available commands like markets, orders, and positions.
Browsing markets (No wallet needed)
One of the nice things about polymarket-cli is that you don't need to connect a wallet just to look around. The read-only features work right out of the box.
To list currently active markets, you can run:
polymarket markets list
This returns a list of markets. If you want to find something specific, like markets related to "interest rates," you can use the search functionality (or just grep the output if you're old school).
For a specific market, you can check the order book to see the depth:
polymarket markets book <market-id>
I find this incredibly useful for quick sanity checks. instead of loading the full Polymarket UI, I just hit Up Arrow + Enter in my terminal to see if the odds have shifted.
Trading and automation
This is where it gets interesting. To place orders, you obviously need a wallet.
The CLI looks for a configuration file at ~/.config/polymarket/config.json. You'll need to add your private key there.
Security Warning: Be careful with your private keys. I highly recommend using a dedicated "hot wallet" for this CLI with only the funds you intend to trade, rather than your main cold storage wallet.
The config looks roughly like this:
{
"wallet": {
"private_key": "YOUR_PRIVATE_KEY_HERE"
},
"network": "polygon"
}
Once that's set up, you can place orders.
Placing a limit order
Let's say you want to buy "Yes" shares in a market, but only if the price is right.
polymarket orders create --market <id> --side buy --price 0.55 --size 100
This commands places a limit order to buy 100 shares at 55 cents.
Scripting with JSON
The real power here isn't just typing commands manually—it's automation. The CLI supports a -o json flag (or similar, depending on the specific command version) to output raw JSON.
This means you can build simple trading bots using nothing but shell scripts or Python.
For example, you could write a script that:
- Fetches the price of a specific market.
- Parses the JSON output with
jq. - If the price dips below a certain threshold, triggers a buy order.
It bridges the gap between "casual manual trading" and "writing a high-frequency trading bot in C++." It's perfect for hobbyist quants.
Interactive shell
If you don't want to keep typing polymarket for every command, the tool includes an interactive shell mode:
polymarket shell
This drops you into a dedicated session with command history. It’s a small touch, but it makes a difference if you’re actively managing positions during a volatile event.
Why this matters
We are seeing a shift where crypto apps are finally getting "developer-grade" tooling. For a long time, everything was either a clunky web UI or a raw smart contract interaction that required a PhD to decipher.
Tools like polymarket-cli respect the user's time. They assume you know what you're doing and give you the raw levers to do it efficiently.
It’s not for everyone. If you’re not comfortable managing private keys on your file system or reading terminal output, stick to the website. But if you live in the terminal, this tool makes Polymarket feel like a native part of your OS.
Conclusion
The polymarket-cli is a solid piece of engineering that solves a real problem for power users. It removes the friction of the web browser and opens up simple automation possibilities that were previously annoying to set up.
Give it a spin. Even if you just use it to check prices without opening a new tab, it's worth the brew install.