CLI vs Web: ADK Go Execution Modes Comparison and Selection

ADK Go supports two execution modes: CLI interaction and Web interface. Both can run Agents, but suit different scenarios. This article helps you understand which to use when.

Execution Modes Overview

CLI Mode

How to Start

source .env
go run agent.go

How It Works

User input → ADK Go CLI → Agent → Model → Tool → Return result → CLI output

In CLI mode, ADK Go’s launcher reads input from command line, processes it, outputs to stdout. This is a synchronous request-response loop.

Applicable Scenarios

Debugging and development phase

# Quick test new Tool
go run agent.go
> 查询北京天气
北京今天晴，气温 15-22°C

> 查询上海天气
上海今天多云，气温 18-26°C

Automation scripts

Can redirect CLI output to file:

echo "查询北京天气" | go run agent.go > output.txt

Production environment services

With nohup or systemd, create a long-running background service:

nohup go run agent.go > agent.log 2>&1 &

Web Mode

How to Start

go run agent.go web api webui

This command starts two services:

• API service: localhost:8080, provides REST API
• Web UI: localhost:8080/webui, provides browser interface

How It Works

User browser → Web UI → API service → Agent → Model → Tool → Return → Web UI → User browser

Web mode is HTTP-based, provides stateful capability—can start a session, multi-turn conversations don’t need to re-enter context each time.

Applicable Scenarios

Demos and user testing

Send Web URL to colleagues or users, let them chat with Agent directly in browser, no installation needed.

Multi-turn conversation scenarios

CLI each time runs independently, historical messages don’t automatically carry to next round. Web mode keeps session context by default:

# Round 1
> 你好，我是助手
# Round 2 (Agent remembers last round)
> 我的名字叫什么？
(Agent remembers earlier "我是助手")

Session persistence scenarios

Web mode can store sessions to database or filesystem, resume after disconnection.

Switching Between Modes

ADK Go’s launcher determines mode based on os.Args[1:]:

l := full.NewLauncher()
l.Execute(ctx, config, os.Args[1:])

Common Command Parameters

Switching via Code

More flexible way: switch based on environment variables:

func main() {
    mode := os.Getenv("ADK_MODE")
    switch mode {
    case "web":
        runWeb()
    default:
        runCLI()
    }
}

Then at runtime:

ADK_MODE=web go run agent.go

Selection Guide

Notes

ADK Web is for development only

Official docs emphasize: ADK Web is development-only, don’t use in production. Production should use Agent Runtime deployment (covered in Module 7).

Port conflicts

Port 8080 may be occupied. Specify another port:

go run agent.go web api webui --port 9090

Network access restrictions

Web mode listens to localhost by default. If needing access from other machines:

go run agent.go web api webui --host 0.0.0.0

Next Steps

Both execution modes clear. Next, learn about API Key acquisition and management, plus selection strategies between different models.

← Hello World Agent | API Key & Model Selection →

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