Using ask-question CLI

Send prompts to ChatGPT via Playwright browser automation with headless operation.

Architecture

ask-question CLI ──► HTTP POST /ask ──► ask-question-server (daemon)
                                              │
                                              ▼
                                        Chromium (headless)
                                        + storageState session
                                              │
                                              ▼
                                        ChatGPT response

Prerequisites

1. Node.js installed
2. Playwright with Chromium (npm install downloads it)
3. npm link run in the chatgpt-relay directory

Setup (One-Time)

cd ~/Code/chatgpt-relay
npm install
npm link
ask-question-login  # Opens browser, log into ChatGPT

Starting the Daemon

cd ~/Code/chatgpt-relay
node src/server.js 2>&1 | tee ~/.chatgpt-relay/daemon.log

Keep this running in a dedicated terminal or tmux pane. It runs headless (no visible browser).

Why tee to a log file? This allows Claude Code to check logs via tail ~/.chatgpt-relay/daemon.log even when the daemon runs in a separate terminal.

Expected output:

[ask-question-server] Starting headless browser...
[ask-question-server] Using session: ~/.chatgpt-relay/storage-state.json
[ask-question-server] ChatGPT page opened.
[ask-question-server] Login verified.
[ask-question-server] HTTP server listening on http://127.0.0.1:3033

Usage

Direct prompt

ask-question "What is the capital of France?"

From file

ask-question -f question.md -o answer.md

Pipe input

echo "Explain async/await in JavaScript" | ask-question

Options

Integration with /ask-question Slash Command

The /ask-question slash command in Claude Code uses this CLI:

1. Claude drafts a Stack Exchange-formatted question
2. Claude invokes: ask-question -f question.md -o answer.md
3. CLI blocks while ChatGPT responds (typically 1-10 minutes)
4. Claude reads the answer file and discusses

Use /ask-question draft topic to skip automation and just draft the question.

Troubleshooting

"Server not running or not responding"

Start the daemon:

ask-question-server

"No session found"

Run login helper:

ask-question-login

Session expired

ChatGPT sessions expire after a while. Re-run login:

ask-question-login

Response timeout

Default is 20 minutes. Adjust if needed:

# Shorter timeout for quick questions
ask-question -t 120000 "What is 2+2?"

# Longer timeout for complex responses
ask-question -t 1800000 "Write a comprehensive analysis..."

Debugging

Request ID Tracing

Each request gets a unique ID (e.g., [a1b2c3d4]) logged on both CLI and server sides:

[ask-question] [a1b2c3d4] Attempt 1/2...
[ask-question-server] [a1b2c3d4] Received (500 chars)
[ask-question-server] [a1b2c3d4] Processing...
[ask-question-server] [a1b2c3d4] Sending response (1200 chars)
[ask-question] [a1b2c3d4] Success

Use this to correlate CLI errors with server logs.

Connection Failures

The CLI automatically retries once on connection errors (fetch failed, ECONNREFUSED, etc.). If you see:

[ask-question] [a1b2c3d4] Error: fetch failed
[ask-question] [a1b2c3d4] Cause: ...
[ask-question] [a1b2c3d4] Cause code: UND_ERR_HEADERS_TIMEOUT

This indicates Undici's internal timeout fired. The CLI will retry automatically.

Environment Variables

Files