[shankun]

With the interactive CLI, we set out with a similar mission as other cloud CLIs - our first priority was helping users use the GCP CLIs including gcloud and gsutil. With our Interactive CLI, we’ve tried to build something that doesn’t just help new users discover what they can do, but also helps make more advanced users productive, for scenarios such as piping between commands, and shell redirection for read-edit-write workflows. The Interactive CLI provides a full shell environment, and isn’t restricted exclusively to the use of GCP tools.

Interactive CLIs like are a little different than a "cloud shell", which provides a fully cloud-hosted CLI environment. If you want a fully curated cloud-hosted option, check out https://cloud.google.com/shell/. Note that the Cloud Shell includes the Cloud SDK.