Run Amazon Q CLI on Your Phone (iPhone + Android)

The Amazon Q Developer CLI runs on macOS and Linux, with no iPhone or Android build, and no mobile remote-control feature either. So to run q from a phone you put it on a real Linux machine and reach it. The fastest way: install Cosyra for iOS or Cosyra for Android, install the Linux build of Amazon Q in the container, run q login with an AWS Builder ID, and start q chat. One thing to know first: the open-source CLI went maintenance-only in November 2025, and its named successor is the closed-source Kiro CLI. Here is each path.

This guide was written by the Cosyra team. We checked every moving part against primary sources on 2026-07-01: the aws/amazon-q-developer-cli repo (including its maintenance banner), the AWS Amazon Q Developer command-line docs, and the pricing page. Versions, prices, and dates below carry that date. We also set the CLI up in a fresh Cosyra container to confirm the install and login flow described in the steps.

What is the Amazon Q Developer CLI?

The Amazon Q Developer CLI is AWS's agentic coding tool for the terminal. It installs as the q command and its headline mode is q chat, an agentic chat that reads and writes files in your project, translates natural language into shell commands, and offers inline ghost-text autocomplete. Its real differentiator is AWS: q can query and reason about your live AWS account and resources, which no provider-neutral coding CLI does. If your day job is AWS infrastructure, that is a genuine draw.

• Repo: aws/amazon-q-developer-cli, around 2,000 stars, dual-licensed Apache-2.0 and MIT (2026-07-01).
• Platforms: macOS (brew install --cask amazon-q) and Linux (Ubuntu/Debian package or AppImage). No native Windows build, WSL only. No mobile app.
• Auth: AWS Builder ID or IAM Identity Center via q login, not a raw model API key.
• Latest open release: v1.19.7, published 2025-11-17. That version number matters, which is the next section.

Because it is a native desktop binary that expects a real shell, it has the same mobile problem as every other coding CLI: the phone is the wrong place to run the process. The fix is putting the process somewhere real and reaching it from the phone.

Read this first: the CLI is maintenance-only

Before you invest an afternoon wiring this up, know what you are adopting. The open-source repo carries a banner, quoted verbatim (read 2026-07-01):

"This open source project is no longer being actively maintained and will only receive critical security fixes. Amazon Q Developer CLI is now available as Kiro CLI, a closed-source product."

Stated accurately: q is frozen, not dead. It still installs, still runs q chat, and still gets critical security fixes, and the last open release is v1.19.7 (2025-11-17). But forward development moved to Kiro CLI, AWS's closed-source agentic tool built on the Claude Agent SDK. We cover the successor in Kiro on your phone and put it head-to-head with our own setup in Cosyra vs Kiro. If you specifically want AWS's actively developed agent, Kiro is the tool AWS is now shipping, but Kiro CLI is also desktop-only, so the same phone problem applies to it.

How can you run the Amazon Q CLI from a phone?

Three ways, in order of how well they work without a desktop: a cloud Ubuntu container where q actually runs (Cosyra), SSH or Codespaces to your own Linux box, and Termux on Android (which we can't promise works).

1. Cosyra: install the Amazon Q CLI in a cloud container

Cosyra is a native iOS and Android terminal connected to a persistent Ubuntu 24.04 x86_64 container. It is a normal glibc Linux box, so the Amazon Q Linux build installs and runs, and q executes in the container, so nothing of yours has to stay awake. We ship four agent CLIs pre-installed (Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Gemini), and Amazon Q is a one-command add on top.

• Works when: you want q running on demand from either platform with no home machine to maintain.
• Breaks when: you have no internet, or you need q to reach AWS resources that are only visible from your own network.
• Cost: 1 hour free on signup, no credit card; a 10-hour, 7-day trial; then $29.99/month or $300/year. See pricing. Your AWS Builder ID and any Amazon Q Pro charge are separate.

2. SSH or Codespaces to your own Linux box

Install q on a Linux machine you own (a home server, a VPS, or a GitHub Codespace) and reach it from a phone SSH client. The CLI runs for real, but you keep that box awake and manage the connection, which is the babysitting a cloud container removes.

3. Termux on Android: why we won't promise it

Here is the honest version, because guessing here is how bad advice spreads. Amazon Q ships a glibc-linked Linux binary. Termux is a bionic Android userland with no glibc, and that combination has a track record of breaking glibc-linked agent binaries, the exact wall that stops GitHub Copilot CLI installing in Termux, where a glibc addon "cannot mix glibc and Bionic libraries in the same process." So a plain q install in Termux is doubtful. But we have not run it on a device, so we will not tell you it works or that it fails.

If you want to stay on-device, the credible route is a proot glibc distro inside Termux, the same pattern we walk through for a full Debian userland in running a Linux container on Android. Simpler and more reliable: a cloud x86_64 container, where the standard Linux build just installs.

How do you run the Amazon Q CLI on iPhone or Android with Cosyra?

Four steps: install the app, install q, sign in with an AWS Builder ID, and run q chat in a repo.

Step 1: Install Cosyra and sign in

Download from the App Store or Google Play. You land in a persistent Ubuntu 24.04 x86_64 container, a real glibc Linux box, which is what Amazon Q's Linux build targets.

Step 2: Install the Amazon Q Developer CLI

Amazon Q is not one of the four agents we pre-install (it is AWS's own tool, authenticated to AWS), but it is a one-command add. Install the Linux build per the AWS docs (distro package or AppImage), then confirm the binary:

Step 3: Sign in with an AWS Builder ID

Amazon Q authenticates with an AWS Builder ID or IAM Identity Center, not a model API key. Run q login, choose the Builder ID option, and it prints a device code and a URL. Open the URL, paste the code, approve, and you are in.

Step 4: Clone a repo and start q chat

q proposes edits and waits for your approval before writing, so you see the diff on the phone before anything lands on disk. Because the container is persistent, you can start a change on the train, close the app, and pick the same session back up on an iPad at your desk.

What are the real limits of running the Amazon Q CLI on a phone?

• No offline mode. The container is in the cloud; no internet, no terminal.
• AWS lock-in. Auth is an AWS Builder ID or IAM Identity Center against AWS-hosted models. We think tying your terminal agent to an AWS identity is the wrong default for anyone who isn't already all-in on AWS. The friction shows up the first time you want to point it at a non-AWS project. AWS would tell you the account integration is the whole point; both can be true.
• You are adopting a frozen tool. The open CLI is maintenance-only; if you want the actively developed line, that is the closed-source Kiro CLI, not q.
• Phone keyboards slow long prompts. Voice dictation and a Bluetooth keyboard help a lot on a phone.

Cosyra vs SSH vs Termux for the Amazon Q CLI

Cosyra runs q for real with nothing left awake; SSH or Codespaces works if you already keep a Linux box on; Termux on Android is unverified. The table lines them up, checked 2026-07-01.

Prefer one of the agents that is pre-installed and provider-neutral? See Claude Code on phone, Codex CLI on phone, Gemini CLI on phone, and OpenCode on phone, or the pillar on AI coding agents on mobile.

Frequently asked questions