nansen-ai Agent vs CLI Routing
| Need a... | Use |
|---|---|
| take (analysis, interpretation) | nansen agent |
| table (raw data, specific metrics) | Direct CLI commands |
| report (both) | Agent for narrative + CLI for data |
Use nansen agent when
- Question requires interpretation or synthesis across multiple data sources
- Open-ended research: "analyse this wallet", "what's happening with ETH smart money?"
nansen agent "What are top smart money tokens on Solana today and why?"
nansen agent "Analyse wallet 0x123... -- is this a smart trader?"
nansen agent "..." --expert # deeper analysis, 750 credits
Cost: 200 credits (fast) / 750 credits (expert)
Use direct CLI commands when
- You need specific structured data -- prices, volumes, holders, flows
- Deterministic question: "top 10 tokens by netflow on ethereum"
- Piping output or building a data table
nansen research token screener --chain ethereum --smart-money --limit 10
nansen research smart-money netflow --chain solana
nansen research profiler balance --address 0x123... --chain ethereum
Cost: 5-50 credits per call
Anti-patterns
- Don't use
nansen agentfor simple data fetches -- 40x more expensive - Don't use raw CLI for open-ended analysis -- returns data, not interpretation
- Don't chain 3+ agent calls -- get raw data via CLI, call agent once for synthesis