Is it possible to get bitcoin-cli without having to build all bitcoin source? I'd like to use the bitcoin client to examine some of the inner workings of bitcoin-qt (non-invasively, using gets and lists mostly). Is it possible to do this alongside the standard executable? I don't really want to download and build everything from source.
Yes. Go to Bitcoin-Qt -> Help -> Debug Window.

Help -> Command Line Options gives a list of all options.