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apcore-cli (Rust)

Terminal adapter for apcore. Execute AI-Perceivable modules from the command line.

License Rust Tests
Rust SDK github.com/aiperceivable/apcore-cli-rust
Python SDK github.com/aiperceivable/apcore-cli-python
Spec repo github.com/aiperceivable/apcore-cli
apcore core github.com/aiperceivable/apcore

apcore-cli turns any apcore-based project into a fully featured CLI tool -- with zero code changes to your existing modules.

┌──────────────────┐
│  your-apcore     │  <- your existing apcore project (unchanged)
│  ...             │
└────────┬─────────┘
         │  extensions directory
         v
┌──────────────────┐
│   apcore-cli     │  <- just install & point to extensions dir
└───┬──────────┬───┘
    │          │
    v          v
 Terminal    Unix
 Commands    Pipes

Design Philosophy

  • Zero intrusion -- your apcore project needs no code changes, no imports, no dependencies on apcore-cli
  • Zero configuration -- point to an extensions directory, everything is auto-discovered
  • Pure adapter -- apcore-cli reads from the apcore Registry; it never modifies your modules
  • Unix-native -- JSON output for pipes, rich tables for terminals, STDIN input, shell completions

Installation

cargo install apcore-cli

Requires Rust 1.75+ and apcore = 0.21.0 (exact pin). The optional toolkit feature pulls in apcore-toolkit = 0.6.0.

Quick Start

Try it now

The repo includes 8 example modules you can run immediately:

git clone https://github.com/aiperceivable/apcore-cli-rust.git
cd apcore-cli-rust
make build                       # compile release binary to .bin/

# Add .bin to PATH for this session
export PATH=.bin:$PATH

# Run a module
apcore-cli --extensions-dir examples/extensions math.add --a 5 --b 10
# {"sum": 15}

# Or use the exec subcommand
apcore-cli --extensions-dir examples/extensions exec math.add --a 5 --b 10

# List all modules
apcore-cli --extensions-dir examples/extensions list --format json

# Run all examples
bash examples/run_examples.sh

Note: If you have the Python version of apcore-cli installed, make build places the Rust binary at .bin/apcore-cli. Prepend .bin to your PATH (as shown above) to use the Rust version in this project.

See Examples for the full list of example modules and usage patterns.

Zero-code approach

If you already have an apcore-based project with an extensions directory:

# Execute a module
apcore-cli --extensions-dir ./extensions math.add --a 42 --b 58

# Or set the env var once
export APCORE_EXTENSIONS_ROOT=./extensions
apcore-cli math.add --a 42 --b 58

All modules are auto-discovered. CLI flags are auto-generated from each module's JSON Schema.

Programmatic approach (Rust library)

The high-level embedding API (CliConfig / run_with_config) was removed in v0.7.0 (audit findings D9-001/002) — the previous stub never had a working dispatch loop. A real embedding API will be reintroduced as part of the post-D9 redesign. In v0.8.0 the parameterised builders create_cli / create_cli_with (issues #18 / #19) live in the binary entry point (src/main.rs) — they are NOT yet exported from the library crate root. Until that move is finished, downstream crates can pull individual building blocks (FsDiscoverer, RegistryProvider, ExposureFilter, the per-subcommand register_*_command helpers, and the umbrella register_apcli_subcommands) and assemble their own root command tree, or simply invoke the apcli binary directly.

Exposure Filtering (FE-12)

apcore-cli ships an ExposureFilter primitive that downstream embedders can apply when building their own command tree. The previous GroupedModuleGroup::with_exposure_filter builder was removed in v0.7.0 together with the LazyModuleGroup / GroupedModuleGroup types (D9-001/002). For v0.8.0 the supported entry points are:

  • Standalone binary: declarative configuration via apcore.yaml or the APCORE_CLI_EXPOSE_MODE / APCORE_CLI_EXPOSE_INCLUDE / APCORE_CLI_EXPOSE_EXCLUDE environment variables.
  • Library: instantiate ExposureFilter::new(...) / ExposureFilter::from_config(...) and apply it manually when iterating the registry to decide which modules to register on your clap::Command.
use apcore_cli::ExposureFilter;

// Construct directly (mode, include patterns, exclude patterns).
let filter = ExposureFilter::new("include", &["admin.*".to_string()], &[]);

// Or load from a JSON config value.
let cfg = serde_json::json!({
    "mode": "exclude",
    "exclude": ["debug.*", "test.*"]
});
let filter = ExposureFilter::from_config(&cfg).expect("valid exposure config");

Note: A library-side wiring helper that re-applies the filter onto a root command is being redesigned per the D9 follow-up — see CHANGELOG 0.7.0. For v0.8.0, prefer the standalone binary's declarative config in apcore.yaml.

Integration with Existing Projects

Typical apcore project structure

your-project/
├── extensions/          <- modules live here
│   ├── math/
│   │   └── add.rs
│   ├── text/
│   │   └── upper.rs
│   └── ...
├── your_app.rs          <- your existing code (untouched)
└── ...

Adding CLI support

No changes to your project. Just install and run:

cargo install apcore-cli
apcore-cli --extensions-dir ./extensions list
apcore-cli --extensions-dir ./extensions math.add --a 5 --b 10

STDIN piping (Unix pipes)

# Pipe JSON input
echo '{"a": 100, "b": 200}' | apcore-cli math.add --input -
# {"sum": 300}

# CLI flags override STDIN values
echo '{"a": 1, "b": 2}' | apcore-cli math.add --input - --a 999
# {"sum": 1001}

# Chain with other tools
apcore-cli sysutil.info | jq '.os, .hostname'

CLI Reference

apcore-cli [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]

Global Options

Option Default Description
--extensions-dir ./extensions Path to apcore extensions directory
--log-level WARNING Logging: DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR
--version Show version and exit
--help Show help and exit
--verbose Show all options in help (including built-in apcore options)
--man Output man page in roff format (use with --help)

Built-in Commands

apcore-cli ships with 13 built-in subcommands, all reachable under the reserved apcli group (canonical list: APCLI_SUBCOMMAND_NAMES in src/builtin_group.rs). The reserved top-level group name is RESERVED_GROUP_NAMES = ["apcli"]. They fall into four groups:

v0.7 note: The previous 14-entry BUILTIN_COMMANDS constant in src/cli.rs was retired and is now #[deprecated]. Use APCLI_SUBCOMMAND_NAMES for the canonical list and RESERVED_GROUP_NAMES for collision detection.

Module invocation

Command Description Source
exec <module_id> Execute a module by ID (supports --input, --yes, --format, --sandbox, --dry-run, --trace, --stream, --strategy, --fields, --approval-timeout, --approval-token) cli
list List available modules with filtering (--tag, --search, --status, --annotation, --sort, --reverse, --deprecated, --deps) discovery
describe <module_id> Show full module metadata, schemas, and annotations discovery
validate <module_id> Run preflight schema / approval / dependency validation without executing validate

System management

Command Description Source
health Report framework / registry / executor health system_cmd
usage Show cumulative execution statistics system_cmd
enable <module_id> Enable a previously disabled module system_cmd
disable <module_id> Disable a module (persists until re-enabled) system_cmd
reload Reload registry from the extensions directory system_cmd
config Show resolved configuration (Config Bus namespaces included) system_cmd

Workflow

Command Description Source
init module <id> Scaffold a new module under the extensions directory init_cmd
describe-pipeline <pipeline_id> Show pipeline execution strategy and stage trace strategy

Shell integration

Command Description Source
completion <shell> Generate shell completion script (bash/zsh/fish/elvish/powershell) shell
man <command> Generate man page in roff format (or --help --man for the full program page) shell

Module Execution Options

When executing a module (e.g. apcore-cli math.add or apcore-cli exec math.add), these built-in options are available (hidden by default; use --verbose to show in --help):

Option Description
--input - Read JSON input from STDIN
--yes / -y Bypass approval prompts
--large-input Allow STDIN input larger than 10MB
--format <fmt> Output format: json, table, csv, yaml, or jsonl
--sandbox Run module in subprocess sandbox
--dry-run Run preflight checks without executing (FE-11, routed through the validate module)
--trace Emit a pipeline execution trace
--stream Stream results line-by-line instead of buffering
--strategy <name> Override execution strategy (standard, internal, testing, performance, minimal)
--fields <csv> Select output fields via dot-path notation
--approval-timeout <seconds> Override approval prompt timeout (default: 60)
--approval-token <token> Provide a pre-obtained approval token to skip the interactive prompt

Schema-generated flags (e.g. --a, --b) are added automatically from the module's input_schema.

Enhanced list flags (v0.6.0): --search <query>, --status <active|disabled|deprecated>, --annotation <key=value>, --sort <field>, --reverse, --deprecated (include deprecated modules), --deps (show dependency graph).

Exit Codes

Code Meaning
0 Success
1 Module execution error
2 Invalid CLI input
44 Module not found / disabled / load error
45 Schema validation error
46 Approval denied or timed out
47 Configuration error
48 Schema circular reference
65 EXIT_CONFIG_BIND_ERROR -- Configuration bind to struct failed (Config Bus)
66 EXIT_CONFIG_MOUNT_ERROR -- Configuration namespace mount failed (Config Bus)
70 EXIT_ERROR_FORMATTER_DUPLICATE -- Duplicate error formatter registration
77 ACL denied
78 EXIT_CONFIG_NAMESPACE_* -- Namespace reserved / duplicate / env-prefix conflict / env-map conflict (Config Bus)
130 Execution cancelled (Ctrl+C)

Configuration

apcore-cli uses a 4-tier configuration precedence:

  1. CLI flag (highest): --extensions-dir ./custom
  2. Environment variable: APCORE_EXTENSIONS_ROOT=./custom
  3. Config file: apcore.yaml
  4. Default (lowest): ./extensions

Environment Variables

Variable Description Default
APCORE_EXTENSIONS_ROOT Path to extensions directory ./extensions
APCORE_CLI_AUTO_APPROVE Set to 1 to bypass all approval prompts (unset)
APCORE_CLI_LOGGING_LEVEL CLI-specific log level (takes priority over APCORE_LOGGING_LEVEL) WARNING
APCORE_LOGGING_LEVEL Global apcore log level (fallback when APCORE_CLI_LOGGING_LEVEL is unset) WARNING
APCORE_AUTH_API_KEY API key for remote registry authentication (unset)
APCORE_CLI_SANDBOX Set to 1 to enable subprocess sandboxing (unset)
APCORE_CLI_HELP_TEXT_MAX_LENGTH Maximum characters for CLI option help text before truncation 1000
APCORE_CLI_APPROVAL_TIMEOUT Default approval prompt timeout in seconds (overridable via --approval-timeout) 60
APCORE_CLI_STRATEGY Default execution strategy (overridable via --strategy) standard
APCORE_CLI_GROUP_DEPTH Maximum module-grouping depth when building the clap command tree 1000

Config File (apcore.yaml)

extensions:
  root: ./extensions
logging:
  level: DEBUG
sandbox:
  enabled: false
cli:
  help_text_max_length: 1000
  approval_timeout: 60          # seconds
  strategy: standard            # standard | internal | testing | performance | minimal
  group_depth: 1000             # max module-grouping depth

Features

  • Auto-discovery -- all modules in the extensions directory are found and exposed as CLI commands
  • Auto-generated flags -- JSON Schema input_schema is converted to --flag value CLI options with type validation
  • Boolean flag pairs -- --verbose / --no-verbose from "type": "boolean" schema properties
  • Enum choices -- "enum": ["json", "csv"] becomes --format json with clap validation
  • STDIN piping -- --input - reads JSON from STDIN, CLI flags override for duplicate keys
  • TTY-adaptive output -- comfy-table for terminals, JSON for pipes (configurable via --format)
  • Approval gate -- TTY-aware HITL prompts for modules with requires_approval: true, with --yes bypass and 60s timeout
  • Schema validation -- inputs validated against JSON Schema before execution, with $ref/allOf/anyOf/oneOf resolution
  • Security -- API key auth (keyring + AES-256-GCM), append-only audit logging, subprocess sandboxing
  • Shell completions -- apcore-cli completion bash|zsh|fish|elvish|powershell generates completion scripts
  • Man pages -- apcore-cli man <command> for single commands, or --help --man for a complete program man page. build_program_man_page() provides one-line integration for downstream projects
  • Documentation URL -- set_docs_url() adds doc links to help footers and man pages
  • Audit logging -- all executions logged to ~/.apcore-cli/audit.jsonl with SHA-256 input hashing

How It Works

Mapping: apcore to CLI

apcore CLI
module_id (math.add) Command name (apcore-cli math.add or apcore-cli exec math.add)
description --help text
input_schema.properties CLI flags (--a, --b)
input_schema.required Validated post-collection (required fields shown as [required] in --help)
annotations.requires_approval HITL approval prompt

Architecture

User / AI Agent (terminal)
    |
    v
apcore-cli (the adapter)
    |
    +-- ConfigResolver       4-tier config precedence
    +-- ApcliGroup           FE-13 built-in command group (`apcli` namespace)
    +-- SchemaParser         JSON Schema -> clap options
    +-- RefResolver          $ref / allOf / anyOf / oneOf
    +-- ApprovalGate         TTY-aware HITL approval (tokio::select!)
    +-- OutputFormatter      TTY-adaptive JSON/table output (comfy-table)
    +-- AuditLogger          JSON Lines execution logging
    +-- Sandbox              tokio subprocess isolation
    |
    v
apcore Registry + Executor (your modules, unchanged)

API Overview

The following items are re-exported at the crate root (apcore_cli::*). Everything else lives under its module path (e.g. apcore_cli::approval::DEFAULT_APPROVAL_TIMEOUT_SECS). Per audit D9-005 the public surface was trimmed from ~110 to ~40 curated items in v0.6.x; the canonical source of truth is src/lib.rs:150-232.

Structs

ApprovalResult, ApprovalStatus, CliApprovalHandler, ApcliGroup, ApcliConfig, ApcliMode, ConfigResolver, ApCoreRegistryProvider, ListOptions, ExposureFilter, FsDiscoverer, BoolFlagPair, SchemaArgs, AuditLogger, AuthProvider, ConfigEncryptor, Sandbox.

Functions

Organized by source module:

  • approval:: check_approval (re-exported); check_approval_with_timeout, check_approval_with_tty, check_approval_with_tty_timeout, DEFAULT_APPROVAL_TIMEOUT_SECS (module-path access)
  • cli:: set_verbose_help, is_verbose_help, set_docs_url, get_docs_url, set_executables, set_audit_logger, build_module_command, build_module_command_with_limit, collect_input, collect_input_from_reader, validate_module_id, dispatch_module
  • discovery:: cmd_list, cmd_list_enhanced, cmd_describe, register_list_command, register_describe_command, register_exec_command, register_discovery_commands
  • display_helpers:: get_display, get_cli_display_fields
  • init_cmd:: init_command, handle_init, register_init_command
  • output:: resolve_format, format_module_list, format_module_detail, format_exec_result
  • ref_resolver:: resolve_refs
  • schema_parser:: extract_help_with_limit, schema_to_clap_args, schema_to_clap_args_with_limit, reconvert_enum_values, HELP_TEXT_MAX_LEN, RESERVED_PROPERTY_NAMES
  • shell:: register_completion_command, register_man_command, completion_command, cmd_completion, cmd_man, has_man_flag, build_program_man_page
  • strategy:: register_pipeline_command, dispatch_describe_pipeline
  • system_cmd:: dispatch_health, dispatch_usage, dispatch_enable, dispatch_disable, dispatch_reload, dispatch_config, register_health_command, register_usage_command, register_enable_command, register_disable_command, register_reload_command, register_config_command, SYSTEM_COMMANDS
  • validate:: register_validate_command, dispatch_validate, format_preflight_result
  • Crate root register_apcli_subcommands — umbrella composer that registers all 13 FE-13 built-in subcommands onto an apcli group.

Traits

RegistryProvider

Errors

Each module defines its own thiserror::Error enum rather than a single catch-all type. Eleven error enums are exported:

  • ApprovalError -- Denied / NonInteractive / Timeout (also aliased as ApprovalDeniedError / ApprovalTimeoutError)
  • ApcliGroupError -- visibility-config validation errors (FE-13)
  • CliError -- InvalidModuleId / ReservedModuleId / StdinRead / JsonParse / InputTooLarge / NotAnObject / SchemaRefResolution
  • DiscoveryError -- ModuleNotFound / InvalidModuleId / InvalidTag
  • RefResolverError -- Unresolvable / Circular / MaxDepthExceeded
  • SchemaParserError -- FlagCollision
  • ShellError -- UnknownCommand
  • AuthenticationError -- MissingApiKey / InvalidApiKey / KeyringError / RequestError
  • ConfigDecryptionError -- AuthTagMismatch / InvalidUtf8 / KeyringError / KdfError
  • ModuleExecutionError -- NonZeroExit / Timeout / OutputParseFailed / SpawnFailed
  • AuditLogError -- audit-log write failures (SEC-04)

Development

Getting Started

The conformance suite under tests/conformance_apcli_visibility.rs reads shared fixtures from the spec repo (aiperceivable/apcore-cli). Clone it as a sibling of this repo, or point APCORE_CLI_SPEC_REPO at an existing checkout:

# One-time: clone both repos side by side
git clone https://github.com/aiperceivable/apcore-cli.git
git clone https://github.com/aiperceivable/apcore-cli-rust.git

cd apcore-cli-rust
make setup                       # install apdev-rs + git pre-commit hook
make build                       # compile release binary to .bin/
export PATH=.bin:$PATH           # use Rust version in this session

Alternative layout (spec repo checked out elsewhere):

export APCORE_CLI_SPEC_REPO=/path/to/apcore-cli
cargo test --all-features

CI clones the spec repo automatically — see .github/workflows/ci.yml.

Daily Workflow

# Build and run
make build                       # release build + symlink to .bin/apcore-cli
apcore-cli --extensions-dir examples/extensions list

# Run all checks (same as pre-commit hook: fmt + clippy + tests)
make check

# Run individual steps
cargo fmt --all -- --check       # formatting check
cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings   # lint
cargo test --all-features        # run full test suite

Adding a New Module Descriptor

Each module is discovered via a module.json file in the extensions directory:

extensions/
└── math/
    └── add/
        └── module.json          <- descriptor file

{
  "name": "math.add",
  "description": "Add two integers and return their sum",
  "tags": ["math"],
  "input_schema": {
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "a": { "type": "integer", "description": "First operand" },
      "b": { "type": "integer", "description": "Second operand" }
    },
    "required": ["a", "b"]
  },
  "output_schema": {
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "sum": { "type": "integer" }
    }
  }
}

The CLI auto-discovers all module.json files recursively under --extensions-dir.

Key Dependencies

Crate Purpose
clap 4 CLI framework (derive + env + string)
tokio 1 Async runtime (process, signal, time)
serde / serde_json / serde_yaml Serialization
comfy-table 6 Terminal table rendering
aes-gcm / sha2 / pbkdf2 Cryptography
keyring 2 OS keyring access
clap_complete 4 Shell completion generation
thiserror / anyhow Error handling
tracing Structured logging

Examples

The repo includes 8 runnable example modules and a guide for writing your own.

make build && export PATH=.bin:$PATH
export APCORE_EXTENSIONS_ROOT=examples/extensions

apcore-cli math.add --a 5 --b 10          # {"sum": 15}
apcore-cli list --tag math                # filter by tag
apcore-cli describe math.add --format json # full schema
bash examples/run_examples.sh             # run all 8 modules

See examples/README.md for the full module list, authoring guide, and STDIN piping patterns.

License

Apache-2.0

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Terminal adapter for apcore. Execute AI-Perceivable modules from the command line.

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Releases 9

Release 0.8.0 Latest
May 8, 2026
+ 8 releases

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