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CLI Reference

Complete reference for all AEL command-line interface commands.

Global Options

These options apply to all commands:

Option Description
-c, --config PATH Path to configuration file
-v, --verbose Increase verbosity (can be repeated: -vv)
-q, --quiet Suppress output
--json Output as JSON
--help Show help message

Commands

ael serve

Start AEL as an MCP server.

ael serve [OPTIONS]

Options:

Option Default Description
--no-watch false Disable workflow file watching
--mode MODE auto Initial mode: configuration or running
--transport TYPE stdio Transport: stdio or http
--port PORT 8080 HTTP port (only with --transport http)
--host HOST 0.0.0.0 HTTP host (only with --transport http)

Examples:

# Start with stdio transport (default)
ael serve

# Start with HTTP transport
ael serve --transport http --port 8080

# Start without file watching
ael serve --no-watch

# Start in configuration mode
ael serve --mode configuration

ael run

Execute a workflow.

ael run WORKFLOW [OPTIONS]

Arguments:

Argument Description
WORKFLOW Path to workflow YAML file

Options:

Option Description
-i, --input KEY=VALUE Input parameter (can be repeated)
--input-file PATH JSON/YAML file with inputs
-t, --timeout SECONDS Execution timeout

Examples:

# Run with default inputs
ael run workflows/hello.yaml

# Run with input parameters
ael run workflows/hello.yaml -i name=Alice -i count=5

# Run with inputs from file
ael run workflows/process.yaml --input-file inputs.json

# Run with timeout
ael run workflows/long-task.yaml --timeout 300

ael validate

Validate a workflow YAML file.

ael validate FILE [OPTIONS]

Options:

Option Description
--strict Treat warnings as errors
--check-tools Verify tools exist (requires MCP connection)

Examples:

# Basic validation
ael validate workflows/my-workflow.yaml

# Strict validation
ael validate workflows/my-workflow.yaml --strict

# Validate with tool checking
ael validate workflows/my-workflow.yaml --check-tools

ael version

Show version information.

ael version

ael config show

Show current configuration.

ael config show [OPTIONS]

Options:

Option Description
--section NAME Show specific section only

Examples:

# Show all configuration
ael config show

# Show specific section
ael config show --section mcp
ael config show --section logging

ael workflows list

List registered workflows.

ael workflows list

ael workflows show

Show workflow details.

ael workflows show NAME

Example:

ael workflows show hello-world

ael tools list

List available tools.

ael tools list [OPTIONS]

Options:

Option Description
--source TYPE Filter by source: mcp or system
--server NAME Filter by MCP server name
--status STATUS Filter by status: available or unavailable

ael tools show

Show tool details.

ael tools show NAME

ael tools refresh

Refresh tool schemas from MCP servers.

ael tools refresh [OPTIONS]

Options:

Option Description
--server NAME Refresh specific server only

ael api

Start AEL REST API server.

ael api [OPTIONS]

Options:

Option Default Description
--host HOST 0.0.0.0 API host
--port PORT 8080 API port
--prefix PREFIX /api/v1 API path prefix
--no-docs false Disable OpenAPI docs
--require-auth false Require API key authentication
--rate-limit N 0 Requests per minute (0=disabled)
--db PATH - SQLite database path

Examples:

# Start API server
ael api --port 8080

# Start with authentication
ael api --require-auth

# Start with rate limiting
ael api --rate-limit 100