CLI overview and installation

kelta is the command-line interface to everything in this documentation: the admin surface (collections, fields, layouts, list views, pages, menus, dashboards, flows, users, limits, sandboxes, promotion), record CRUD, metadata packages, a raw API escape hatch and a local MCP bridge. It is designed for scripts and AI agents as much as for people: JSON when piped, stable error codes, a machine-readable command catalogue.

Install it with the one-liner on Install the Kelta CLI, then kelta auth login --url https://api.example.com --tenant <slug>.

Command groups#

Group	Commands
auth	login, logout, status
token	list, create, revoke
profile	list, use, show, remove, rename
collections	list, describe, create, update, delete
fields	list, add, update, remove
picklists	list, get, create, delete, value-add, value-update, value-deactivate
validation-rules	list, create, update, delete
constraints	list, create, delete
layouts	list, get --tree, create, apply, update, delete
list-views	list, get, create, apply, update, delete
pages	list, get, create, apply, update, publish, delete
menus	list, get --tree, create, apply, update, delete
dashboards, reports	list / get / apply
flows	list, describe, create, update, execute, runs, run, cancel, retry, publish, versions, webhook-url
users	list, get, invite, portal-invite, reset-password, token-create, logins
limits	get, set-tier, set
audit	setup, security, logins
records	list, get, create, update, delete, bulk, search, semantic-search
metadata	export, diff, apply
sandbox, promote	environment and promotion lifecycle
sdk	types — generate TypeScript types from the tenant’s OpenAPI document
mcp	serve, install
top level	api, docs, manifest, version, update

The complete list with every flag and default is generated from the command registry: Command reference.

Global flags#

Flag	Effect
--profile <name>	which saved connection to use
--output table|json|yaml|csv|ndjson	output format (table on a TTY, JSON when piped)
--raw	the unflattened JSON:API envelope
--quiet	ids only, one per line
--yes	confirm destructive commands non-interactively

Discovery#

• kelta <group> --help, kelta <group> <command> --help — human help.
• kelta manifest [--group records] — the full machine-readable catalogue: every command with a JSON Schema of its input, positionals, options, and dangerous/auth flags. Agents start here.
• kelta docs agent — the agent guide; kelta docs jsonapi|page-layouts|list-views|dashboards|ui-pages|ui-menus|flows|packages — the authoring reference, identical to the pages under Authoring reference.

Examples#

kelta collections list --output json | jq '.[].name'
kelta records list invoices --filter status=open --filter amount.gte=100 --sort -createdAt
kelta records create invoices --data '{"amount": 120, "status": "open"}'
kelta fields add invoices --name due_date --type date --required
kelta flows execute <flowId> --input '{"key":"value"}' --wait
kelta layouts apply invoices --file main.json
kelta api GET '/api/governor-limits'

Next: Authentication and profiles, Output contract and scripting.