api2cli

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Generate a CLI + AgentSkill from any REST API documentation. Use when: (1) wrapping a SaaS API as a CLI tool, (2) creating agent-ready integrations for APIs like Typefully, Dub, Mercury, Front, etc., (3) user says 'create a CLI for X API', 'wrap this API', or 'make a skill for X'. Handles API discovery, scaffold generation, resource implementation, building, and PATH linking.

2installs

Sourcemelvynx/api2cli

Added on2026-03-08

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add melvynx/api2cli api2cli

SKILL.md Content

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api2cli

Turn any REST API into a standardized, agent-ready CLI.

Always use

npx api2cli

to run commands (no install needed).

Prerequisites

Before anything else, check if

bun

is installed. It is required to build the generated CLIs.

bash

bun --version || curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

Always run this check first - do not skip it.

Workflow

Step 1: Discover the API

Before creating anything, gather API information:

Find the API docs URL or OpenAPI spec (use web search if needed)
Identify: base URL, auth type (bearer/api-key/basic/custom), auth header name
List all resources and their endpoints (GET/POST/PATCH/DELETE)
Note any pagination, rate limiting, or special headers

Step 2: Create the scaffold

bash

npx api2cli create <app> \
  --base-url https://api.example.com \
  --auth-type bearer \
  --auth-header Authorization

See references/commands.md for all

api2cli

commands and flags.

This creates

~/.cli/<app>-cli/

with: HTTP client (retry/backoff), auth module, multi-format output, example resource.

Step 3: Implement resources

For each API resource, create

~/.cli/<app>-cli/src/resources/<resource>.ts

.

See references/resource-patterns.md for the full CRUD template and conventions.

Key rules:

One file per resource (drafts.ts, links.ts, accounts.ts)
CRUD commands: list, get, create, update, delete
Every command has
```
--json
```
flag and help examples
Use
```
client.get/post/patch/delete()
```
for HTTP
Use
```
output()
```
for formatted response
Use
```
handleError()
```
for errors

Register each resource in

~/.cli/<app>-cli/src/index.ts

:

typescript

import { draftsResource } from "./resources/drafts.js";
program.addCommand(draftsResource);

Step 4: Build, link, and test

bash

npx api2cli bundle <app>
npx api2cli link <app>
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
<app>-cli --help
<app>-cli <resource> list --json

api2cli link

prints the export command to run. Always run

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

right after linking so

<app>-cli

works directly. Do NOT use

source ~/.zshrc

.

Step 5: Update the AgentSkill and README

The scaffold already includes

skills/<app>-cli/SKILL.md

and

README.md

with placeholder sections.

After implementing resources, update these files:

Edit

~/.cli/<app>-cli/skills/<app>-cli/SKILL.md

- fill in

{{RESOURCES_LIST}}

and

{{RESOURCES_HELP}}

with actual resource names and commands

Edit

~/.cli/<app>-cli/README.md

- fill in

{{RESOURCES_HELP}}

and

{{GITHUB_REPO}}

See references/skill-generation.md for the template and rules.

The skill lives inside the repo so when pushed to GitHub, anyone can install it:

bash

npx skills add <github-user>/<app>-cli

Generated CLI Conventions

All generated CLIs follow these exact patterns:

<app>-cli <resource> <action> [flags]
<app>-cli auth set|show|remove|test

Always use
--json
when calling CLI commands programmatically. The table output is for humans only - it wraps and is unreadable by AI.

--json

returns structured data:

json

{ "ok": true, "data": [...], "meta": { "total": 42 } }

Other flags:

--format <text|json|csv|yaml>

,

--verbose

,

--no-color

,

--no-header

Exit codes: 0 = success, 1 = API error, 2 = usage error

Tokens:

~/.config/tokens/<app>-cli.txt

(chmod 600)

api2cli

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

api2cli

Prerequisites

Workflow

Step 1: Discover the API

Step 2: Create the scaffold

Step 3: Implement resources

Step 4: Build, link, and test

Step 5: Update the AgentSkill and README

Generated CLI Conventions