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Agent CLI (pipelex-agent)

The pipelex-agent CLI is a machine-oriented companion to the main pipelex CLI. It is designed for programmatic consumption by AI agents, IDE extensions, and other automation tools. Output format varies by command — markdown or JSON, raw TOML, or plxt passthrough — with no Rich formatting or interactive prompts. Structured commands emit errors to stderr; the error format is controlled by --error-format, which defaults to the value of --format (so --format json flips both, as before the split). fmt and lint pass through native plxt output.

It is consumed by the mthds-agent CLI (from the mthds npm package) which itself is used by Claude Code skills, the VS Code extension, and can be called directly from the command line.

Global Options

Option Description
--log-level Set the logging level (e.g., debug, info, warning, error)
--runner Select the runner backend to use
--version Print the version and exit

Commands Overview

The agent CLI mirrors the main CLI's subcommand structure for run, validate, and inputs, each with pipe, bundle, and method subcommands.

Run

Execute a pipeline. Success output is markdown by default, or JSON with --format json. Errors follow --error-format (defaults to --format's value).

pipelex-agent run pipe <PIPE_CODE> [OPTIONS]
pipelex-agent run bundle <PATH> [OPTIONS]
pipelex-agent run method <NAME> [OPTIONS]

Common options:

  • --inputs, -i - Path to JSON input file
  • --dry-run - Dry-run without calling AI providers
  • --mock-inputs - Use mock inputs
  • --graph / --no-graph - Enable/disable execution graph (enabled by default)
  • --library-dir, -L - Additional library directory
  • --with-memory - Include full working memory in output
  • --format - Success output format: markdown (default) or json
  • --error-format - Error output format: markdown or json (defaults to --format's value)

For bundle and method, use --pipe to target a specific pipe.

Validate

Validate pipes, bundles, or methods. Success output is markdown by default, or JSON with --format json. Errors follow --error-format (defaults to --format's value).

pipelex-agent validate pipe <PIPE_CODE> [OPTIONS]
pipelex-agent validate pipe --all [OPTIONS]
pipelex-agent validate bundle <PATH> [OPTIONS]
pipelex-agent validate method <NAME> [OPTIONS]

Common options:

  • --library-dir, -L - Additional library directory
  • --allow-signatures - Accept PipeSignature placeholders in the dependency graph (lenient mode)
  • --format - Success output format: markdown (default) or json
  • --error-format - Error output format: markdown or json (defaults to --format's value)

For bundle, additional options are available:

  • --pipe - Require a specific pipe in the bundle
  • --graph, -g - Generate an execution graph visualization
  • --graph-format, -f - Graph output format (mermaidflow, reactflow, or both)
  • --direction - Graph layout direction

Signature pipes

pipelex-agent validate is strict by default — same as pipelex validate. A bundle whose dependency graph reaches a PipeSignature is rejected unless you pass --allow-signatures, which dry-runs signatures as mocks.

Inputs

Generate example input JSON for a pipe, bundle, or method.

pipelex-agent inputs pipe <PIPE_CODE> [OPTIONS]
pipelex-agent inputs bundle <PATH> [OPTIONS]
pipelex-agent inputs method <NAME> [OPTIONS]

Common options:

  • --library-dir, -L - Additional library directory

For bundle and method, use --pipe to target a specific pipe.

Flat Commands

These commands do not have subcommands:

Command Description
fmt Format a .mthds/.toml/.plx file in-place (delegates to plxt)
lint Lint a .mthds/.toml/.plx file for errors (delegates to plxt)
concept Convert a JSON concept spec into raw TOML (stdout)
pipe Convert a JSON pipe spec into raw TOML (stdout)
models List available model presets, aliases, and waterfalls (--format markdown\|json success, default: markdown; --error-format for errors, defaults to --format's value)
doctor Check config, credentials, and model health (--format markdown\|json success, default: markdown; --error-format for errors, defaults to --format's value)

Output Contract

Commands use different stdout formats depending on their purpose:

  • Markdown or JSON: run, validate, init, models, check-model, doctor — markdown by default, JSON with --format json. Error format follows --error-format (defaults to --format's value, so --format json flips both).
  • JSON: inputs — structured JSON via agent_success()
  • Raw TOML: concept, pipe — TOML text printed directly to stdout
  • Passthrough: fmt, lint — raw plxt output

JSON success — written to stdout:

{
  "success": true,
  "target_dir": "/path/to/.pipelex",
  "backends_enabled": ["openai"]
}

JSON commands return the result object directly. They are not wrapped in a status or data envelope.

Warnings — non-fatal setup conditions are surfaced on a top-level warnings array of the success envelope, so consumers don't have to parse stderr. The field is absent when there is nothing to report. Each entry is an object with a type and a message:

{
  "success": true,
  "target_dir": "/path/to/.pipelex",
  "warnings": [
    { "type": "RemoteConfigStale", "message": "Using a cached gateway config; run `pipelex init` while online to refresh." }
  ]
}

RemoteConfigStale is emitted when the gateway is enabled but the remote config service is unreachable and Pipelex falls back to its on-disk cache (offline mode).

Error — written to stderr:

{
  "error": true,
  "error_type": "specific_error_type",
  "message": "Human-readable description",
  "error_domain": "input",
  "hint": "Suggested fix or next step",
  "retryable": false
}

fmt and lint are raw passthroughs to the plxt binary and bypass the JSON output contract, producing native plxt output instead.

Graph Visualization

Graph visualization is available through the validate bundle subcommand with the --graph flag, and through run subcommands where it is enabled by default. Use --no-graph on run to disable it.