Agent onboarding
CLI context and manifest
Understand purvey context, purvey manifest, and how wrappers should onboard to the CLI contract.
purvey context and purvey manifest are related but not interchangeable. context is optimized for dense human or model-readable onboarding text. manifest is the preferred machine-readable contract for shells, wrappers, and agents.
purvey context --json and --pretty emit the same manifest contract for compatibility when an existing caller already uses the context entrypoint. The same contract is also available in-process via @purveyors/cli/manifest.
Which command to use
| Need | Use | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dense onboarding text | purvey context | Prints the shipped plain-text agent reference with auth rules, ID maps, workflows, and error patterns. |
| Preferred machine-readable contract | purvey manifest | Emits the stable manifest JSON on stdout. Use --pretty for indented output. |
| Compatibility-parity JSON | purvey context --json / --pretty | Use when an existing context caller needs the same manifest contract without changing entrypoints. |
| Code-side integration | @purveyors/cli/manifest | Prefer the dedicated manifest export when an in-process Node.js or agent runtime needs the same contract. |
Examples
- purvey context prints text by default. Use purvey manifest for the preferred machine-readable contract.
- purvey context --json and --pretty intentionally emit the same manifest contract for compatibility with existing context-based callers.
- Use --csv only on commands that document CSV support. Neither context nor manifest supports CSV output.
purvey context
purvey context | head -50
purvey context > cli-reference.txtpurvey manifest
purvey manifest --pretty
purvey context --json > cli-manifest.jsonWhat the manifest contains
- Command groups, subcommands, summaries, examples, and auth requirements.
- Output-mode expectations, stderr/stdout notes, structured error-envelope guidance, and compatibility notes.
- ID-type reference for catalog_id, inventory_id, roast_id, and sale_id so agents do not confuse resource identifiers.
- Workflow examples and common error patterns that help agents recover without reverse-engineering implementation details.
Prefer the documented contract over internal route coupling
If an agent can solve the task with purvey or a direct @purveyors/cli import, prefer that path over binding to internal /api/tools/* or chat workspace payloads.