cli-command-development

name	cli-command-development
description	Creating new CLI commands and topics for the B2C CLI using oclif. Use when adding a new command, creating a topic, adding flags or arguments, implementing table output, or extending BaseCommand/OAuthCommand/InstanceCommand.
metadata	{"internal":true}

CLI Command Development

This skill covers creating new CLI commands and topics for the B2C CLI.

Command Organization

Commands live in packages/b2c-cli/src/commands/. The directory structure maps directly to command names:

commands/
├── code/
│   ├── deploy.ts      → b2c code deploy
│   ├── activate.ts    → b2c code activate
│   └── list.ts        → b2c code list
├── sandbox/
│   ├── create.ts      → b2c sandbox create
│   └── list.ts        → b2c sandbox list
└── mrt/
    └── env/
        └── var/
            └── set.ts → b2c mrt env var set

Command Class Hierarchy

Choose the appropriate base class based on what your command needs:

BaseCommand (logging, JSON output, error handling)
  └─ OAuthCommand (OAuth authentication)
       ├─ InstanceCommand (B2C instance: hostname, code version)
       │   ├─ CartridgeCommand (cartridge path + filters)
       │   ├─ JobCommand (job execution helpers)
       │   └─ WebDavCommand (WebDAV root directory)
       ├─ MrtCommand (Managed Runtime API)
       └─ OdsCommand (On-Demand Sandbox API)

Import from @salesforce/b2c-tooling-sdk/cli:

import { InstanceCommand, CartridgeCommand, OdsCommand } from '@salesforce/b2c-tooling-sdk/cli';

Standard Command Template

/*
 * Copyright (c) 2025, Salesforce, Inc.
 * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2
 * For full license text, see the license.txt file in the repo root
 */
import {Args, Flags} from '@oclif/core';
import {InstanceCommand} from '@salesforce/b2c-tooling-sdk/cli';
import {getApiErrorMessage} from '@salesforce/b2c-tooling-sdk';
import {t} from '../../i18n/index.js';

interface MyCommandResponse {
  success: boolean;
  data: SomeType[];
}

export default class MyCommand extends InstanceCommand<typeof MyCommand> {
  static description = t('commands.topic.mycommand.description', 'Human-readable description');

  static enableJsonFlag = true;

  static examples = [
    '<%= config.bin %> <%= command.id %> arg1',
    '<%= config.bin %> <%= command.id %> --flag value',
    '<%= config.bin %> <%= command.id %> --json',
  ];

  static args = {
    name: Args.string({
      description: 'Description of the argument',
      : ,
    }),
  };

   flags = {
    : .({
      : ,
      : ,
      : ,
    }),
    : .({
      : ,
      : ,
    }),
  };

   (): <> {
    
    .();

    
     {name} = .;
     {myFlag, myBool} = .;

    .((, , {name}));

    
     {data, error, response} =  ...();

     (error) {
      .((, , {
        : (error, response),
      }));
    }

     :  = {
      : ,
      data,
    };

    
     (.()) {
       result;
    }

    
    .();
     result;
  }
}

Adding a New Topic

When creating a new command topic, add it to packages/b2c-cli/package.json in the oclif section:

{
  "oclif": {
    "topics": {
      "newtopic": {
        "description": "Commands for new functionality"
      },
      "newtopic:subtopic": {
        "description": "Subtopic commands"
      }
    }
  }
}

Flag Patterns

Common Flag Types

static flags = {
  // String with short alias and env var fallback
  server: Flags.string({
    char: 's',
    description: 'Server hostname',
    env: 'SFCC_SERVER',
  }),

  // Integer with default
  timeout: Flags.integer({
    description: 'Timeout in seconds',
    default: 60,
  }),

  // Boolean with --no-* variant
  wait: Flags.boolean({
    description: 'Wait for completion',
    default: true,
    allowNo: true,  // enables --no-wait
  }),

  // Comma-separated multiple values
  channels: Flags.string({
    description: 'Site channels (comma-separated)',
    multiple: true,
    multipleNonGreedy: true,
    delimiter: ',',
  }),

  // Enum-like options
  format: Flags.string({
    description: 'Output format',
    options: ['json', , ],
    : ,
  }),

  
  : .({
    : ,
    : [],
  }),
};

Table Output

Use createTable for consistent tabular output:

import {createTable, TableRenderer, type ColumnDef} from '@salesforce/b2c-tooling-sdk/cli';

type MyData = {id: string; name: string; status: string};

const COLUMNS: Record<string, ColumnDef<MyData>> = {
  id: {
    header: 'ID',
    get: (item) => item.id,
  },
  name: {
    header: 'Name',
    get: (item) => item.name,
  },
  status: {
    header: 'Status',
    get: (item) => item.status,
    extended: true,  // Only shown with --extended
  },
};

const DEFAULT_COLUMNS = ['id', 'name'];
const tableRenderer = new TableRenderer(COLUMNS);

// In run():
tableRenderer.render(data, );


 columns = ..
  ? tableRenderer.(...())
  : ;
tableRenderer.(data, columns);

Internationalization

All user-facing strings use the t() function:

import {t} from '../../i18n/index.js';

// Basic usage
this.log(t('commands.topic.cmd.message', 'Default message'));

// With interpolation
this.log(t('commands.topic.cmd.working', 'Processing {{count}} items...', {count: 5}));

// For errors
this.error(t('commands.topic.cmd.error', 'Failed: {{message}}', {message: err.message}));

Keys follow the pattern: commands.<topic>.<command>.<key>

Validation Methods

Base classes provide validation helpers:

// From OAuthCommand
this.requireOAuthCredentials();  // Ensures clientId + clientSecret
this.hasOAuthCredentials();      // Returns boolean

// From InstanceCommand
this.requireServer();            // Ensures hostname is set
this.requireCodeVersion();       // Ensures code version is set
this.requireWebDavCredentials(); // Ensures WebDAV auth (Basic or OAuth)

// From MrtCommand
this.requireMrtCredentials();    // Ensures MRT API credentials

Accessing Clients

InstanceCommand provides lazy-loaded clients:

// OCAPI client (OAuth authenticated)
const result = await this.instance.ocapi.GET('/code_versions');

// WebDAV client (Basic or OAuth authenticated)
await this.instance.webdav.put('path/to/file', buffer);

// ODS client (from OdsCommand)
const sandboxes = await this.odsClient.GET('/sandboxes');

// MRT client (from MrtCommand)
const projects = await this.mrtClient.GET('/api/projects/');

Error Handling

// Simple error (exits with code 1)
this.error('Something went wrong');

// Error with suggestions
this.error('Config file not found', {
  suggestions: ['Run b2c auth login first', 'Check your dw.json file'],
});

// Warning (continues execution)
this.warn('Deprecated flag used');

// API errors - use getApiErrorMessage for clean messages
import {getApiErrorMessage} from '@salesforce/b2c-tooling-sdk';

const {data, error, response} = await this.instance.ocapi.GET('/sites', {...});
if (error) {
  this.error(t('commands.topic.cmd.apiError', 'API error: {{message}}', {
    message: getApiErrorMessage(error, response),
  }));
}

Important: Always destructure response alongside error when making API calls. The getApiErrorMessage utility extracts clean messages from ODS, OCAPI, and SCAPI error patterns, and falls back to HTTP status (e.g., "HTTP 521 Web Server Is Down") for non-JSON responses like HTML error pages.

See API Client Development for supported error patterns.

Troubleshooting

Command not found after creating file: Ensure the file is in the correct packages/b2c-cli/src/commands/ subdirectory matching the intended command path. Run pnpm --filter @salesforce/b2c-cli run build to regenerate the oclif manifest. For new topics, add the topic to package.json under oclif.topics.

Flag parsing errors: Check that flag names use kebab-case in the static flags definition. The char shorthand must be a single character. If using dependsOn, the referenced flag must exist in the same command's flags.

Missing i18n keys: The t() function falls back to the default string (second argument), so missing keys won't crash at runtime. However, keep key paths consistent with the commands.<topic>.<command>.<key> pattern for future localization.

"requireX" methods not available: Verify the command extends the correct base class. requireServer() is on InstanceCommand, requireOAuthCredentials() is on OAuthCommand, requireMrtCredentials() is on MrtCommand. Check the class hierarchy if a method is missing.

Creating a Command Checklist

1. Create file at packages/b2c-cli/src/commands/<topic>/<command>.ts
2. Choose appropriate base class
3. Define static description, examples, args, flags
4. Set static enableJsonFlag = true for JSON output support
5. Implement run() method with proper return type
6. Add topic to package.json if new
7. Add i18n keys for all user-facing strings
8. Update skill in skills/b2c-cli/skills/b2c-<topic>/SKILL.md if exists
9. Update CLI reference docs in docs/cli/<topic>.md
10. Build and test: pnpm run build && pnpm --filter @salesforce/b2c-cli run test