| name | frontcli |
| description | Interact with Front customer support platform via the frontcli CLI. Use when managing conversations, messages, contacts, tags, drafts, comments, templates, inboxes, teammates, or channels in Front. Triggered by mentions of Front, frontcli, support tickets, customer conversations, or helpdesk operations. Use when this capability is needed. |
| metadata | {"author":"dedene"} |
frontcli -- Front CLI
CLI for Front customer support. Manages conversations, messages, contacts, tags, drafts, comments, templates, and more.
Quick Start
Verify auth before any operation:
frontcli auth status
frontcli whoami --json
If not authenticated, the user must run frontcli auth login interactively (requires browser for OAuth). Do not attempt auth setup on behalf of the user.
Core Rules
- Always use
--json when parsing output. Human-readable format is for display only.
- Use correct ID prefixes -- see ID Reference below. Wrong prefix produces a clear error.
- Read before write -- fetch current state before modifying (archive, assign, tag, reply).
- Pipe with jq -- extract IDs/fields:
frontcli conv list --json | jq -r '._results[].id'
- Multi-account -- use
--account user@email.com if the user has multiple Front accounts.
ID Reference
| Prefix | Resource | Example |
|---|
cnv_ | conversation | cnv_abc123 |
msg_ | message | msg_abc123 |
cmt_ | comment | cmt_abc123 |
tea_ | teammate | tea_abc123 |
tag_ | tag | tag_abc123 |
inb_ | inbox | inb_abc123 |
chn_ | channel | chn_abc123 |
ctc_ | contact | ctc_abc123 |
drf_ | draft | drf_abc123 |
rsp_ | template | rsp_abc123 |
att_ | attachment | att_abc123 |
hdl_ | handle | hdl_abc123 |
Output Formats
| Flag | Format | Use case |
|---|
| (default) | Table | User-facing display |
--json | JSON | Agent parsing, scripting |
--plain | TSV | Pipe to awk/cut |
JSON list responses wrap results in ._results[]. Single-object responses return the object directly.
Workflows
Read a Conversation Thread
frontcli conv get cnv_xxx --full --json
frontcli conv get cnv_xxx --json
frontcli conv messages cnv_xxx --json
frontcli conv comments cnv_xxx --json
Use --full when you need message content; omit for metadata only.
Search / List Conversations
frontcli conv list --status open --limit 10 --json
frontcli conv list --inbox inb_xxx --json
frontcli conv list --tag tag_xxx --json
frontcli conv search "customer issue" --json
frontcli conv search --from client@co.com --status open --json
frontcli conv search --tag tag_xxx --assignee me --json
frontcli conv search --after "2025-01-01" --before "2025-02-01" --json
Search flags: --from, --to, --recipient, --inbox, --tag (repeatable), --status, --assignee, --unassigned, --before, --after, --limit.
Reply to a Conversation
frontcli msg reply cnv_xxx --body "Thanks for reaching out."
frontcli msg reply cnv_xxx --body-file ./reply.txt
Send a New Message
Requires a channel ID. Find channels first:
frontcli channels list --json
frontcli msg send --channel chn_xxx --to user@example.com --subject "Hello" --body "Message body"
Add Internal Comment
Comments are internal notes visible only to teammates:
frontcli comments create cnv_xxx --body "Internal note: customer is VIP"
Manage Tags
frontcli tags list --json
frontcli tags list --json | jq -r '._results[] | select(.name == "Urgent") | .id'
frontcli conv tag cnv_xxx tag_xxx
frontcli conv untag cnv_xxx tag_xxx
Assign / Unassign
frontcli teammates list --json
frontcli conv assign cnv_xxx --to tea_xxx
frontcli conv unassign cnv_xxx
Manage Conversation Status
frontcli conv archive cnv_xxx
frontcli conv open cnv_xxx
frontcli conv trash cnv_xxx
frontcli conv snooze cnv_xxx --until "2025-01-15T09:00:00Z"
frontcli conv snooze cnv_xxx --duration 2h
frontcli conv unsnooze cnv_xxx
Look Up Contacts
frontcli contacts search "john" --json
frontcli contacts get ctc_xxx --json
frontcli contacts handles ctc_xxx --json
frontcli contacts convos ctc_xxx --json
Templates
frontcli templates list --json
frontcli templates use rsp_xxx
BODY=$(frontcli templates use rsp_xxx)
frontcli msg reply cnv_xxx --body "$BODY"
Drafts
frontcli drafts create cnv_xxx --body "Draft reply"
frontcli drafts list cnv_xxx --json
frontcli drafts update drf_xxx --body "Updated" --draft-version 1
frontcli drafts delete drf_xxx
Custom Fields
frontcli conv update cnv_xxx --field "Priority=High" --field "Category=Support"
Bulk Operations
frontcli conv list --tag tag_xxx --json | jq -r '._results[].id' | xargs frontcli conv archive
frontcli conv list --tag tag_xxx --json | jq -r '._results[].id' | frontcli conv archive --ids-from -
frontcli conv search --status open --unassigned --json | jq -r '._results[].id' | \
while read id; do frontcli conv tag "$id" tag_xxx; done
Environment Variables
| Variable | Description |
|---|
FRONT_ACCOUNT | Default account (avoids --account) |
FRONT_JSON | Set 1 for JSON output by default |
FRONT_PLAIN | Set 1 for TSV output by default |
Command Reference
| Command | Subcommands |
|---|
conv | list, get, search, messages, comments, archive, open, trash, assign, unassign, snooze, unsnooze, followers, follow, unfollow, tag, untag, update |
msg | get, send, reply, attachments, attachment download |
drafts | create, list, get, update, delete |
tags | list, get, create, update, delete, children, convos |
contacts | list, search, get, handles, handle add/delete, notes, note add, convos, create, update, delete, merge |
inboxes | list, get, convos, channels |
teammates | list, get, convos |
channels | list, get |
Guidelines
- Never expose or log OAuth tokens, client secrets, or keyring contents.
- Confirm destructive operations (
trash, delete, archive) with the user first.
contacts merge is irreversible -- always confirm before executing.- Rate limits are handled automatically with exponential backoff.
- When an error mentions wrong ID prefix, check the ID Reference table.
Installation
brew install dedene/tap/frontcli
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