frontcli

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

1. Always use --json when parsing output. Human-readable format is for display only.
2. Use correct ID prefixes -- see ID Reference below. Wrong prefix produces a clear error.
3. Read before write -- fetch current state before modifying (archive, assign, tag, reply).
4. Pipe with jq -- extract IDs/fields: frontcli conv list --json | jq -r '._results[].id'
5. Multi-account -- use --account [e-mail] 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

# Full message bodies + comments (timeline view)
frontcli conv get cnv_xxx --full --json

# Metadata only
frontcli conv get cnv_xxx --json

# Messages only
frontcli conv messages cnv_xxx --json

# Comments only
frontcli conv comments cnv_xxx --json

Use --full when you need message content; omit for metadata only.

Search / List Conversations

# List recent open conversations
frontcli conv list --status open --limit 10 --json

# List by inbox or tag
frontcli conv list --inbox inb_xxx --json
frontcli conv list --tag tag_xxx --json

# Free-text search
frontcli conv search "customer issue" --json

# Filtered search
frontcli conv search --from [e-mail] --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 [e-mail] --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

# List available tags
frontcli tags list --json

# Find tag ID by name
frontcli tags list --json | jq -r '._results[] | select(.name == "Urgent") | .id'

# Tag / untag a conversation
frontcli conv tag cnv_xxx tag_xxx
frontcli conv untag cnv_xxx tag_xxx

Assign / Unassign

# Find teammate IDs
frontcli teammates list --json

# Assign / unassign
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

# Snooze (timestamp or duration)
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

# Use template body in a reply
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

# Archive all conversations with a tag (xargs)
frontcli conv list --tag tag_xxx --json | jq -r '._results[].id' | xargs frontcli conv archive

# Archive from stdin
frontcli conv list --tag tag_xxx --json | jq -r '._results[].id' | frontcli conv archive --ids-from -

# Tag all open unassigned conversations
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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