| name | cli |
| description | Clay CLI — the primary scripting surface (JSON output, typed errors). Discover the full command surface (workflows, tables, routines, webhooks, and more) and how to run any command; run `clay --help` for the authoritative list. |
The clay CLI
The clay CLI is Clay's primary programmatic surface, optimized for agents: JSON
output and typed error codes. It authenticates via clay login (browser OAuth;
run the setup skill once if clay whoami fails). The workspace is resolved from
the stored session — there is no workspace id to pass.
Discovering what you can do
clay --help is the authoritative, up-to-date list of command groups — the help text
is a machine-readable spec written for you to read. Don't assume the surface is only
workflows: when a user asks "what can I do?", run clay --help and surface everything.
clay --help
clay <group> --help
clay <group> <cmd> --help
Prefer simple, single commands
Prefer running one plain clay command at a time. Avoid chaining, redirecting, or
substituting (;, &&, ||, >, $(…), backticks, $VAR, etc.) unless it's genuinely
necessary — those forms fall through to a manual approval prompt, whereas a simple
clay <group> <cmd> call is auto-approved.
Piping (|) is fine when the other stages are common read-only helpers like jq that
transform stdin without opening files. Piping into anything else falls through to a prompt.
When to use the CLI vs the Public API
Use the CLI for scripting and agent-driven tasks in a shell. To build a service, app,
or integration that talks to Clay over HTTP, use the Public API (public-api skill).
Full developer documentation (CLI reference, Public API reference, concepts, OpenAPI
spec) lives at: https://developers.clay.com/llms.txt
