@boardwalk-labs/cli

The boardwalk command — author, validate, deploy, and operate Boardwalk workflows.

boardwalk setup                            # one-time: log in + wire up your coding agent
boardwalk init my-workflow                 # scaffold a project from a template
boardwalk check .                          # validate the package locally (no auth/network)
boardwalk login                            # browser OAuth (PKCE) → stores a session
boardwalk deploy . --org my-team           # ship it to the Boardwalk platform
boardwalk run my-workflow --input '{"who":"world"}'   # run the DEPLOYED workflow, from anywhere
boardwalk deploy . --run                   # while iterating: ship it and run it once
boardwalk runs                             # recent runs (or --workflow <id|slug> to scope)
boardwalk runs <runId> --logs              # what a run did; --follow to live-tail
boardwalk workflows                        # the org's workflows (show <id|slug>, delete <id|slug>)
boardwalk cancel <runId>
boardwalk logout / whoami
boardwalk status                           # host + login (live-verified) + project link

Get set up

boardwalk setup is the install wizard: it logs you in (browser OAuth), detects which coding agent you use (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, OpenClaw), and installs that agent's Boardwalk plugin, skills, and the control-plane MCP server. It never touches files in your project — it wires up the agent, then leaves your repo alone.

boardwalk setup                            # interactive: detect your agent, confirm, install
boardwalk setup --harness claude-code,codex  # skip detection; set up these agents
boardwalk setup --yes                      # non-interactive (CI): no prompts, use the detected set
boardwalk setup --print-only               # print the plan without running any installer

Detection looks for each agent's binary on PATH or its config directory (~/.claude, ~/.codex, ~/.cursor, ~/.config/opencode). The two agents with first-class installers (Claude Code, Codex) are wired up for you; the rest print an exact recipe. A non-TTY run without --yes/--harness downgrades to --print-only so it can never hang waiting on stdin.

The author loop

• init [dir] — scaffold a workflow project: program file, package.json, .gitignore. The default template deploys green immediately and works fully offline. It writes the package and nothing else — to give a coding agent the CLI in context, install the plugin (claude plugin install boardwalk@boardwalk-labs), which stays current instead of freezing a copy in your repo.
• check <file|dir> — validate without deploying: full manifest-schema validation (the same schema every engine enforces) + an esbuild compile proving every import resolves — precise errors before anything ships.

Choosing what to watch

Every engine emits the same typed event stream, and every event belongs to one channel: lifecycle, phase, output, log, agent. The flags mean the same thing everywhere:

boardwalk runs <runId> --logs                   # default: lifecycle + phase + output (quiet, readable)
boardwalk runs <runId> --logs --verbose         # everything: agent turns, tool calls, captured logs
boardwalk runs <runId> --logs --stream output | jq   # just the result — pipe-friendly
boardwalk runs <runId> --follow --stream phase,log

Deploying

• deploy <file|dir> --org <slug> — create/update the workflow (idempotent by meta.slug). --dry-run prints the plan only.
• deploy <dir> --org <slug> --run — ship it, then trigger a real run on the platform and wait for it to finish. The authoring loop in one command.
• run <workflow> --org <slug> — run an ALREADY-DEPLOYED workflow, named by slug or id. It reads nothing from disk — no package, no build, no deploy — so it works from any machine that has a login, on a workflow you have no local copy of. --no-wait triggers and exits.

deploy builds the program into a content-addressed artifact: esbuild bundles your entry (deps pinned at deploy, @boardwalk-labs/workflow stays external), package assets (markdown skills, prompt templates, a README.md) ride along at their relative paths, and the lot is packed into a deterministic tarball, uploaded via a presigned URL, and verified server-side. The server re-derives the manifest from your meta — the CLI never sends a hand-built manifest.

A README.md at the package root is rendered as the workflow's landing page in the dashboard, and it always ships: beside a lone entry file (deploy index.ts) as well as in a package, and whether or not an explicit boardwalk.assets list names it. That list scopes what your program can read at run time; nothing reads a README at run time, so it doesn't apply (this is what npm pack does with README/LICENSE/package.json vs files). A lone file still ships no directory sweep — only its README rides along, never the rest of the folder.

Project link (.boardwalk/project.json)

The first deploy/run in a directory writes a gitignored .boardwalk/project.json with { orgSlug, workflowId }. After that the workflow is identified by that stored id, so --org is optional and renaming meta.slug or the entry file updates the same workflow instead of forking a new one. On a fresh clone, pass --org once to re-link (it adopts an existing same-name workflow if present, else creates one).

Observing runs + workflows

boardwalk runs                              # recent runs, newest first (--status / --limit)
boardwalk runs --workflow merge-bot         # scope the list to one workflow (id or slug)
boardwalk runs <runId>                      # one run's summary (status, duration, tokens, error)
boardwalk runs <runId> --logs               # its event log, channel by channel
boardwalk runs <runId> --logs --verbose     # + agent turns + every tool call
boardwalk runs <runId> --follow             # live-tail over SSE until it finishes (Ctrl-C aborts)

boardwalk workflows                         # the org's workflows (slug, title, triggers, last run)
boardwalk workflows show <id|slug>          # manifest projection + version history
boardwalk workflows delete <id|slug> --yes  # delete (irreversible; --yes required)

--logs/--follow render the typed event stream, so --stream <channels> / --verbose mean the same thing on both. A run id needs no --org (the run resolves its own org); a workflow slug is resolved against the org (--org or the project link), while a workflow id (a ULID, as in a dashboard URL) is used directly.

Managing secrets + inference providers

boardwalk secrets                           # the org's secrets (names/scope/kind — never values)
echo "$TOKEN" | boardwalk secrets set GITHUB_TOKEN   # stage a value (piped → out of shell history)
boardwalk secrets set DEPLOY_KEY --from-file ./key   # …or from a file; --value is also accepted
boardwalk secrets delete GITHUB_TOKEN --yes

boardwalk inference                         # BYO inference providers (endpoints only — never keys)
echo "$KEY" | boardwalk inference add my-openai --source openai
boardwalk inference add vllm --source openai_compatible --base-url https://vllm.internal --api-key …
boardwalk inference delete my-openai --yes

Environments + variables

An environment is a named set of config (secrets + non-secret variables) a run targets by name; the org base always applies underneath. A variable is non-secret config injected into the run as a process.env value (read it with process.env.NAME). The environment is chosen per run, not in the manifest — pass --environment to run:

boardwalk environments                       # named environments (org base always applies underneath)
boardwalk environments create Production
boardwalk environments delete Production --yes

boardwalk variables                          # non-secret variables (VALUES are shown — they're not secret)
boardwalk variables set POSTHOG_PROJECT_ID 394895 --environment Production
boardwalk variables list --environment Production
boardwalk variables delete REGION --yes

boardwalk run my-workflow --org my-team --environment Production   # run against an environment

Use secrets (above) for credentials — never store a secret as a variable.

Secret VALUES are never displayed by any surface — list shows a name + a last-4 hint. Provider API keys are staged into Secrets Manager server-side and never returned. Writes (set/delete, add, and workflows delete) need an ELEVATED login — see below; the default login is read-only for these.

Authentication

Resolved in this precedence:

1. --token <bearer> flag (one-off / scripting)
2. BOARDWALK_API_KEY env (CI / headless — a bwk_… API key)
3. the stored session from boardwalk login — either a browser OAuth/PKCE session (auto-refreshed when expired) or an API key persisted via boardwalk login --token <key>

boardwalk login speaks standard OAuth 2.0 Authorization-Code + PKCE against the deployment's own issuer: it fetches /.well-known/oauth-authorization-server to discover the endpoints, starts a localhost callback server, opens your browser, exchanges the code, and stores the session in <config>/credentials.json (mode 0600). The default CLI session is scoped, least-privilege — it can deploy, trigger/read runs, and LIST secrets + providers (names/endpoints only, never values), but cannot write secrets, wire providers, delete workflows, mint API keys, or manage billing/members.

Elevated login (boardwalk login --scopes admin) opts into the org-admin write scopes — managing secrets, wiring inference providers, and deleting workflows — for that session. You must be an org admin for it to take effect. It is deliberately bounded: even elevated, a CLI token can never mint a full-power API key or invite members (those stay web-session-only), so a leaked token's blast radius is contained. Use the default login for everyday deploy/run; reach for --scopes admin only when you need to manage the org's credentials from the terminal.

init and check need no account at all.

Configuration (env)

Point the CLI at any deployment — the Boardwalk platform (default), or a self-hosted install on your own domain — without rebuilding. Host precedence: an explicit BOARDWALK_API_URL / BOARDWALK_API_DOMAIN wins; otherwise, when you're using a stored login session, its own API origin is used (so logging into a dev / self-host stack just works — no per-call env needed); else the prod default. boardwalk status shows the resolved host and how it was chosen.

Variable	Default	Purpose
BOARDWALK_API_DOMAIN	api.boardwalk.sh	API host → https://<domain> (self-host knob)
BOARDWALK_API_URL	—	Full API URL override (local http / ports)
BOARDWALK_ISSUER_URL	https://api.boardwalk.sh	OAuth issuer origin for login (discovery)
BOARDWALK_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID	boardwalk-cli	OAuth client id (built-in default)
BOARDWALK_OAUTH_PORT	53682	Loopback redirect port
BOARDWALK_API_KEY	—	API key for non-interactive auth
BOARDWALK_CONFIG_DIR	XDG config dir	Where credentials are stored

Develop

pnpm install
pnpm test
pnpm lint
pnpm build      # → dist/, run via ./bin/boardwalk.js
pnpm boardwalk -- check ./index.ts   # run from source via tsx

The Boardwalk repos

• boardwalk — the open-source single-node engine: cron scheduling, webhooks, durable runs, run history
• sdk-typescript — @boardwalk-labs/workflow, the TypeScript API a workflow program imports
• examples — copyable workflow templates (boardwalk init --template)
• plugins — coding-agent skills (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenClaw, OpenCode) + a control-plane MCP server
• runner — self-hosted runner: your machines execute hosted-scheduled runs

Hosted platform and docs: boardwalk.sh.

License

MIT