Getting Started

CLI Quickstart

Install the Cendis CLI, authenticate with a PAT, initialize a project, and pull governed AI assets in five minutes.

Cendis distributes governed AI assets — skills, commands, templates, and rules files — to your development tools. The CLI is how you pull those assets into your projects and keep them in sync with your team’s standards.

Prerequisites

  • Bun runtime installed
  • A Cendis account with a Personal Access Token (PAT) — generate one from your dashboard

Install

Install the CLI globally (runs from anywhere):

curl -fsSL https://cendis.ai/install.sh | sh

Or install via Bun:

bun install -g @cendis/cli

This installs cendis globally on your PATH. All commands (init, pull, status) run from the root of the project you want to govern.

Verify the installation:

cendis --help

Authenticate

The CLI uses token-based authentication. Generate a PAT from your Cendis dashboard, then export it:

export CENDIS_TOKEN=your-token-here

Add this to your shell profile (.zshrc, .bashrc) so it persists across sessions.

You can also pass the token per-command with --token <value>, but the environment variable is recommended.

For full details on PAT management, see Authentication.

Initialize your project

Run cendis init from your project root to create a configuration file:

cendis init

The wizard prompts you for:

  • Product name — the product this project belongs to
  • Org slug — your organization identifier
  • Version strategy — latest (always pull newest) or pinned (lock to specific versions)

This creates a cendis.yaml in your project root:

product: my-product
org: my-org-slug
registry: https://api.cendis.ai
token: ${CENDIS_TOKEN}
version_strategy: latest

assets:
  # Added automatically when you pull assets

Browse available assets

List all published assets in your organization’s registry:

cendis list
SLUG              TYPE        VERSION   DESCRIPTION
code-review       skill       2.1.0     Code review standards and checklist
deploy-check      command     1.0.3     Pre-deployment verification
pr-template       template    1.4.0     Pull request template with governance fields
cursor-rules      rules_file  3.0.1     Cursor IDE rules for your stack

View all versions of a specific asset:

cendis list code-review
VERSION   STATE       DATE         CHANGELOG
2.1.0     published   2026-04-01   Added security review section
2.0.0     published   2026-03-15   Restructured for multi-language support
1.0.0     published   2026-02-01   Initial release

Pull assets

Pull one or more assets into your project:

cendis pull skill/code-review command/deploy-check

Pin a specific version with @:

cendis pull skill/code-review@2.0.0

The CLI verifies every file with a SHA-256 hash before writing it to disk. If any file fails verification, nothing is written — your project stays clean.

Asset URI format: {type}/{slug}[@{version}]

TypeWhat it governs
skillAI coding assistant capabilities and instructions
commandExecutable commands for AI tools
templateFile and project templates
rules_fileIDE-specific rules and configuration

For a deeper explanation of each asset type, see Concepts.

Check for drift

See if your local assets are up to date with the registry:

cendis status
ASSET                    LOCAL    REGISTRY   STATUS
skill/code-review        2.0.0    2.1.0      outdated
command/deploy-check     1.0.3    1.0.3      up-to-date
template/pr-template     —        1.4.0      missing

Run cendis pull on any outdated or missing assets to sync up.

Bulk import existing assets

If your team already has AI assets scattered across repos, import them into the registry in one step:

cendis import --source ./ai-assets --phase <phase-uuid>

The importer scans the directory and infers asset types from folder names:

Folder nameImported as
skills/skill
commands/command
templates/template
rules/rules_file

Supported file types: .md, .yaml, .yml, .json, .txt

Use --domain product or --domain engineering to tag imported assets by team (defaults to engineering).

Global options

These flags work with any command:

FlagDescription
--token <token>Override the CENDIS_TOKEN environment variable
--registry <url>Override the registry URL (default: https://api.cendis.ai)
--config <path>Use a different config file (default: ./cendis.yaml)

Typical workflow

  1. Set up once — install, authenticate, and initialize your project
  2. Pull assets — browse what’s available and pull what you need
  3. Build — your AI tools use the governed assets automatically
  4. Stay in sync — check for drift periodically and pull updates

Next steps

  • Concepts — understand workspaces, governance, and asset types
  • Authentication — PAT management and CI/CD integration
  • FAQ — common questions and troubleshooting

Last updated: 2026-04-17