Installation

pipx install systemlink-cli

# Verify the command is on your PATH
slcli --help

pipx upgrade systemlink-cli

# Add the NI developer tools tap
brew tap ni-kismet/homebrew-ni

# Install slcli
brew install slcli

brew update && brew upgrade slcli

# Add the NI developer tools bucket
scoop bucket add ni-kismet https://github.com/ni-kismet/scoop-ni

# Install slcli
scoop install slcli

scoop update slcli

# macOS
curl -fsSL https://github.com/ni-kismet/systemlink-cli/releases/latest/download/slcli-macos.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv slcli/slcli /usr/local/bin/

# Linux
curl -fsSL https://github.com/ni-kismet/systemlink-cli/releases/latest/download/slcli-linux.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv slcli/slcli /usr/local/bin/

# Windows — download slcli.zip from the releases page,
# extract, and add the folder to your PATH

pip install systemlink-cli

# Command name after install
slcli --help

pip install --upgrade systemlink-cli

git clone https://github.com/ni-kismet/systemlink-cli.git
cd systemlink-cli
pip install poetry
poetry install
poetry run slcli

Authentication

Before using any commands, authenticate with your SystemLink server.

Interactive Login

# First time setup — creates a 'default' profile
slcli login

# Create named profiles for different environments
slcli login --profile dev
slcli login --profile prod --url "https://prod-api.example.com"

Non-Interactive Login

# Provide all credentials via flags
slcli login --profile myprofile \
  --url "https://your-server.com" \
  --api-key "your-api-key" \
  --web-url "https://your-server-web.com"

Logout

# Remove current profile
slcli logout

# Remove a specific profile
slcli logout --profile dev

# Remove all profiles
slcli logout --all --force

Shell Completion

Enable tab completion to improve productivity.

# Auto-detect your shell and install
slcli completion --install

# Or specify shell explicitly
slcli completion --shell bash --install
slcli completion --shell zsh --install
slcli completion --shell fish --install
slcli completion --shell powershell --install

Restart your shell after installation, or source the completion file.

Multi-Profile Management

Manage multiple SystemLink environments (development, testing, production) using profiles.

# List all configured profiles
slcli config list

# Show current profile
slcli config current

# Add or update a profile
slcli config add --profile dev

# Switch active profile
slcli config use prod

# View current config (API keys masked)
slcli config view

# View with full API key visible
slcli config view --show-secrets

# Delete a profile
slcli config delete old-profile --force

Using Profiles with Commands

# Use a specific profile for a single command
slcli --profile prod workspace list
slcli -p dev template list

# Or set via environment variable
export SLCLI_PROFILE=prod
slcli workspace list

Configuration File

Profiles are stored in ~/.config/slcli/config.json with secure file permissions (600).

# Set custom config location
export SLCLI_CONFIG=/path/to/config.json

# Migrate from legacy keyring storage
slcli config migrate

Environment Variables

Environment variables take precedence over profile settings.

Readonly Mode

Enable readonly mode on a profile to disable all mutation operations — ideal for AI agents, monitoring dashboards, and shared demo environments.

# Enable readonly on a new profile
slcli login --profile aiagent --readonly

# Enable on existing profile
slcli login --profile aiagent \
  --url "https://your-server.com" \
  --api-key "your-api-key" \
  --readonly

When attempting a protected operation with a readonly profile, the CLI exits with code 4 (PERMISSION_DENIED) and displays a clear message:

✗ Cannot create: profile is in readonly mode
Readonly mode disables all mutation operations
(create, update, delete, edit, import, upload, publish, disable) for safety.

Readonly mode is ideal for:

• AI agent safety — prevent accidental data modification
• Read-only reports — generate analyses without changing data
• Automated monitoring — query systems without mutation risk
• Demo/training — allow exploration without modification

Platform Detection

The CLI supports both SystemLink Enterprise (SLE) and SystemLink Server (SLS) with automatic platform detection.

# View current platform and feature availability
slcli info

# JSON output for scripting
slcli info --format json

AI Agent Skills

Install bundled agent skills so that Copilot, Claude, and Codex automatically know how to use the CLI, build SystemLink webapps, and create SystemLink notebooks.

Three skills are available:

• slcli — teaches AI assistants how to query and manage every SystemLink resource type
• systemlink-webapp — teaches AI assistants how to build Nimble Angular web applications using @ni/nimble-angular and @ni/systemlink-clients-ts
• systemlink-notebook — teaches AI assistants how to create, parameterize, and deploy SystemLink notebooks with the correct papermill and SystemLink metadata

# Interactive — prompts for client and scope
slcli skill install

# Install for a specific client
slcli skill install --client copilot
slcli skill install --client claude
slcli skill install --client codex
slcli skill install --client all

# Choose where to install
slcli skill install --scope personal   # ~/
slcli skill install --scope project    # current repo
slcli skill install --scope both

MCP Server (experimental)

slcli includes a built-in Model Context Protocol server that lets AI assistants query SystemLink directly as structured tools.

# Register with VS Code Copilot Agent mode
slcli mcp install

# Register with Claude Desktop
slcli mcp install --target claude

# Register everywhere at once
slcli mcp install --target all

# Start the MCP server directly (used internally by AI clients)
slcli mcp serve

TLS / Certificate Trust

The CLI uses the operating system certificate store by default via the truststore library. Corporate or custom root CAs are automatically honored.

# Runtime certificate diagnostics
slcli _ca-info

Use this command when troubleshooting TLS failures or confirming that corporate roots are in use. It produces no network traffic and is safe to run any time.