Use the Eidos CLI

The Eidos CLI (eidos) is a command-line interface that allows you to interact with your Eidos Desktop application directly from the terminal. This guide walks you through common workflows and use cases.

Installation

The CLI is bundled with Eidos Desktop. To install it:

1. Open Eidos Desktop
2. Press Cmd/Ctrl + K to open the Command Palette
3. Type “install eidos” and select “Install ‘eidos’ command in PATH”

Verify the installation:

eidos status

Space Selection

The CLI automatically detects which space to use based on your current directory. If you’re inside a space directory, it will use that space automatically.

You can also explicitly specify a space:

# Use a specific space for a single command
eidos -s my-space ls

# Or navigate to a space directory for auto-detection
cd /path/to/my-space
eidos ls

Common Workflows

Daily Notes

Create and maintain daily notes efficiently:

# Create today's note with a template
eidos touch "daily/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)" --content "# $(date +%A, %B %d)\n\n## Morning\n\n## Afternoon\n\n## Evening"

# Append to today's note throughout the day
eidos append "daily/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)" --content "- [ ] Review pull requests"
echo "Met with the team, discussed roadmap" | eidos append "daily/$(date +%Y-%m-%d)"

Project Setup

Quickly scaffold a new project structure:

# Create project folders
eidos mkdir projects/website
eidos mkdir projects/website/docs
eidos mkdir projects/website/assets

# Create project documents
eidos touch projects/website/readme --content "# Website Project"
eidos touch projects/website/todo --content "## TODO\n- [ ] Design homepage\n- [ ] Setup CI/CD"

# View the structure
eidos ls projects/website -l

Document Management

Organize and manage your documents:

# Create a draft
eidos touch drafts/article --content "# Draft Article"

# Move to published when ready
eidos mkdir published
eidos mv drafts/article published/article

# View published content
eidos cat published/article

Mount External Resources

Access external directories without copying files:

# Mount your Documents folder
eidos mount docs ~/Documents

# Now reference files in Eidos as /@/docs/filename.pdf
# List all mounts
eidos mount

# Remove mount when no longer needed
eidos mount -u docs

Table Data Export

Export data for analysis or backup:

# Export table data as JSON
eidos -f json sql "SELECT * FROM tb_xxx" > backup.json

# View table schema before querying
eidos table schema tb_xxx

Extension Development

Deploy extensions from your development environment:

# Deploy a block extension
eidos ext deploy ./my-block.tsx

# Update an existing extension
eidos ext deploy ./my-block.tsx --slug my-block

# List installed extensions
eidos ext ls

Output Formats

Most commands support JSON output for scripting:

# JSON output for parsing
eidos -f json table ls
eidos -f json sql "SELECT * FROM eidos__tree LIMIT 5"

Shell Completion

Add tab completion to your shell:

# Bash
eidos completions bash > /usr/local/share/bash-completion/completions/eidos

# Zsh
eidos completions zsh > /usr/share/zsh/site-functions/_eidos

# Fish
eidos completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/eidos.fish

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
EIDOS_ENDPOINT	Eidos Desktop endpoint (default: http://localhost:13127)
EIDOS_SPACE	Default space ID
EIDOS_API_KEY	API key for authentication (if enabled)

Troubleshooting

”No space selected” Error

The CLI needs to know which space to use. Either:

• Navigate to a space directory (auto-detection)
• Navigate to a space directory (auto-detection)
• Specify per command: eidos -s <space-id> <command>

”Eidos Desktop is not running”

The CLI requires Eidos Desktop to be running. Start the application first, then verify with eidos status.

Permission Denied

Ensure the CLI was properly installed to your PATH. You may need to restart your terminal after installation.

Next Steps

• CLI Concepts - Understand CLI design and features
• CLI API Reference - Complete command reference
• Node API Reference - Understanding node structures