Overview

The Rippling CLI (Command Line Interface) lets you build and publish Developer Program integrations by running commands in your terminal. You can run those commands yourself or from an agent.

Access to the Rippling CLI is gated behind the Developer Program, which is currently in a closed beta.

Key terms:

• Contexts and accounts: A context selects which account a CLI command runs against. Switch between your developer and sandbox accounts with --context or rippling sandbox use.
• Developer sandboxes: A sandbox is an isolated Rippling environment seeded with mock Rippling data. The Rippling CLI lets you create sandboxes so you can build and test without affecting real employee or HR data.
• Top-level commands: These are CLI commands that handle the high-level steps of building, testing, and publishing your app (access, sandbox, project, function, package, and listing).
• API commands: rippling api <resource> <action> calls supported Rippling REST API operations directly. Use it when no top-level command covers the operation. Browse the full catalog of API commands with rippling api discover --all.

Context rules

Context rules refer to the type of account required to execute specific CLI commands. Rippling enforces rules depending on whether a command targets your Developer account, an editor sandbox, or an installer sandbox.

Each account supports different commands:

• Developer account: package create, package sandbox link, package version create, listing create
• Editor sandbox (EDIT): project deploy, function deploy, package version next, package version components, package version publish
• Installer sandbox (INSTALL): package install, package upgrade, package uninstall, package installation status

Shared flags

Pass individual fields as flags or use --input <file> to send a full JSON payload (or --input - to read from stdin). Do not combine --input with field flags.

The following flags are global and exist on every command:

Flag	Type	Required	Description
-h, --help	boolean	no	Show help for the command.
--config	path	no	Path to the config file.
-c, --context	string	no	Context name to use for this command.
-v, --verbose	boolean	no	Enable verbose logs.

Append --help to any command or subcommand to inspect flags directly in your terminal.

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Setup

Install & update

Ensure your CLI commands are following the standard syntax shape:

rippling [--context <name>] <command> <subcommand> [--flag value]

Install the CLI and confirm the current version:

npm install -g @rippling/cli@beta
--@rippling:registry=https://registry.npmjs.org/
rippling version
rippling --help

Keep the CLI current with rippling update, and leave installed agent skills in place with rippling update --skip-skills.

Remove the CLI with rippling uninstall, and add --purge to additionally remove the config directory and CLI-owned credentials.

To enable shell completion so the CLI runs in new terminals:

# bash
eval "$(rippling completion bash)"

# zsh
eval "$(rippling completion zsh)"

# fish
rippling completion fish | source

Sign in

rippling login opens a browser and stores the session in the system keychain. rippling config show displays saved configuration details without revealing authentication tokens.

You do not need to set environment variables. The config is stored in ~/.rippling. Set RIPPLING_HOME only to store the config somewhere else.

To authenticate with an API key as opposed to a browser, pipe the key into config create. --context is the name of the context you are creating:

printf '%s' "$RIPPLING_API_TOKEN" | rippling config create --context developer-account --company-id company_id --description "Developer account" --token-stdin

rippling login --no-default signs in and leaves the current default context unchanged. Set the default explicitly with rippling config default-context set --context developer-account.

Developer Program quickstart

Before you are approved for the Developer Program, you can:

• Install the CLI and sign in.
• Apply with rippling access apply.
• Check your application with rippling access status.

Other commands return a 403 error until you have access.

Once you are approved, run the following commands after installing the CLI and signing in.

# 1. Verify Developer Program application status
rippling access status

# 2. Create a developer sandbox (note the 'sandbox_id' in the output)
rippling sandbox create --name "Dev sandbox" --type developer --json

# 3. Save that sandbox as the default context using the `sandbox_id`
rippling sandbox use --id <SANDBOX_ID> --context-name sandbox-dev

# 4. Create the project (replace with a unique app name)
rippling project init --name <UNIQUE_APP_NAME> --template custom-app

Continue the build process using the CLI reference guides.

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See also

See the related guides for a list of available CLI commands for each feature, including flags, types, and examples.

• Install & maintain: Check the CLI version, update it, enable shell completion, and uninstall it.
• Developer Program: Sign in, apply for Developer Program access, and manage the contexts that select your Developer account.
• Developer sandboxes: Create isolated Rippling environments with mock company data, then store each one as a context for building and testing.
• Projects & metadata: Create a local project from a template, check rippling.manifest.ts, and deploy those components to a sandbox.
• Functions: Deploy function code to a sandbox and download a development bundle of the current draft.
• Agents: Run agent evaluations, install CLI skills for AI hosts, and search local command guidance.
• Packages: Create a managed package, link editor and installer sandboxes, publish a version, and install that version for testing.
• Listings: Create an App Shop listing draft, submit it for review, and publish or delist it after review.
• Platform APIs: Call platform APIs that have no workflow command, including custom object records.