CLI Overview

chant provides a CLI for building, linting, and managing infrastructure definitions.

Installation

The CLI is included in @intentius/chant. Install a lexicon package to get everything:

npm install --save-dev @intentius/chant-lexicon-aws

Usage

chant <command> [options] [path]

Commands

Command	Description
`init`	Scaffold a new chant project
`init lexicon`	Scaffold a new lexicon plugin project
`build`	Synthesize and write infrastructure output
`lint`	Lint intent definitions with semantic rules
`list`	List exported declarations in a project
`import`	Import infrastructure templates and generate TypeScript
`migrate`	Translate a workflow between lexicons (e.g. GitHub Actions → GitLab CI)
`update`	Sync lexicon type definitions
`doctor`	Check project health and configuration

Lexicon Development Commands

These commands are for lexicon authors — project users don’t typically need them.

Command	Description
`dev generate`	Generate lexicon artifacts (+ validate + coverage)
`dev publish`	Package lexicon for distribution
`dev onboard`	Onboard a new lexicon plugin
`dev check-lexicon`	Validate a lexicon bundle

Op Commands

Run named Temporal workflows defined in *.op.ts files. Requires @intentius/chant-lexicon-temporal and a running Temporal server.

Command	Description
`run <name>`	Start an Op workflow (spawns worker + submits to Temporal)
`run list`	List all Ops with current run status
`run status <name>`	Show current workflow run state
`run signal <name> <signal>`	Send a named signal to unblock a gate step
`run cancel <name>`	Cancel the active workflow run
`run log <name>`	Show run history for an Op
`graph`	Print the Op dependency graph

State Commands

Capture and compare deployed infrastructure state. Snapshots are stored on an orphan git branch (chant/lifecycle); lifecycle diff --live queries the cloud directly for drift detection. AWS, Temporal, K8s, GCP, and Azure surface their resources entity-keyed; Helm and Docker surface runtime artifacts. See chant lifecycle for the full surface.

Command	Description
`lifecycle snapshot <env>`	Query lexicon plugins, save resource + artifact metadata to orphan branch
`lifecycle show <env>`	Show latest lifecycle snapshot
`lifecycle diff <env>`	Compare current build against last snapshot (digest mode)
`lifecycle diff <env> --live`	Query cloud right now and report drift (six categories: missing, orphan, disappeared, drifted, etc.)
`lifecycle log [env]`	History of lifecycle snapshots

Server Commands

Command	Description
`serve lsp`	Start the LSP server for editor integration
`serve mcp`	Start MCP server for AI agent integration

Common Workflows

# Initialize and build a project
chant init my-infra --lexicon aws
cd my-infra
chant build

# Lint definitions
chant lint

# Import existing templates
chant import template.json

# Check project health
chant doctor

File Discovery

The CLI automatically discovers infrastructure files based on these rules:

Included:

All .ts files in the specified directory and subdirectories

Excluded:

Files in node_modules/ directories
Test files: *.test.ts, *.spec.ts
TypeScript declaration files: *.d.ts

Error Handling

The CLI provides structured error output for different types of errors:

Discovery Errors

Reported when files can’t be loaded or imported. Common causes: missing dependencies, syntax errors, invalid import paths, circular dependencies.

Build Errors

Reported during serialization. Common causes: circular dependencies between resources, invalid attribute references, missing required properties.

Global Options

`--verbose, -v`

Show stack traces on errors.

`--help, -h`

Display help information for the CLI.

chant --help