Orion

The command-line interface and MCP server for Orion — manage workflows, channels, connectors, and data pipelines from your terminal or AI assistant.

Create, test, and deploy workflows. Define channels as service endpoints. Send data through channels. Monitor engine health and metrics. Use as a CLI or as an MCP server for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other AI tools.

Quick Start

Create, activate, dry-run and send — the full lifecycle from one terminal.

1. Install the CLI:

brew install GoPlasmatic/tap/orion-cli   # or: curl installer, Docker (see Install)

2. Point it at your Orion server:

orion-cli config set-server http://localhost:8080

3. Check the server is running:

orion-cli health

Orion Server v0.2.0
  Status:       OK
  Uptime:       2h 30m
  Components:
    database     OK
    engine       OK

4. Create a workflow and channel, test it, send data:

# Create a workflow from a JSON file
orion-cli workflows create -f high-value-order.json

# Activate it
orion-cli workflows activate <WORKFLOW_ID>

# Create a channel that links to the workflow
orion-cli channels create -d '{"name":"orders","channel_type":"sync","protocol":"http","workflow_id":"<WORKFLOW_ID>"}'
orion-cli channels activate <CHANNEL_ID>

# Reload the engine to pick up changes
orion-cli engine reload

# Dry-run test with sample data
orion-cli workflows test <WORKFLOW_ID> -d '{"data":{"order_id":"ORD-9182","total":25000}}' --trace

# Send real data through the channel
orion-cli send orders -d '{"order_id":"ORD-9182","total":25000}'

Commands

Global Flags

--server <URL>      Orion server URL (overrides config; env: ORION_SERVER_URL)
--output <FORMAT>   Output format: table, json, yaml (default: table)
--quiet             Suppress output, print only IDs or minimal info
--verbose           Show full response bodies and extra details
--no-color          Disable colored output (env: NO_COLOR)
--yes               Skip confirmation prompts

Workflow Management

Full lifecycle management for Orion workflows:

# List workflows with filters
orion-cli workflows list --status active --tag fraud

# Get full workflow details
orion-cli workflows get <ID>

# Create from file or inline JSON
orion-cli workflows create -f workflow.json
orion-cli workflows create -d '{"name":"My Workflow",...}'

# Create with a custom ID
orion-cli workflows create --id my-custom-id -f workflow.json

# Update a workflow (version auto-increments)
orion-cli workflows update <ID> -f updated-workflow.json

# Change workflow status
orion-cli workflows activate <ID>
orion-cli workflows archive <ID>

# Control rollout percentage
orion-cli workflows rollout <ID> -p 50

# Delete (with confirmation prompt)
orion-cli workflows delete <ID>

Dry-Run Testing

Test any workflow against sample data before activating — with a full execution trace:

orion-cli workflows test <ID> -d '{"data":{"order_id":"ORD-9182","total":25000}}' --trace

Result: MATCHED

Trace:
  parse    executed
  flag     executed

Output:
  {
    "order": {
      "order_id": "ORD-9182",
      "total": 25000,
      "flagged": true,
      "alert": "High-value order: $25000"
    }
  }

Supports input from file (-f), inline JSON (-d), or stdin (--stdin).

Import, Export & Diff

GitOps-ready workflows for CI/CD pipelines:

# Export workflows (with optional filters)
orion-cli workflows export --status active > workflows.json

# Import workflows from file
orion-cli workflows import -f workflows.json

# Validate the import on the server without applying (reports would_create/would_fail)
orion-cli workflows import -f workflows.json --dry-run

# Compare local file against server state
orion-cli workflows diff -f workflows.json

The diff command shows color-coded changes: + new, ~ modified, = unchanged, - deleted.

Channel Management

Channels are service endpoints that receive data and route it to workflows:

# List channels
orion-cli channels list --status active --protocol rest

# Create a channel
orion-cli channels create -d '{"name":"orders","channel_type":"sync","protocol":"rest","route_pattern":"/orders/{id}","workflow_id":"process-orders"}'

# Activate / Archive
orion-cli channels activate <ID>
orion-cli channels archive <ID>

# Version management
orion-cli channels versions <ID>
orion-cli channels new-version <ID>

# Bulk import (server-side validation with --dry-run)
orion-cli channels import -f channels.json --dry-run
orion-cli channels import -f channels.json

Connectors

Manage named external service configurations with auth and retry policies:

orion-cli connectors list
orion-cli connectors get <ID>
orion-cli connectors create -f connector.json
orion-cli connectors update <ID> -f connector.json
orion-cli connectors delete <ID>
orion-cli connectors enable <ID>
orion-cli connectors disable <ID>

# Circuit breaker management
orion-cli connectors circuit-breakers
orion-cli connectors reset-breaker <KEY>

# Bulk import (server-side validation with --dry-run)
orion-cli connectors import -f connectors.json --dry-run
orion-cli connectors import -f connectors.json

Sending Data

Processing modes for any workload:

Synchronous (default)

orion-cli send orders -d '{"order_id":"ORD-001","amount":150}'

# Include a server-side execution profile (timing breakdown by phase/handler).
# Requires tracing.debug_profile_enabled on the server.
orion-cli send orders -d '{"order_id":"ORD-001","amount":150}' --profile

Asynchronous

# Fire and forget — returns trace_id
orion-cli send orders --async-mode -d '{"amount":100}'

# Submit and wait for completion
orion-cli send orders --async-mode --wait --timeout 30 -d '{"amount":100}'

Traces

View and monitor execution traces:

# Check trace status
orion-cli traces get <TRACE_ID>

# Poll until complete (with timeout)
orion-cli traces wait <TRACE_ID> --interval 2 --timeout 60

Exit codes: 0 completed, 1 failed, 2 timeout.

Engine Control

# View engine status — version, uptime, workflow counts, channels
orion-cli engine status

# Hot-reload workflows and channels (zero downtime)
orion-cli engine reload

Functions

Inspect the workflow task functions registered in the engine, with their input schemas:

# List functions (table view)
orion-cli functions list

# Full input schemas as JSON
orion-cli --output json functions list

MCP Server

Orion includes a built-in MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, enabling AI assistants like Claude Desktop and Cursor to manage your Orion instance directly.

A real stdio JSON-RPC session — the same transport Claude Desktop and Cursor use.

Stdio Transport (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

orion-cli mcp serve --server http://localhost:8080

HTTP Transport (Remote Clients)

orion-cli mcp serve --http --server http://localhost:8080
orion-cli mcp serve --http --bind 0.0.0.0:9090 --server http://localhost:8080

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "orion": {
      "command": "orion-cli",
      "args": ["mcp", "serve"],
      "env": {
        "ORION_SERVER_URL": "http://localhost:8080"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor Configuration

Add to Cursor MCP settings (Settings > MCP Servers):

{
  "orion": {
    "command": "orion-cli",
    "args": ["mcp", "serve"],
    "env": {
      "ORION_SERVER_URL": "http://localhost:8080"
    }
  }
}

Available MCP Tools

The MCP server exposes 46 tools covering the full Orion API:

Output Formats

All commands support three output formats:

orion-cli --output table workflows list    # Pretty tables (default)
orion-cli --output json  workflows list    # JSON for scripting
orion-cli --output yaml  workflows list    # YAML for config files

Use --quiet for minimal output (just IDs) — ideal for shell scripts:

WF_ID=$(orion-cli --quiet workflows create -f workflow.json)
orion-cli workflows test "$WF_ID" -d '{"data":{"amount":100}}'

Configuration

Configuration is stored in ~/.orion/config.toml:

server_url = "http://localhost:8080"
default_output = "table"

orion-cli config set-server http://localhost:8080
orion-cli config set default_output json
orion-cli config show

Precedence (highest to lowest):

1. Command-line flags (--server, --output)
2. Environment variables (ORION_SERVER_URL, NO_COLOR)
3. Config file (~/.orion/config.toml)

Shell Completions

# Bash
orion-cli completions bash > ~/.bash_completions/orion-cli

# Zsh
orion-cli completions zsh > ~/.zfunctions/_orion-cli

# Fish
orion-cli completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/orion-cli.fish

Install

# Docker (MCP server mode)
docker run -p 8081:8081 ghcr.io/goplasmatic/orion-cli:latest mcp serve --http

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install GoPlasmatic/tap/orion-cli

# macOS / Linux (shell installer)
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/GoPlasmatic/Orion-cli/releases/latest/download/orion-cli-installer.sh | sh

# Windows (PowerShell)
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://github.com/GoPlasmatic/Orion-cli/releases/latest/download/orion-cli-installer.ps1 | iex"

# From source
cargo install --git https://github.com/GoPlasmatic/Orion-cli.git

Verify with orion-cli --version. Requires Rust 1.85+ for source builds.

Related

• Orion Server — The services runtime platform
• API Reference — Full REST API documentation
• Connectors Guide — Auth schemes, retry policies, and secrets
• Production Features — Custom IDs, versioning, fault tolerance
• Use Cases & Patterns — Real-world examples and AI prompt templates
• Observability — Prometheus metrics, health checks, logging

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request on GitHub.

cargo build          # Build
cargo test           # Run tests
cargo clippy         # Lint
cargo fmt            # Format

License

Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE for details.