kaiten CLI (Swift)
kaiten
A Swift Kaiten CLI that prints compact JSON for jq, ships Claude and Cursor plugins, and keeps a reference file for agents
High risk
We rate an entry high when the tool writes to external systems, handles money, production databases or secrets, or runs arbitrary commands. The CLI installs it only with your consent.
Why this level
- The CLI covers cards, automations and other write operations of the Kaiten API
- Stores the API token in a config file on disk
Install
Manual install
mise use github:AllDmeat/kaitenInstalls the latest release for your platform; add -g for a global install.
This is third-party code. Review the repository files before installing.
What it does
The CLI prints compact JSON to stdout for cards, spaces, users, sprints and the rest of Kaiten's entities, so you can pipe it into jq or scripts. By default nested entities collapse to their ids, and an --expand flag brings back named fields one level deep, keeping responses small. A separate reference key in the config points to a file in any format (JSON, YAML, Markdown, plain text) holding entity IDs and working notes that only agents read, instead of resolving names through the API, which is unreliable because Kaiten instances accumulate same-named entities. The CLI itself never reads or writes that file without your approval; it only proposes additions. The Swift SDK the CLI is built on is available separately as a library. The repository also ships Claude Code and Cursor plugins via .claude-plugin and .cursor-plugin.
Who it is for. For Kaiten teams who want predictable JSON output for scripts and reliable agent work with IDs instead of name lookups.
Good fit when
- You need compact Kaiten JSON output to process with jq or your own scripts
- You want the agent to reliably find entities by ID rather than by a name that may repeat
- You want a ready Claude Code or Cursor plugin instead of a manual MCP setup
Not a fit when
- You need the MCP protocol, not a CLI tool: the same author has a separate kaiten-mcp
- You do not want to build a Swift project and there is no ready release for your OS
- You do not need a reference file and plain name search is enough
Example request
List board 84's cards as JSON and expand the owner and tags for card 123Limitations
Ready releases target specific platforms; others need a swift build -c release build. The reference file is a convention, not a built-in database: the agent decides what to write into it and does so only with your approval. The API token lives in ~/.config/kaiten/config.json or environment variables for CI.
How to disable. Remove the tool with mise uninstall or delete the kaiten binary from your PATH, along with the ~/.config/kaiten/config.json file.
Security check
- The CLI covers cards, automations and other write operations of the Kaiten API
- Stores the API token in a config file on disk
README in short
The English README shows install via mise, a ready release or a Swift source build, configuring the token via config or environment variables, and its unique reference-file concept for agents. It separately details controlling JSON response size with --expand, with examples for single and multiple nesting levels, plus a section on using the Swift SDK as a standalone library.
FAQ
Why do I need a reference file?
Kaiten instances accumulate same-named entities, and name search can silently return the wrong one. A file of IDs solves this for agents.
Can I use the SDK separately from the CLI?
Yes, the Swift SDK the CLI is built on is available as a standalone library for your own integrations.
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