Dex CLI

dexcli provides a JSON-first interface for operating and inspecting Flows. It is designed for shell automation and AI agents as well as human operators.

Connect to Dex

Commands connect to 127.0.0.1:8801 by default. Set DEX_FLOW_SERVICE_ADDRESS for a process-wide target or pass --server for one command. The server address is a plaintext gRPC host:port, not an HTTP URL.

DEX_FLOW_SERVICE_ADDRESS=dex.example.internal:8801 dexcli health
dexcli --server 127.0.0.1:9901 flow search

Friendly Flow operations

Use flow search, summary, state, history, and inspect for bounded JSON responses. inspect combines summary, current state, and history, making it the best starting point for an agent investigating a Flow.

dexcli flow inspect order-123 --all-history

Stored strings and objects are hydrated automatically. Use --no-hydrate when only structure and blob identities are needed. The output then contains stable __dexBlobReference objects rather than the stored payload.

flow watch first emits available semantic history events and then long-polls for new events. Each line is one JSON object. It stops at a terminal status; --follow-runs follows Continue-As-New into the current run.

Stop and time travel always require an exact --run-id and explicit --yes. This prevents an agent from mutating a newer run after resolving an older one.

Complete public API access

The api commands expose every public FlowService RPC known to the installed CLI version:

dexcli api list
dexcli api describe InvokeRPC
dexcli api call InvokeRPC --data @invoke.json --yes

api describe reports request and response fields, oneofs, enums, maps, and reachable message definitions. api call accepts canonical protobuf JSON from an inline string, @file, or stdin via --data -. It returns canonical protobuf JSON and does not perform friendly value hydration.

WorkerService and InternalService are intentionally excluded because they are worker callbacks and server-internal protocols rather than public operator APIs.

Output and errors

JSON is the default stable output. --output table is intended for human display and is not a machine compatibility contract. Use --timeout 0 to disable the default 30-second client deadline for a bounded command; watch manages its long-poll lifecycle until interrupted.

Errors are JSON on stderr. They include kind, operation, message, and, when applicable, grpcCode, grpcCodeName, and structured status details. Exit status 2 means invalid usage or missing confirmation; status 1 means the request failed.