CLI overview — Nitrosend

Use the Nitrosend CLI when you're scripting CI, building an agent runner, or operating Nitrosend from a terminal. It is the Nitrosend MCP callable from a shell: same tools, same envelope, plus exit codes, dry-run, project context, and typed confirmation.

When to use which surface

Nitrosend exposes three peer surfaces over the same platform. Pick the one that matches where your work lives.

Surface	Reach for it when	Skip it when
MCP via chat client (Claude Code, ChatGPT, Cursor, …)	You want a conversation with the platform — drafting copy, exploring data, planning sends.	You need deterministic, scriptable behaviour.
CLI (`nitrosend`)	You're scripting CI, building an agent runner, or running Nitrosend from a terminal. You need exit codes, JSON envelopes, dry-run, typed prod confirmation.	You're integrating Nitrosend into application code.
REST API	You're integrating Nitrosend into application code, sending transactional messages from a backend, or wiring up a partner integration.	You need the MCP envelope's `next_action` / `blockers` guidance fields.

The CLI calls the same MCP tools your chat client calls and returns the same envelope shape — the difference is contract: it has stable exit codes, machine-readable output modes, and refuses unsafe ops in non-interactive mode.

First workflow

Three commands to confirm the CLI is wired up to your account.

nitrosend login
nitrosend whoami
nitrosend

nitrosend login runs OAuth in your browser. whoami prints the active profile and API endpoint. The bare nitrosend invocation runs the dashboard — account state, blockers, and suggested next actions.

For CI or headless workflows, swap OAuth for an API key:

nitrosend login --api-key nskey_live_...
# or
export NITROSEND_API_KEY=nskey_live_...
nitrosend mcp tools list

See Install & sign in for the full setup, Agent mode for the machine-readable contract, and Recipes for end-to-end examples.

What the CLI doesn't try to be

The CLI is for deterministic shell workflows. It is not a replacement for the chat experience or the dashboard. It does not own features the MCP doesn't expose — every command is a sensible thing to call from a shell and has a clean MCP analogue. If you need a richer composer, use a chat MCP client. If you need to ship Nitrosend inside an application, use the REST API.