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Version: 2025.11

Authoring Integrations with the Istari CLI

The Istari CLI (stari) is a powerful command-line tool used across the Istari Platform for managing agents, modules, and integrations. It is used both by end users and IT administrators, but it also provides a dedicated set of utilities for module authors.

We continue to expand the CLI with more functionality, but even today it provides everything you need to scaffold, author, validate, and test integrations.

Why use the CLI for authoring?​

For module authors, the CLI provides:

  • Scaffolding — Generate complete starter projects with working module templates.

    • Currently supported: Python scaffolds
    • Coming soon: .NET, Java, C++, and more

  • Interactive manifest creation — Walk through step-by-step prompts to generate a module_manifest.json.

    • Includes author metadata, function schemas, dependencies, scripts, and more
    • Helpful for new authors as a guided workflow

  • Example manifests — Quickly generate manifests with placeholder values or empty keys for experimentation.

  • Schema generation — Export the underlying JSON schemas (e.g., manifest, function input/output) to use in your IDE, validator tools, or even with an LLM for assisted editing.

  • Script execution — Run the scripts defined in your manifest’s scripts block.

    • Example:

      stari module run build
      stari module run test --os "Ubuntu 22.04"

    • Supports cross-platform execution and OS-specific variants

    • Encourages best practices for managing builds, tests, cleans, and installs inside your module

  • Linting and validation — Validate your manifest for correctness and completeness.

    • Ensures required keys and contracts are satisfied
    • Surfaces errors interactively until the manifest is valid
    • If your manifest is lintable, it’s publishable

  • Mock input/output generation — Generate realistic sample files (input and output JSON) based on your function schema.

    • Speeds up local testing and development cycles
    • Lets you see exactly what the agent will hand your module

Workflow summary​

When authoring a module with the CLI, you can:

  1. Scaffold a new module project
  2. Generate or interactively create a manifest
  3. Author or import your function schemas
  4. Lint and validate the manifest
  5. Run build/test/install/clean scripts via stari module run
  6. Generate mock input/output files for local testing
  7. Publish the validated module

This combination of utilities enables both rapid prototyping and robust production-ready development.

Next Steps​

  • See the CLI Reference for the full list of commands, flags, and examples.
  • After understanding the CLI workflow, continue on to the Module Manifest API Reference to learn the full details of the manifest contract.