CLI in CI & agents - Subframe Docs

The Subframe CLI normally prompts for anything it’s missing. When stdin is not a TTY — in CI, a Docker build, or an AI coding agent — it switches to non-interactive mode automatically: instead of hanging on a prompt it uses the value from a flag, falls back to a safe default, or exits non-zero with a message telling you exactly which flag to pass. You can also force this mode in an interactive terminal with --yes.

Authentication

Provide a token without the interactive login. Generate one from the CLI auth page ↗.

Environment variable (recommended)
Flag

Preferred for CI and agents — the token never appears in the process list or shell history.

export SUBFRAME_AUTH_TOKEN="<your-token>"
npx @subframe/cli@latest sync --all

npx @subframe/cli@latest sync --all --auth-token "<your-token>"

The --auth-token flag takes precedence over SUBFRAME_AUTH_TOKEN if both are set. Either is verified and cached on first use, so later commands in the same environment reuse it without re-supplying or re-verifying it.

Global flags

Flag	Description
`-y, --yes`	Accept the safe defaults and never prompt. Implied automatically when stdin is not a TTY.
`--non-interactive`	Strict mode: never prompt and never assume a default — fail if any required value is missing. Use this when you want a run to error rather than guess.
`--json`	Print a machine-readable JSON result to stdout. Human logs go to stderr. Implies non-interactive.

Every command exits non-zero on failure (and, with --json, prints an { "ok": false, "error": ... } envelope to stdout), so you can rely on either the exit code or the JSON in a pipeline.

Examples

Sync components in CI

The most common case. After init has been run once and committed .subframe/sync.json, syncing only needs a token:

SUBFRAME_AUTH_TOKEN="<your-token>" npx @subframe/cli@latest sync --all

Initialize an existing project non-interactively

Pass the values the CLI would otherwise prompt for:

SUBFRAME_AUTH_TOKEN="<your-token>" npx @subframe/cli@latest init \
  --yes \
  --projectId <projectId> \
  --css-type tailwind-v4 \
  --dir ./src \
  --css-path ./src/app/globals.css \
  --no-install

init flags worth knowing:

--projectId <id> — required when your account has more than one project (otherwise the CLI can’t choose for you and will list the available ids).
--css-type <tailwind|tailwind-v4> — required if the CLI can’t detect your Tailwind version.
--dir <path> — where components sync to.
--alias <alias> — the import alias to use. Must end with /* (e.g. @/ui/*) so it matches every file in the directory; the CLI rejects an alias without it.
--no-install, --no-sync, --no-tailwind — skip a step that would otherwise prompt. The matching --install / --sync / --tailwind force it on.
--no-update-import-alias — don’t change the import alias stored in your Subframe project.

Scaffold a brand new project

Creating a project from scratch can’t guess your framework or name, so pass them:

SUBFRAME_AUTH_TOKEN="<your-token>" npx @subframe/cli@latest init \
  --template nextjs \
  --name my-app \
  --projectId <projectId>

Parse the result

With --json, stdout carries only the result object:

npx @subframe/cli@latest sync --all --json
# { "ok": true, "command": "sync", "projectId": "...", "components": "all", ... }

​Authentication

​Global flags

​Examples

​Sync components in CI

​Initialize an existing project non-interactively

​Scaffold a brand new project

​Parse the result