whatelz CLI

Token-efficient companion to the whatelz.ai HTTP MCP. Use it in Claude Code sessions to keep large read responses out of Claude's context (pipe to jq/grep). Claude.ai / Claude Desktop keep using the HTTP MCP directly.

Same backend, same verbs — the CLI is a thin wrapper that authenticates via the same Clerk-gated OAuth authorize page.

Install

npm install -g @aisystemresources/whatelz

Or from this repo during dev:

cd cli && npm install && npm run build && npm link

Login

whatelz login

Opens a browser to whatelz.ai, you click Authorize, an owner-scoped auth_token is issued and stashed at ~/.config/whatelz/credentials/default.json (chmod 600). Tokens do not hard-expire — revoke manually via /admin/tokens if compromised.

Profiles

Every credential lives under a named profile. default is used unless you specify otherwise. Future service accounts (CMO/COO/CPO/CEO agents) get their own profile.

whatelz login --profile cmo             # log in as a separate profile
whatelz --profile cmo whoami            # use the cmo profile for one call
WHATELZ_PROFILE=cmo whatelz whoami      # or set for the session
whatelz profiles                        # list all local profiles

Usage

whatelz verbs                                # list every MCP verb + description
whatelz whoami                               # confirm auth + ping the MCP
whatelz call testimonials.list_public        # call a verb, args default to {}
whatelz call dashboard.upsert_card --args '{"key":"foo","title":"Foo","body_markdown":"..."}'
whatelz logout                               # remove local token

Pipe to jq for token conservation:

whatelz call testimonials.list_public | jq '.[] | { id, headline, author_name }'
whatelz call dashboard.list_cards | jq '.[] | { key, updated_at }'

Claude Code MCP registration

Register whatelz as a native MCP server in Claude Code by adding to your .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "whatelz": {
      "command": "whatelz",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

For a scoped agent profile:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "whatelz-cmo": {
      "command": "whatelz",
      "args": ["--profile", "cmo", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Every whatelz verb then shows up in Claude Code's tool list. The stdio subcommand is a thin JSON-RPC proxy to the HTTP MCP — no protocol reimplementation, no drift.

Env

• WHATELZ_ORIGIN — override the target host (default https://whatelz.ai). Set to http://localhost:3100 for local dev.
• WHATELZ_PROFILE — override the active credential profile (default default).

Why this exists

Per the MCP Verb and Auth Contract in EMDEE, each product targets dual-channel access:

• CLI for Claude Code (subprocess, pipes, token-efficient, stdio MCP server)
• HTTP MCP for Claude.ai / Desktop / mobile (only channel available)

Zero verb divergence: the CLI does not add commands the MCP lacks, and vice versa.