@blacklake-systems/surface-cli

⚠️ Deprecated. This package is now part of the unified blacklake npm package. Install blacklake and use npx blacklake serve for the same local API + dashboard + SQLite. See the migration doc for sed-style search-and-replace examples. This package will continue to ship as a thin re-export through the next two minor versions.

BlackLake — AI control infrastructure and analytics. This package historically shipped the local CLI; it now re-exports through the unified blacklake package.

Surface is the control layer for AI actions. Use the CLI when Codex, Claude, Cursor, CI jobs, backend agents, or shell commands are about to touch real systems and you want the same policy, approval, cost, and signed-receipt model locally.

Install

npx @blacklake-systems/surface-cli

This starts the local Surface API and console, backed by ~/.blacklake/blacklake.db. Local is the fastest private first run; the hosted console is for shared policies, approvals, budgets, exports, and team visibility.

Commands

blacklake
blacklake --help
blacklake --version
blacklake mcp
blacklake blx <cmd...>
blacklake demo depth-with-approval

MCP client integration

For cloud users, point MCP-compatible tools at the hosted gateway:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "blacklake": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote@latest",
        "https://api.blacklake.systems/mcp",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_BL_USER_KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Register real MCP services in the console first, for example:

• cloudflare-docs
• engineering-github-repositories
• product-linear-workspace
• company-notion-workspace
• jira-confluence-workspace

For local users, run blacklake mcp as a stdio bridge from your MCP client and put upstream MCP services in ~/.blacklake/mcp-config.json.

Shell command governance

Use blx when an AI-assisted shell workflow is about to run a consequential command:

blacklake blx git push origin main
blacklake blx gh pr merge 123 --squash
blacklake blx gcloud run deploy api
blacklake blx terraform apply
blacklake blx kubectl apply -f deploy.yaml

Read-only/build commands are allowed through. Write/deploy/destructive commands are classified and governed before execution.

Demo

blacklake demo depth-with-approval

Creates a small Depth workflow that pauses on a Surface approval.

Product boundaries

BlackLake controls the paths you route through it: MCP gateway, SDK, GitHub Action, blx, cloud audit ingest, and Depth workflows. It does not invisibly intercept every process on the machine or replace cloud IAM.