Pascal CLI

Run the open-source Pascal 3D building editor locally from your terminal—without cloning or building the Pascal repository.

npx @pascal-app/cli editor

On an interactive first run through npx, Pascal installs the same CLI version globally after the editor becomes healthy. The shorter pascal command is therefore available for status, logs, stop, and future sessions without another setup step. If the global installation is unavailable because of local npm permissions, the editor remains running and the CLI shows the equivalent npx commands plus the manual install command.

The first run walks through local storage, runtime installation, automatic editor and MCP port selection, process startup, and both health checks with live terminal feedback. It then opens http://pascal.localhost:<port>. Your projects are stored separately from the runtime, so updating the CLI does not replace your work.

Why use the CLI?

• Run a complete local Pascal editor with one command.
• Keep projects on your machine in a local SQLite database.
• Start and stop the editor independently from your terminal session.
• Inspect health, logs, versions, storage, and project state from scripts or agents.
• Connect Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, or another MCP client to the same local projects.
• Update through a health-checked activation that rolls back if the new runtime fails.

Requirements

• Node.js 22.13 or newer
• npm, including when the CLI itself is launched with pnpm or Bun
• A browser, unless you pass --no-open

The initial supported release is macOS. The packed runtime also passes automated release smoke tests on Ubuntu; broader Linux and Windows support is still being verified.

Install and run

Use your preferred package runner:

# npm
npx @pascal-app/cli editor

# pnpm
pnpm dlx @pascal-app/cli editor

# Bun
bunx @pascal-app/cli editor

To install the pascal command before starting the editor:

npm install --global @pascal-app/cli
pascal editor

After the interactive npx first run or a global installation, pascal status, pascal logs --follow, and the other commands work directly in the current terminal and future sessions.

Use --no-open on a headless machine. Use --foreground when a process supervisor should own the editor or when you want logs attached to the current terminal. Pascal asks the operating system for an available loopback port by default, so it does not compete with other local development servers. Pass --port <n> to request a specific port; if it is occupied, Pascal reports that and safely selects another one.

npx @pascal-app/cli editor --no-open
npx @pascal-app/cli editor --foreground --no-open

Commands

| Command | Purpose | | --- | --- | | pascal editor | Install if needed, ensure the editor is running, and open it. | | pascal start | Ensure the editor is running without opening a browser. | | pascal stop [--force] | Stop the managed editor and MCP processes; --force is a guarded recovery path. | | pascal restart | Restart the editor and MCP service with their current configuration. | | pascal status [--json] | Show editor and MCP health, version, PIDs, ports, URL, and runtime metadata. | | pascal open [project] | Start Pascal if needed, then open the editor or a project by ID, ID prefix, or unique name. | | pascal resume [project] | Open the latest project, or a selected project. | | pascal projects [--json] | List local projects. | | pascal logs [--follow] | Read or follow the managed editor log. | | pascal update [--version <version>] | Health-check and activate a published runtime. | | pascal doctor [--json] | Diagnose Node.js, storage, runtime, process, and plugin state. | | pascal info [--json] | Print platform, paths, runtime, and plugin context. | | pascal project list [--json] | Explicit form of pascal projects. | | pascal project open <id-or-name> | Explicit form of pascal open <project>. | | pascal mcp connect | Stable local connector for MCP clients; discovers the dynamic managed service. | | pascal mcp status [--json] | Show managed MCP health. | | pascal mcp config [--json] | Print generic MCP client configuration. | | pascal mcp setup <codex\|claude> | Configure an installed client without overwriting existing entries. | | pascal plugin list [--json] | Inspect the reserved managed-plugin lock. |

When you do not install globally, prefix commands with a runner—for example, npx @pascal-app/cli doctor.

Local data and security

Pascal binds the editor and MCP service only to 127.0.0.1 and uses the reserved .localhost hostname. MCP requires a random token stored in Pascal's private runtime directory; client configuration never contains that token.

~/.pascal/
  runtime/<version>/           installed editor runtimes
  data/pascal.db               projects and scenes
  logs/editor.log              detached editor output
  run/editor.json              managed editor and MCP process identity
  run/mcp-token                private local MCP token
  plugins/                     reserved verified-plugin storage
  pascal.plugins.lock          reserved managed-plugin lock

Runtime installation, project data, process state, and logs have separate lifecycles. The CLI does not include a command that deletes project data. Updates retain the previous runtime for rollback, and pascal doctor warns when more than three versions have accumulated.

Local AI agents

The MCP server starts automatically with pascal editor. Add the stable connector to your client once:

pascal mcp setup codex
pascal mcp setup claude

Or use pascal mcp config for JSON-based clients. The connector also starts Pascal when an agent connects while it is stopped. Ask the agent to read pascal://agent-guide, list or load a scene, edit it, and return the editorUrl.

Plugins

The current CLI manages the local editor runtime; it does not yet download plugin code from GitHub or npm. Follow the plugin authoring guide and the standalone Nature plugin when building an extension today.

Pascal also exposes a hosted Model Context Protocol endpoint for projects in a Pascal account. See Connect an AI agent for the local and hosted workflows and the standalone @pascal-app/mcp package.

Documentation and support

• Complete CLI guide
• Plugin authoring guide
• MCP and AI-agent guide
• Open-source repository
• Issues and feature requests
• Discord community

License

MIT