@senderkit/cli

The SenderKit command-line interface and MCP server. Send transactional notifications and inspect templates/messages from your terminal — or let an AI assistant (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor) do it over MCP.

Both surfaces are generated from a single command registry built on @senderkit/sdk, so the CLI and the MCP tools never drift.

Install

npm install -g @senderkit/cli
# or run without installing
npx @senderkit/cli --help

Authentication

The API key is resolved in this order:

1. --api-key <key> flag
2. SENDERKIT_API_KEY environment variable
3. ~/.senderkit/config.json (written by senderkit login or config set)

senderkit login                      # prompts, verifies, and saves the key
senderkit config set apiKey sk_live_…
senderkit config list                # API key shown masked

Mode (live vs test) is derived from the key prefix — sk_live_… or sk_test_….

Commands

senderkit send <template> <to> [--vars '{…}'] [--channel email|sms|push|web-push] \
                               [--version N] [--metadata '{…}'] [--idempotency-key K]

senderkit send-raw <to> --channel email --subject "Hi" --html "<p>…</p>" [--text …] [--from …]
senderkit send-raw <to> --channel sms --body "Your code is 123456"
senderkit send-raw <to> --channel push --title "Shipped" --body "…" [--badge 1] [--push-data '{…}']
senderkit send-raw '<subscription-json>' --channel web-push --title "Back in stock" --body "…" \
                                          [--icon https://…] [--click-url https://…] [--push-data '{…}']

senderkit templates list
senderkit templates get <slug>

senderkit messages list [--status delivered] [--channel email] [--template welcome] [--limit 50] [--cursor …]
senderkit messages get <id>
senderkit messages cancel <id>

senderkit context   # report the active connection's live/test mode

Global flags: --api-key, --base-url, and --json (emit raw JSON instead of human-readable output, for scripting and CI).

senderkit templates list --json | jq '.[].slug'

MCP server

senderkit mcp runs the server over stdio. Each command is exposed as a tool: senderkit_send, senderkit_send_raw, senderkit_templates_list, senderkit_templates_get, senderkit_messages_list, senderkit_messages_get, senderkit_cancel_message, and senderkit_context (reports the active live/test mode; senderkit_send / senderkit_send_raw results also carry a mode field).

Auto-configure your client:

senderkit mcp install                       # all detected clients (hosted endpoint, OAuth)
senderkit mcp install --client cursor       # a specific client
senderkit mcp install --client codex --print  # print the config to paste manually

By default this points your client at the hosted SenderKit MCP endpoint (https://mcp.senderkit.com) over OAuth — no local process, no credential on disk. You complete sign-in from the client (Claude Code /mcp, Cursor → Settings → MCP, codex mcp login senderkit). This matches the configs shipped by the senderkit-skills plugin.

Supported clients (each detected by its config directory, and written in its own schema):

| Client | Config | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | | Claude Code | claude mcp add / ~/.claude.json | Uses the claude CLI when present | | Claude Desktop | claude_desktop_config.json | mcpServers | | Cursor | ~/.cursor/mcp.json | mcpServers | | Windsurf | ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json | mcpServers | | VS Code | …/Code/User/mcp.json | servers (type: "stdio") | | Zed | ~/.config/zed/settings.json | context_servers | | Codex | ~/.codex/config.toml | TOML [mcp_servers.senderkit] | | opencode | ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json | mcp (type: "local") |

Existing config is edited surgically — comments and other servers are preserved.

Clients with first-class remote support (Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Zed, Codex, opencode) get a native URL entry; the rest (Claude Desktop, Windsurf) are wired through the mcp-remote stdio bridge automatically (which performs the OAuth flow itself).

API key instead of OAuth

Pass --api-key-auth to authenticate the hosted endpoint with a bearer API key instead of OAuth. The key travels per request in an Authorization: Bearer sk_… header (or, for Codex, bearer_token_env_var = "SENDERKIT_API_KEY" in config.toml). If no key is configured, a ${SENDERKIT_API_KEY} placeholder is written and you supply it via the environment.

senderkit mcp install --api-key-auth                 # hosted endpoint, bearer key
senderkit mcp install --url https://my-host/mcp --client cursor   # custom endpoint

Local subprocess

Prefer to run the server yourself? --local writes a config that spawns senderkit mcp as a local stdio subprocess (authenticated by the SENDERKIT_API_KEY env var) instead of connecting to the hosted endpoint:

senderkit mcp install --local --client cursor

Self-hosting the server

senderkit mcp --http serves the same tools over Streamable HTTP instead of stdio, authenticating each request from its Authorization: Bearer header (one process serves every caller):

senderkit mcp --http --port 3000 --path /mcp

Requests without a bearer token get 401; this is the building block for a hosted deployment.

License

MIT