cmaform is a Terraform-style CLI for managing Anthropic Managed Agents, Skills, Memory Stores, Environments, and Vaults as files in your repo. You declare each resource as a YAML file, run cmaform plan to see what will change, and cmaform apply to ship it.

  [~] update agent       "release-prep" (id=agent_01Qx..., version=6)
       file: agents/release-prep.yaml
       ~ system:
           ... (12 unchanged lines)
         - prior wording...
         + revised wording...
           ... (8 unchanged lines)
  [+] create skill       "spec-lookup"
       dir:  skills/spec-lookup
       hash: 7b8b14094e01...

Plan (agents):         0 to add, 1 to change, 0 to archive, 5 unchanged.
Plan (skills):         1 to add, 0 to change, 0 to delete, 0 unchanged.
Plan (memory_stores):  0 to add, 0 to change, 0 to archive, 0 unchanged.
Plan (environments):   0 to add, 0 to change, 0 to archive, 1 unchanged.
Plan (vaults):         0 to archive, 1 unchanged.

⚡ Quick Start

Try it first

npx cmaform --help

Install and use

npm install -g cmaform

Bootstrap a new config directory and import an existing managed agent

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

mkdir my-agents && cd my-agents
cmaform pull agent_011CaSWcCrMdQdp4SA6TVdH6   # writes agents/<name>.yaml + state
cmaform plan                                  # show the diff
cmaform apply                                 # confirm → push to Anthropic

Anthropic's Managed Agent / Skills / Memory Stores / Environments / Vaults APIs are currently beta. cmaform calls @anthropic-ai/sdk's beta.agents.* / beta.skills.* / beta.memoryStores.* / beta.environments.* / beta.vaults.* endpoints directly.

🚀 Usage

Commands

| Command | What it does | | ------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | cmaform pull <id> [--by-id] | Import a remote resource by ID (agent_* / skill_* / memstore_* / env_* / vlt_*) into local files + state. Pass --by-id to keep raw IDs in the written agent YAML instead of rewriting multiagent.agents[] / skills[] to the name form | | cmaform plan [--verbose\|-v] [target...] | Diff local YAML / state / remote and print a Terraform-style plan | | cmaform apply [--yes\|-y] [--verbose\|-v] [target...] | Show plan, prompt for confirmation, apply, save state | | cmaform sync [--by-id] | Re-fetch every entry in state from remote and rewrite local YAML. Pass --by-id to keep raw IDs in the written agent YAML instead of rewriting refs to the name form | | cmaform init | Initialize / reconcile the state file against remote (no remote writes; spirit of terraform init) | | cmaform list | Show local files / state / remote side-by-side | | cmaform fmt | Rewrite multiagent.agents[].id / skills[].skill_id in local YAML to the name form, using cmaform.state.json for the id → name lookup |

Filtering plan / apply

The last positional arguments to plan and apply are targets. A target can be a resource kind or an individual resource name — useful for staged rollouts (e.g. create a skill first, copy its skill_id into an agent YAML, then apply the agent).

cmaform apply skills                     # all skills
cmaform apply agents                     # all agents
cmaform apply slack-mention-lookup       # a single skill by name
cmaform apply release-prep --yes         # a single agent, skip confirmation
cmaform apply skills release-prep        # all skills + one agent

A <target> is either a kind alias (matches every resource of that type) or the individual name of one specific resource. Use the table below for kind aliases; anything else is treated as a resource name.

| Resource | Kind aliases | Individual name format | Example | | ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | | Agent | agent / agents | name: field in the YAML | release-prep (agents/release-prep.yaml) | | Skill | skill / skills | directory name under skills/ | slack-mention-lookup (skills/slack-mention-lookup/) | | Memory Store | memory_store / memory_stores / memstore / memstores | directory name under memory_stores/ | team-notes (memory_stores/team-notes/) | | Environment | environment / environments / env / envs | directory name under environments/ | python-dev (environments/python-dev/) | | Vault | vault / vaults | directory name under vaults/ | my-bot (vaults/my-bot/) |

plan expands create / update diffs symmetrically: a new resource is rendered as + field: ... blocks just like an update is rendered as ~ field: ... blocks. Long string fields (system, description) are truncated to 3 lines plus an ... (N lines hidden) marker. Pass --verbose to show full content.

If you pass an individual name that doesn't exist anywhere (local YAML, state, or remote), cmaform exits with code 2. An unmatched kind is fine — it just shows 0 to add, 0 to change, ....

Pulling existing resources

cmaform pull agent_011CaSWcCrMdQdp4SA6TVdH6   # writes agents/<name>.yaml
cmaform pull skill_013uPS15B3Kw82NpjH4uNQep   # state only — SKILL.md is not regenerated
cmaform pull memstore_01ABC...                # writes memory_stores/<name>/manifest.yaml
cmaform pull env_015G...                      # writes environments/<name>/manifest.yaml
cmaform pull vlt_011CaQ...                    # writes vaults/<name>/manifest.yaml (credentials not managed yet)

Skill content is not returned by the Anthropic API once uploaded, so pull for skills only records the ID + version + display title into state. The local SKILL.md must be authored by you.

📦 Resources

cmaform manages five resource types — agents, skills, memory stores, environments, and vaults. Each lives under its own top-level directory beneath the config root. (Create vaults with cmaform, then finish configuring them on the Anthropic Console.)

Agent (agents/<name>.yaml)

name: my-agent # unique within the workspace — this is the identity key
model:
  id: claude-sonnet-4-6
  speed: standard # standard | fast
description: short description
system: |-
  ... full system prompt ...
mcp_servers:
  - name: slack
    type: url
    url: https://mcp.slack.com/mcp
tools:
  - type: agent_toolset_20260401
    default_config:
      enabled: true
      permission_policy:
        type: always_allow
    configs: []
skills: []
metadata: {}

• Identity: the name field. agent_id lives in state, not YAML.
• Diff: deep-equal on name / model / description / system / tools / mcp_servers / skills / multiagent / metadata.
• Delete: present in state but missing locally ⇒ archive (reversible).
• Arrays (tools, mcp_servers, skills) are fully replaced — local is the source of truth.

See the Anthropic Agent Setup docs for the full schema.

Skill (skills/<localName>/)

Each skill is a directory. The Anthropic API uploads a folder containing SKILL.md plus any auxiliary files.

skills/<localName>/
├── SKILL.md            # required (YAML frontmatter + markdown body)
├── REFERENCE.md        # optional
└── scripts/
    └── helper.py       # optional

SKILL.md requires frontmatter:

---
name: my-skill
description: What this skill does, and when Claude should use it.
---

# My Skill

...

• name: ≤64 chars, [a-z0-9-] only. anthropic / claude are reserved.
• description: ≤1024 chars.

cmaform computes a SHA-256 hash of the entire directory and compares it against the hash stored in state. If they differ, apply uploads a new version of the skill.

Referencing a skill from an agent

# agents/foo.yaml
skills:
  - type: anthropic
    skill_id: xlsx # well-known Anthropic skills stay id-based
  - type: custom
    name: slack-mention-lookup # = local directory name under skills/
    version: latest # optional

The raw-ID form (skill_id: skill_01XXXXXX) is also accepted for type: custom — name and skill_id are interchangeable. See Name-based references below for resolution semantics.

⚠️ Skills cannot be archived. Deleting the directory and running apply permanently deletes the skill and all of its versions.

🔗 Name-based references

multiagent.agents[] and skills[] accept references by logical name in addition to raw IDs. Names are resolved at plan / apply time, so YAML can reference resources without committing any workspace-specific IDs.

# agents/coordinator.yaml
multiagent:
  type: coordinator
  agents:
    - type: agent
      name: spec-qa # = the `name` field of agents/spec-qa.yaml
    - type: agent
      name: release-prep
      version: latest # optional
skills:
  - type: custom
    name: slack-mention-lookup # = the directory name under skills/

Resolution order for each name:

1. cmaform.state.json — if the resource is already tracked locally, use its ID.
2. Remote — findAgentByName / findSkillByDisplayTitle (cached per run).
3. Local apply set — if a YAML for that name exists locally and is being created in this run, the reference is treated as a forward dependency. cmaform substitutes a placeholder during plan and replaces it with the real ID right after the dependency is created.

If none of the above match, plan / apply fails with an error pointing at the unresolved name.

pull / sync write back in name form

When writing remote agents back to YAML, cmaform replaces any id / skill_id that resolves to a known local name with the name form. IDs for resources not tracked in state are kept as-is.

Pass --by-id to pull / sync to opt out of the rewrite and keep raw IDs in the written YAML.

Raw-ID form

{ type: agent, id: agent_... } and { type: custom, skill_id: skill_... } are also accepted and behave identically to the name form.

If an entry writes both name: and id: (or skill_id:), cmaform resolves the name and asserts that it matches the pinned ID. Mismatches abort plan / apply with a clear error. This is useful as a safety net while migrating from id-based references — cmaform fmt can then drop the redundant raw IDs once everything verifies.

type: anthropic skills (well-known IDs like xlsx) always use the skill_id form. type: self agent references take neither.

Memory Store (memory_stores/<localName>/manifest.yaml)

name: my-store
description: optional
metadata:
  team: platform

• Diff fields: name / description / metadata.
• metadata is patched: keys missing locally are deleted, others are upserted.
• Delete = archive (one-way; the store's memory data is preserved).

Environment (environments/<localName>/manifest.yaml)

name: python-dev
description: optional
config:
  type: cloud
  packages:
    pip:
      - pandas
      - numpy==2.2.0
    npm:
      - express
  networking:
    type: limited
    allowed_hosts:
      - https://api.example.com
    allow_mcp_servers: true
    allow_package_managers: true
metadata: {}

• Diff fields: name / description / metadata / config.
• Only config.type: cloud is currently supported (self-hosted environments are out of scope).
• Empty package lists, false defaults in limited networking, and the server-side type: 'packages' marker are normalized away so the plan is idempotent.
• Delete = archive. Archived environments stop accepting new sessions but existing sessions keep working.

Vault (vaults/<localName>/)

Status: ⚠️ Partial support — vault design is still evolving in cmaform.

| Operation | Supported by cmaform | Notes | | ------------------ | -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Create vault | ✅ | New local manifest → vault is created on the server. | | Archive vault | ✅ | Removing a local manifest archives the vault. Cascades server-side to attached credentials. | | Update vault | ❌ | Edits to display_name / metadata after creation are silently ignored. Archive and recreate to rename / relabel. | | Manage credentials | ❌ | Credentials are not yet managed by cmaform — the secret-resolution design is still being settled. Use the Anthropic Vault Credentials API directly to attach / rotate credentials. |

The vault scope will be expanded (update, credential management with secret backends) in a future release.

A vault is a container that holds credentials for MCP servers. The local layout is intentionally minimal in this release:

vaults/
└── my-bot/
    └── manifest.yaml

manifest.yaml — the vault definition:

display_name: my-bot
metadata:
  external_user_id: bot

🗂️ Directory Layout

cmaform reads from the current working directory (or CMAFORM_DIR if set):

<cwd>/
├── agents/
│   └── *.yaml
├── skills/
│   └── <localName>/SKILL.md
├── memory_stores/
│   └── <localName>/manifest.yaml
├── environments/
│   └── <localName>/manifest.yaml
├── vaults/
│   └── <localName>/manifest.yaml
└── cmaform.state.json

🧾 State File (cmaform.state.json)

{
  "agents": {
    "release-prep": { "id": "agent_01Qx...", "version": 6 }
  },
  "skills": {
    "slack-mention-lookup": {
      "id": "skill_013uPS...",
      "version": "1778647403232223",
      "hash": "7b8b14094e01...",
      "display_title": "slack-mention-lookup"
    }
  },
  "memory_stores": {
    "team-notes": { "id": "memstore_01...", "name": "team-notes" }
  },
  "environments": {
    "python-dev": { "id": "env_01...", "name": "python-dev" }
  },
  "vaults": {
    "my-bot": { "id": "vlt_01...", "display_name": "my-bot" }
  }
}

• Maintained by pull / apply / sync / init.
• Recommended to .gitignore (treat as the local source of truth, like a Terraform state file).
• If someone shares a state file with you, run cmaform sync to regenerate the local YAML for every agent (skill bodies cannot be restored — see above).

🔐 Environment Variables

| Variable | Required | Purpose | | ------------------- | -------- | -------------------------------------- | | ANTHROPIC_API_KEY | ✅ | Anthropic API authentication | | CMAFORM_DIR | | Config root directory (default: cwd) |

⚠️ Caveats

• Renaming an agent creates a new agent. To rename, delete the old YAML, run apply (archives the old one), then add the new YAML with the new name.
• Deleting a skill directory and running apply is destructive — there is no archive for skills.
• For full reproducibility, avoid making manual changes in the Anthropic Console. Always go through the YAML / SKILL.md / manifest.yaml.

🛠️ Development

mise install
pnpm install
pnpm dev -- --help     # run from source (tsx)
pnpm typecheck
pnpm build             # bundle to dist/cli.js via tsup
node dist/cli.js --help

📋 Requirements

• Node.js ≥ 22
• An Anthropic API key with access to the Managed Agent / Skills / Memory Stores / Environments / Vaults beta

📄 License

MIT