Max CLI

Lead intelligence CLI for developers and AI agents -- Discover leads, manage subscriptions, and automate workflows from the terminal.

The Max CLI provides a command-line interface to the Max API, enabling developers and AI agents to monitor sources (LinkedIn, funding databases, etc.) and discover new leads programmatically.

Installation

npm install -g sortlist-max-cli

For AI Agents

Install the Max skill for your AI agent (Cursor, Claude Code, OpenClaw, etc.):

npx skills add sortlist/max-cli

This installs the SKILL.md which gives your agent full knowledge of the CLI commands, patterns, and workflows.

Authentication

The recommended way to authenticate is the interactive login command:

max login

This prompts for your API key (get it from Settings > API Keys in your dashboard), validates it, and saves it to ~/.max/config.json.

Alternatively, set the MAX_API_KEY environment variable (takes priority over saved config):

export MAX_API_KEY=your_api_key

To remove saved credentials:

max logout

API keys are scoped to your team. Use --business (-b) to specify which business to operate on for leads, subscriptions, and webhooks.

Commands

Signals (catalog)

The signal catalog lists all available monitoring types. This is read-only and public.

# List all signal types
max signals:list

# Get details for a specific signal
max signals:get linkedin-company-engagers

Businesses

Each team can have multiple businesses. All leads, subscriptions, and webhooks are scoped to a business.

# List all businesses in your team
max businesses:list

# Get a business with its Ideal Customer Profile
max businesses:get 1

# Create a business from a website (auto-analyzes name, description, and ICP)
max businesses:create --website https://acme.com

# Create a business manually
max businesses:create --name "Acme Corp" --website https://acme.com

# Create with ICP attributes
max businesses:create --name "Acme Corp" \
  --icp '{"target_job_titles":["CTO","VP of Engineering"],"target_locations":["North America"]}'

businesses:create options:

| Option | Required | Description | |---|---|---| | --website | Conditional | Website URL. If passed alone, auto-analyzes name/description/ICP | | --name | Conditional | Business name (required when not using website-only mode) | | --description | No | Short description | | --icp | No | Ideal Customer Profile attributes as JSON string |

# Update a business name
max businesses:update 1 --name "New Name"

# Update the ICP (include the ICP id from businesses:get response)
max businesses:update 1 --icp '{"id":1,"target_job_titles":["CTO","VP Engineering"]}'

businesses:update options:

| Option | Description | |---|---| | --name | Business name | | --website | Website URL | | --description | Short description | | --icp | ICP attributes as JSON string (include id to update existing ICP) |

Subscriptions

A subscription is a signal you've activated with a specific configuration (e.g. "Track engagers on Apple's LinkedIn page"). All subscription commands require --business (-b).

# List all subscriptions
max subscriptions:list --business 1

# Get a subscription with stats
max subscriptions:get 42 --business 1

# Create a subscription
max subscriptions:create --business 1 \
  --signal linkedin-company-engagers \
  --name "Apple Engagers" \
  --config '{"linkedin_url":"https://www.linkedin.com/company/apple/"}'

# Update a subscription
max subscriptions:update 42 --business 1 --name "Renamed Subscription"

# Pause (stops scanning for new leads)
max subscriptions:pause 42 --business 1

# Resume
max subscriptions:resume 42 --business 1

# Delete
max subscriptions:delete 42 --business 1

subscriptions:create options:

| Option | Required | Description | |---|---|---| | --business | Yes | Business ID | | --signal | Yes | Signal slug from the catalog | | --name | Yes | Name for this subscription | | --config | No | Signal-specific config as JSON string |

subscriptions:update options:

| Option | Description | |---|---| | --name | Updated name | | --active | Set active state (true/false) | | --config | Updated config as JSON string |

Leads

Leads are enriched profiles discovered by your active subscriptions. Each lead includes name, company, LinkedIn URL, email, phone, and more. All lead commands require --business (-b).

# List leads (paginated)
max leads:list --business 1
max leads:list --business 1 --page 2 --per-page 50

# Get a single lead with full details and delivery history
max leads:get 1234 --business 1

# Delete a lead (soft-delete)
max leads:delete 1234 --business 1

leads:list options:

| Option | Default | Description | |---|---|---| | --business | — | Business ID (required) | | --page | 1 | Page number | | --per-page | 25 | Results per page (max 100) |

Webhooks

Register URLs to receive an HTTP POST in real-time whenever a new lead is discovered. All webhook commands require --business (-b).

# List webhooks
max webhooks:list --business 1

# Create a webhook with HMAC signature verification
max webhooks:create --business 1 --url https://example.com/webhook --secret whsec_abc123

# Delete a webhook
max webhooks:delete 10 --business 1

webhooks:create options:

| Option | Required | Description | |---|---|---| | --business | Yes | Business ID | | --url | Yes | URL to receive POST requests | | --secret | No | Secret for HMAC-SHA256 signature verification |

All Output is JSON

Every command outputs JSON for easy parsing with jq or consumption by AI agents:

# Get all lead emails
max leads:list --business 1 --per-page 100 | jq '.leads[] | .payload.email'

# Get subscription IDs that are active
max subscriptions:list --business 1 | jq '.subscriptions[] | select(.active) | .id'

# Count total leads
max leads:list --business 1 | jq '.meta.total_count'

# List business names
max businesses:list | jq '.businesses[] | .name'

Common Workflows

Set up a new business and start monitoring

# 1. Create a business from a website (auto-generates ICP)
max businesses:create --website https://acme.com

# 2. Note the business ID from the response, then browse signals
max signals:list

# 3. Create a subscription
max subscriptions:create --business 1 \
  --signal linkedin-company-engagers \
  --name "Acme Engagers" \
  --config '{"linkedin_url":"https://www.linkedin.com/company/acme/"}'

# 4. Check for leads
max leads:list --business 1

Pause and resume scanning

max subscriptions:pause 42 --business 1    # Stop scanning
max subscriptions:resume 42 --business 1   # Start scanning again

Set up real-time notifications

# Register a webhook
max webhooks:create --business 1 --url https://my-app.com/signals --secret my_secret

# Verify
max webhooks:list --business 1

Environment Variables

| Variable | Required | Description | |---|---|---| | MAX_API_KEY | No | Your Max API key (overrides saved config from max login) |

Error Handling

| Exit Code | Meaning | |---|---| | 0 | Success | | 1 | Error (message on stderr) |

| HTTP Status | Meaning | |---|---| | 401 | Missing or invalid API key | | 404 | Resource not found | | 422 | Validation error | | 429 | Rate limited (60 req/min) |

Development

git clone https://github.com/sortlist/max-cli.git
cd max-cli
npm install
npm run dev    # Watch mode
npm run build  # Production build

Project Structure

src/
  index.ts              # CLI entry point (yargs)
  api.ts                # ApiClient client class
  config.ts             # Config management (~/.max/config.json)
  commands/
    login.ts            # login, logout
    signals.ts          # signals:list, signals:get
    businesses.ts       # businesses:list, businesses:get, businesses:create, businesses:update
    subscriptions.ts    # Subscription management
    leads.ts            # Lead management
    webhooks.ts         # Webhook management

API Documentation

Full API docs: https://api.yourmax.ai/docs/api

License

MIT

Links

• Website: api.yourmax.ai
• API Docs: api.yourmax.ai/docs/api
• GitHub: sortlist/max-cli
• Issues: Report bugs