erpl-adt

CLI and MCP server for the SAP ADT REST API — a single binary that talks the same HTTP endpoints Eclipse ADT uses. No Eclipse, no SAP NW RFC SDK, no JVM.

Part of the Datazoo ERPL family.

What it does

Search and browse ABAP objects, packages, data dictionary tables, CDS views
Read and write source code with lock management and transport integration
Run tests — ABAP Unit and ATC quality checks from the command line
Manage transports — create, list, and release transport requests
MCP server — expose all capabilities to AI agents over JSON-RPC (MCP 2024-11-05)

Every command accepts --json for machine-readable output.

In action

Find ABAP objects by name pattern:

Read a data-dictionary table, with field types and check tables resolved:

Read ABAP source code with built-in syntax highlighting:

Browse a package recursively to enumerate everything it contains:

BW/4HANA Modeling

Search the BW catalog across ADSOs, composite providers, DTPs, transformations, and queries:

Inspect an ADSO's field structure, complete with the InfoObject each field maps to:

Export an InfoProvider's dataflow as Mermaid — pipe it straight into a renderer or commit it next to the model:

Quick examples

# Save connection credentials (prompts for password)
erpl-adt login --host sap.example.com --port 44300 --https --user DEVELOPER

# Search for classes matching a pattern
erpl-adt search ZCL_MY_* --type CLAS --max 20

# Connect in a specific logon language (descriptions come back translated)
erpl-adt --language DE search T000 --max 1     # -> description "Mandanten"

# Read object metadata and source code
erpl-adt object read /sap/bc/adt/oo/classes/zcl_my_class
erpl-adt source read /sap/bc/adt/oo/classes/zcl_my_class/source/main

# Write source code (auto-locks, writes, unlocks)
erpl-adt source write /sap/bc/adt/oo/classes/zcl_my_class/source/main --file impl.abap

# Write and activate in one step
erpl-adt source write /sap/bc/adt/oo/classes/zcl_my_class/source/main --file impl.abap --activate

# Activate an object by name
erpl-adt activate ZCL_MY_CLASS

# Run unit tests and ATC checks (by name or URI)
erpl-adt test ZCL_MY_CLASS
erpl-adt check ZCL_MY_CLASS --variant DEFAULT

# Create a transport request and release it
erpl-adt transport create --desc "Feature XYZ" --package ZPACKAGE
erpl-adt transport release NPLK900042

# Browse packages and data dictionary
erpl-adt package tree ZPACKAGE --type CLAS
erpl-adt ddic table SFLIGHT
erpl-adt ddic cds I_AIRLINE

# Check syntax
erpl-adt source check /sap/bc/adt/oo/classes/zcl_my_class/source/main

Installation

The quickest way to run erpl-adt — no download needed:

uvx erpl-adt --help

Or install permanently:

pip install erpl-adt

Alternatively, download the binary for your platform from the latest release, or build from source.

Platform	Architecture
Linux	x86_64
macOS	arm64, x86_64
Windows	x64

Full reference

Run erpl-adt --help for the complete command listing. Key commands:

SEARCH — Search for ABAP objects
  search <pattern>                        Search for ABAP objects
      --type <type>                       Object type: CLAS, PROG, TABL, INTF, FUGR
      --max <n>                           Maximum number of results

OBJECT — Read, create, delete, lock/unlock ABAP objects
  object create                           Create an ABAP object
      --type, --name, --package           (required)
      --description, --transport
      --responsible <user>                Person responsible (default: logon user)
  object delete <uri>                     Delete an ABAP object
  object lock <uri>                       Lock an object for editing
  object read <name-or-uri>               Read object structure
  object run <class-name-or-uri>          Run an ABAP console class (IF_OO_ADT_CLASSRUN)
  object unlock <uri>                     Unlock an object

SOURCE — Read, write, and check ABAP source code
  source check <name-or-uri>              Check syntax
  source edit <name-or-uri>               Open source in $EDITOR and write back
  source read <name-or-uri>               Read source code
      --version <version>                 active or inactive (default: active)
      --section <section>                 main, localdefinitions, localimplementations, testclasses, all
      --color / --no-color                ANSI syntax highlighting
  source write <name-or-uri>              Write source code
      --file <path>                       Path to local source file  (required)
      --activate                          Activate the object after writing
                                          (not combinable with --handle: SAP
                                          refuses to activate a locked object)
      --optimistic                        Try lockless write first (pre-7.51 SAP)

ACTIVATE — Activate inactive ABAP objects
  activate <name-or-uri>

TEST / CHECK
  test <name-or-uri>                      Run ABAP unit tests
  check <name-or-uri>                     Run ATC quality checks
      --variant <name>                    ATC variant (default: DEFAULT)

TRANSPORT — List, create, and release transports
  transport create --desc <text> --package <pkg>
  transport list [--user <user>]
  transport release <number>

DATA DICTIONARY — Tables and CDS views
  ddic table <name>                       Get table definition (fetches lengths + descriptions by default)
      --no-resolve-types                  Skip data-element lookup; show field names and types only
      --raw                               Print raw SAP XML response
  ddic cds <name>                         Get CDS view source

PACKAGE — List contents and check package existence
  package exists <name>
  package list <name>
  package tree <name>                     Recursive BFS traversal
      --type <type>                       Filter: CLAS, PROG, TABL, INTF, FUGR
      --max-depth <n>                     (default: 50)

GLOBAL FLAGS
  --host, --port, --user, --password, --client
  --language <iso>                        SAP logon language (ISO, e.g. EN, DE; default: EN)
  --https, --insecure
  --json                                  Machine-readable JSON output
  --color / --no-color
  --timeout <sec>
  --session-file <path>                   Persist session for lock/write/unlock workflows
  -v / -vv                                INFO / DEBUG logging

EXIT CODES
  0  Success   1  Connection/auth/authorization   2  Not found   5  Activation error
  6  Lock conflict   7  Test failure   8  ATC check error   99  Internal error

MCP server

erpl-adt includes a built-in MCP server (Model Context Protocol, version 2024-11-05) that exposes all ADT operations as tools over JSON-RPC 2.0 on stdin/stdout. This lets AI agents search, read, write, test, and manage ABAP code directly.

erpl-adt mcp --host sap.example.com --port 44300 --https

Configure it in your MCP client (e.g., Claude Desktop, Claude Code):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "erpl-adt": {
      "command": "erpl-adt",
      "args": ["mcp", "--host", "sap.example.com", "--port", "44300", "--https"],
      "env": {
        "SAP_PASSWORD": "your_password"
      }
    }
  }
}

Catalog

A unified, cross-domain (ABAP + DDIC + CDS + BW) metadata catalog, persisted in a single DuckDB file so search/lineage/where-used run in milliseconds instead of round-tripping SAP. Covers full-text + semantic (Gemini embeddings) hybrid search, end-to-end lineage stitching, a business-glossary overlay (definitions/owner/line-of-business/confidentiality) layered on top of the technical metadata, and incremental sync.

Every catalog command needs an explicit scope (--package/--infoarea) — there's no "catalog the whole system" default, because SAP has no call to enumerate every BW infoarea and ABAP/DDIC package search has no pagination, so a silent "everything" default risks quietly missing content past the result cap. Discover packages first with the regular search command:

erpl-adt search 'Z*' --type DEVC --json   # all custom-namespace packages

Build — erpl-adt catalog build always builds the feed; add --db to persist it, --format to render it differently, both, or neither:

erpl-adt catalog build --sid A4H --package ZMY_PACKAGE --infoarea ZBW_AREA
# -> just a summary, nothing is written anywhere

erpl-adt catalog build --sid A4H --package ZMY_PACKAGE --db catalog.duckdb
# -> persists into a DuckDB file (full rebuild, replaces any prior content) —
#    this is the file catalog search/annotate/sync/webui all read from

erpl-adt catalog build --sid A4H --package ZMY_PACKAGE --db catalog.duckdb --embed
# -> also computes embeddings for semantic/hybrid search (needs GEMINI_API_KEY)

erpl-adt catalog build --sid A4H --package ZMY_PACKAGE --format mermaid
erpl-adt catalog build --sid A4H --package ZMY_PACKAGE --format openmetadata

catalog build --db is a single-shot, all-or-nothing write with no progress output and no resume — fine for a small scope. For anything large (thousands of packages, an hour-plus run), use catalog sync instead, even for the very first build:

erpl-adt catalog sync catalog.duckdb --sid A4H --package ZMY_PACKAGE
# [1/1] package ZMY_PACKAGE (elapsed 0m4s, ETA 0s)   <- one progress line per item, on stderr

# interrupted (connection drop, auth expiry, Ctrl-C)? everything already synced is
# durably committed — pick up exactly where it left off instead of starting over:
erpl-adt catalog sync catalog.duckdb --sid A4H --package ZMY_PACKAGE --resume

Checkpoint/audit state (which items are done, whether the last attempt was interrupted) lives in the same DuckDB file as the catalog data — one artifact, no sidecar file to lose track of or leave behind. Removal detection (deleting entities that disappeared from the scope) only runs on a plain, non-resumed sync — a resumed run only sees the items it personally processed, not the whole scope's picture, so it skips removal rather than risk flagging a still-valid item as gone.

Maintain:

# Incremental sync — diffs against what's already stored, writes only the delta
erpl-adt catalog sync catalog.duckdb --sid A4H --package ZMY_PACKAGE

# Curate business context — optional; the catalog works fine without it.
# Technical metadata gives you the *what* (a table's fields); this adds the
# *why* a human would write: what an entity means, who owns it, how
# sensitive it is. Turns a search for "procurement spend" into a real hit
# on 0PUR_VALUE even before anyone remembers what that technical name means.
# Never touches SAP — only writes to catalog.duckdb's overlay columns.
erpl-adt catalog annotate catalog.duckdb --id <entity_id> \
    --definition "Total procurement value" --owner "jane@example.com" --lob Procurement
erpl-adt catalog annotate catalog.duckdb --file overlay.yaml   # bulk, keyed by entity_id

View:

# CLI — fast, cache-only, no SAP round-trip
erpl-adt catalog search catalog.duckdb "procurement value" --mode hybrid

# Web UI — search, browse, lineage, curate, sync status, feed export
erpl-adt catalog webui catalog.duckdb --port 8383   # then open http://127.0.0.1:8383/

# MCP — catalog_search/catalog_get/catalog_lineage/catalog_where_used/... for AI agents
erpl-adt mcp --catalog-db catalog.duckdb            # stdio
erpl-adt mcp --catalog-db catalog.duckdb --http     # JSON-RPC over HTTP

The web UI (flutter/erpl_catalog_kit, compiled and embedded straight into the erpl-adt binary — see Building from source) is read-only against the cache except for curation: Search, Browse, Entity Detail, Lineage, and Driver Tree all query the same fast catalog_* MCP tools the CLI and AI agents use; the Curate screen is the only one that writes, via catalog_annotate. There's no build/sync button — catalog webui doesn't hold a live SAP connection, so building, exporting, and syncing stay CLI-only operations. The Sync Status screen shows past sync runs and cache health, and Feed Export surfaces the exact erpl-adt catalog build --format ... command to run for each format, rather than re-implementing either client-side.

Deploy workflow

erpl-adt also includes the original deploy workflow for automated abapGit package deployment via YAML configuration:

cat > config.yaml <<EOF
connection:
  host: localhost
  port: 50000
  use_https: false
  client: "001"
  user: DEVELOPER
  password_env: SAP_PASSWORD

repos:
  - name: flight
    url: https://github.com/SAP-samples/abap-platform-refscen-flight.git
    branch: refs/heads/main
    package: /DMO/FLIGHT
    activate: true
EOF

export SAP_PASSWORD=your_password
erpl-adt deploy -c config.yaml

The deploy workflow is an idempotent state machine: discover → create package → clone → pull → activate. Each step checks preconditions and skips if already satisfied. Re-running is safe. Supports multi-repo deployments with depends_on for topological ordering.

Building from source

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/datazooDE/erpl-adt.git
cd erpl-adt
make release

Requires CMake 3.21+, Ninja, and a C++17 compiler (GCC 13+, Apple Clang 15+, or MSVC 17+). vcpkg is included as a git submodule.

To also embed the catalog web UI into the binary (optional — not required for the CLI/MCP server), build the Flutter client first, then rebuild:

make webui      # flutter build web — requires the Flutter SDK
make release    # picks up the build output and embeds it via CMakeRC

Without make webui, erpl-adt catalog webui still builds and runs, but serves an instructional message instead of the app.

To run the tests:

make test                          # Unit tests (offline, no SAP system needed)
make test-integration-py           # Integration tests (requires SAP system)

Docker

docker build -t erpl-adt .
docker run --rm -v $(pwd)/config.yaml:/config.yaml \
    -e SAP_PASSWORD=your_password \
    erpl-adt deploy -c /config.yaml

Or use Docker Compose for end-to-end provisioning with a SAP ABAP Cloud Developer Trial:

docker compose up

Feedback

If erpl-adt misbehaves or does something surprising, please open an issue. ADT talks to real SAP systems whose configurations we cannot reproduce here, so a report with your setup is the fastest path to a fix — every human-readable error ends with that link for exactly this reason.

If it saved you a trip through Eclipse, a star on the repo helps other people find it.

The first time you run erpl-adt interactively each day, a small banner says the same thing. It never prints when output is piped, under --json or --quiet, or in CI. Silence it with DATAZOO_NO_BANNER=1.

Telemetry

erpl-adt collects anonymous, aggregate usage telemetry (feature usage, outcomes, and durations) — never source code, object/package names, transport IDs, SAP hosts/users, or error text. It is on by default and easy to disable:

erpl-adt --no-telemetry ...          # per invocation
export DATAZOO_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=1   # or DO_NOT_TRACK=1

See TELEMETRY.md for exactly what is collected and the privacy contract.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
docker		docker
docs		docs
examples		examples
flutter/erpl_catalog_kit		flutter/erpl_catalog_kit
include/erpl_adt		include/erpl_adt
scripts		scripts
src		src
test		test
third_party		third_party
.gitignore		.gitignore
.gitmodules		.gitmodules
AGENTS.md		AGENTS.md
CLAUDE.md		CLAUDE.md
CMakeLists.txt		CMakeLists.txt
LICENSE		LICENSE
Makefile		Makefile
README.md		README.md
TELEMETRY.md		TELEMETRY.md
vcpkg.json		vcpkg.json

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What it does

In action

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Quick examples

Installation

Full reference

MCP server

Catalog

Deploy workflow

Building from source

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Telemetry

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