Are.na CLI

A command-line interface for Are.na.

Install

npm install -g @aredotna/cli

Requires Node.js 20 or later.

Upgrade

npm update -g @aredotna/cli

Authentication

arena login

Opens your browser to authorize via OAuth. Your token is stored locally and used for subsequent requests.

arena logout

Usage

Running arena with no arguments opens an interactive session. Pass a command for direct access.

Quick Start

arena login
arena whoami
arena search "brutalist architecture" --type Image
arena channel worldmaking
arena add my-channel "Hello world"
arena upload photo.jpg --channel my-channel

Getting Help

• arena --help shows a concise overview and common workflows.
• arena help <command> shows command-specific help.
• arena <command> --help also shows command-specific help.

Examples:

arena help search
arena channel --help
arena channel contents --help

Global Flags

Flag	Description
--json	Output as JSON (import --json streams NDJSON)
--quiet	Compact JSON output when supported
--yes	Bypass destructive confirmation prompts
--help	Show help

Output & Errors

• stdout:
  • Successful command output.
  • --json returns JSON objects; import --json returns NDJSON progress events.
  • --quiet only changes JSON formatting (compact, single-line); it does not change response fields.
• stderr:
  • Human-readable failures in non-interactive mode.
  • Structured JSON errors in --json mode.
• JSON error shape:
  • {"error": string, "code": number | null, "type": string, "hint"?: string}
  • Common type values include: unknown_command, unknown_subcommand, json_not_supported, API-derived types like not_found.
• Exit codes:
  • 0 success
  • 1 client/usage errors and unknown command/subcommand
  • 2 unauthorized (401)
  • 3 not found (404)
  • 4 validation/bad request (400, 422)
  • 5 rate limited (429)
  • 6 forbidden (403)

Non-Interactive Behavior

• Interactive session mode only starts when both stdin and stdout are TTYs.
• In non-interactive contexts (pipes/CI), output is deterministic and unknown commands fail fast with non-zero exits.
• batch is JSON-only; use --json.
• For stdin-driven automation (for example piping content into add), use --json.

Command Reference

Examples are shown first, then options.

Authentication

login

Authenticate via OAuth.

Examples:

arena login

Options:

• --token <token>

whoami

Show current authenticated user.

Examples:

arena whoami

Options:

• None

logout

Clear local auth token.

Examples:

arena logout

Options:

• None

Search

search

Search across blocks, channels, users, and groups.

Examples:

arena search "brutalist architecture"
arena search "photography" --type Image
arena search "design" --scope my
arena search "*" --type Attachment --ext pdf
arena search "architecture" --sort created_at_desc
arena search "*" --sort random --seed 42
arena search "*" --channel-id 789

Options:

• --page <n>
• --per <n>
• --type <t>
• --scope <all|my|following>
• --sort <s>
• --ext <ext>
• --after <iso8601>
• --seed <n>
• --user-id <id>
• --group-id <id>
• --channel-id <id>

Channels

channel

View channel details.

Examples:

arena channel worldmaking

Options:

• --page <n>
• --per <n>

channel contents

List channel contents.

Examples:

arena channel contents worldmaking
arena channel contents worldmaking --sort updated_at_desc --user-id 123

Options:

• --page <n>
• --per <n>
• --sort <s>
• --user-id <id>

channel create

Create a channel.

Examples:

arena channel create "My Research" --visibility private
arena channel create "Team Notes" --group-id 123

Options:

• --visibility <public|private|closed>
• --description <text>
• --group-id <id>

channel update

Update a channel.

Examples:

arena channel update my-research --title "New Title" --description "Updated"

Options:

• --title <text>
• --description <text>
• --visibility <public|private|closed>

channel delete

Delete a channel.

Examples:

arena channel delete my-research

Options:

• None

channel connections

Show where a channel appears.

Examples:

arena channel connections worldmaking --sort connected_at_desc

Options:

• --page <n>
• --per <n>
• --sort <s>

channel followers

List channel followers.

Examples:

arena channel followers worldmaking --sort connected_at_desc

Options:

• --page <n>
• --per <n>
• --sort <s>

Blocks

block

View a block.

Examples:

arena block 12345

Options:

• None

block update

Update block metadata/content.

Examples:

arena block update 12345 --title "New Title"

Options:

• --title <text>
• --description <text>
• --content <text>
• --alt-text <text>

block comments

List block comments.

Examples:

arena block comments 12345 --sort connected_at_desc

Options:

• --page <n>
• --per <n>
• --sort <s>

block connections

Show channels connected to a block.

Examples:

arena block connections 12345 --sort connected_at_desc --filter OWN

Options:

• --page <n>
• --per <n>
• --sort <s>
• --filter <ALL|OWN|EXCLUDE_OWN>

add

Add text/URL content to a channel.

Examples:

arena add my-channel "Hello world"
arena add my-channel "Hello" --title "Greeting" --description "Pinned note"
arena add my-channel https://example.com --alt-text "Cover image" --insert-at 1
arena add my-channel https://example.com --original-source-url https://source.com --original-source-title "Original"
echo "piped text" | arena --json add my-channel

Options:

• --title <text>
• --description <text>
• --alt-text <text>
• --original-source-url <url>
• --original-source-title <text>
• --insert-at <n>

upload

Upload local file content.

Examples:

arena upload photo.jpg --channel my-channel
arena upload photo.jpg --channel my-channel --title "Cover" --description "Homepage image"

Options:

• --channel <slug|id> (required)
• --title <text>
• --description <text>

batch

Create many blocks asynchronously.

batch is available in --json mode.

Examples:

arena batch my-channel "https://a.com" "https://b.com"
arena batch status 1234

Options:

• --title <text>
• --description <text>

import

Import local files in bulk.

Examples:

arena import my-channel --dir ./assets
arena import my-channel --dir ./assets --recursive
arena import my-channel --interactive

Options:

• --dir <path>
• --recursive
• --interactive
• --batch-size <n>
• --upload-concurrency <n>
• --poll-interval <ms>

Connections

connect

Connect a block/channel to a channel.

Examples:

arena connect 12345 my-channel
arena connect 12345 my-channel --type Channel --position 1

Options:

• --type <Block|Channel>
• --position <n>

connection

Inspect/delete/move connections.

Examples:

arena connection 67890
arena connection delete 67890
arena connection move 67890 --movement move_to_top
arena connection move 67890 --movement insert_at --position 1

Options:

• --movement <move_to_top|move_to_bottom|insert_at> (for connection move)
• --position <n> (for connection move)

Comments

comment

Create or delete comments.

Examples:

arena comment 12345 "Nice find"
arena comment delete 67890

Options:

• None

Users & Groups

user

View users and relationships.

Examples:

arena user damon-zucconi
arena user contents damon-zucconi --type Image --sort updated_at_desc
arena user followers damon-zucconi --sort connected_at_desc
arena user following damon-zucconi --type User --sort connected_at_desc

Options:

• --page <n>
• --per <n>
• --type <t>
• --sort <s>

group

View groups and group activity.

Examples:

arena group are-na-team
arena group contents are-na-team --type Image --sort updated_at_desc
arena group followers are-na-team --sort connected_at_desc

Options:

• --page <n>
• --per <n>
• --type <t>
• --sort <s>

Other

ping

Check API health.

Examples:

arena ping

Options:

• None

Aliases

Alias	Command
ch	channel
bl	block
me	whoami
s	search

Development

git clone https://github.com/aredotna/cli.git
cd cli
npm install
cp .env.example .env    # Configure API base URL
npm run dev             # Run from source
npm run check           # Typecheck + test + build

Testing

Tests use a file-based VCR to record and replay API responses.

npm test                                # Run tests (auto mode — records if no cassette)
ARENA_VCR_MODE=replay npm test          # Strict replay (no network, used in CI)
rm .vcr/registry-test.json && npm test  # Re-record cassettes