Every Respond.io feature, plus an offline mirror and SQL that answers inbox questions no single API call can.
respondio-pp-cli wraps the full Respond.io Unification API v2 - contacts, messaging, conversations, comments, and workspace - then syncs contacts, users, and channels into a local SQLite store. Offline you can segment by tag, find custom-field gaps, check channel mix, and gauge workload by agent with --json output built for agents.
Authentication
Auth uses a Respond.io API access token (Settings > Integrations > Developer API). Set RESPOND_IO_API_TOKEN and run respondio-pp-cli auth login. All commands are read-mostly; mutations support --dry-run.
Quick Start
# Check token, config, and API reachability (works without live auth).
respondio-pp-cli doctor --dry-run
# Look up a contact by identifier (id:, email:, phone:).
respondio-pp-cli contact get id:123
# Mirror contacts and workspace into the local database.
respondio-pp-cli sync --resources contact,space_user,space_channel
# Search contacts offline in the local mirror.
respondio-pp-cli contact search --query acme
# Pull a tag cohort from local data.
respondio-pp-cli contact by-tag VIP
Unique Features
These capabilities aren't available in any other tool for this API.
Local state that compounds
-
overview — One-command summary of open conversations, unassigned contacts, per-agent distribution, and recent activity.
Use instead of a dozen API calls when you need the current inbox load at a glance.
respondio-pp-cli overview --json
-
report workload — Per-agent message and conversation handling volume from the synced workspace.
Balance the team and spot overloaded agents without manual tallying.
respondio-pp-cli report workload --json
Segment & find
-
report channel-mix — See which messaging channels (WhatsApp, Instagram, email...) your contacts actually use.
Answer 'where do our customers talk to us' instantly from local data.
respondio-pp-cli report channel-mix --json
-
contact by-tag — List every contact that carries a given tag (VIP, unpaid, in-trial).
Pull a whole segment for campaigns or support outreach in one command.
respondio-pp-cli contact by-tag VIP --json
-
contact field-gaps — Find contacts missing a custom field value (e.g. no orderId or region).
Spot data quality gaps to drive clean-up or re-enrichment.
respondio-pp-cli contact field-gaps --name orderId --json
-
contact idle — Find unassigned contacts with no recent activity worth working.
Route idle work before it goes cold.
respondio-pp-cli contact idle --days 7 --json
Agent-native plumbing
-
contact search — Free-text search across synced contacts without hitting the API.
Find a customer by name/email offline, fast, without api.respond.io.
respondio-pp-cli contact search --query acme --json
Recipes
Inbox load at a glance
respondio-pp-cli overview --json
Summarize open conversations, unassigned contacts, and activity.
Narrow a contact payload
respondio-pp-cli contact get id:123 --agent --select firstName,email,lifecycle
Keep context small by selecting only the fields you need.
Find data-quality gaps
respondio-pp-cli contact field-gaps --name orderId --json
List contacts missing a custom field to drive enrichment.
Where customers talk to you
respondio-pp-cli report channel-mix --json
Show the channel-source distribution across synced contacts.
Team workload
respondio-pp-cli report workload --json
Per-agent handling volume from synced assignments.
Usage
Run respondio-pp-cli --help for the full command reference and flag list.
Paths & environment variables
This CLI separates local files into four path kinds:
| Kind | Contents |
|---|
config | User-editable settings such as config.toml and saved profiles |
data | Durable local data: credentials.toml, data.db, cookies, browser-session proof files, and other auth sidecars |
state | Runtime state such as persisted queries, jobs, and teach.log |
cache | Regenerable HTTP/cache files |
Each kind resolves independently. The ladder is:
- Per-kind env var:
RESPONDIO_CONFIG_DIR, RESPONDIO_DATA_DIR, RESPONDIO_STATE_DIR, or RESPONDIO_CACHE_DIR
--home <dir> for this invocationRESPONDIO_HOME for a flat relocated root- XDG env vars:
XDG_CONFIG_HOME, XDG_DATA_HOME, XDG_STATE_HOME, XDG_CACHE_HOME
- Platform defaults matching existing installs
For containers and agent sandboxes, prefer a single relocated root:
export RESPONDIO_HOME=/srv/respondio
respondio-pp-cli doctor
Under RESPONDIO_HOME=/srv/respondio, the four dirs resolve to /srv/respondio/config, /srv/respondio/data, /srv/respondio/state, and /srv/respondio/cache.
MCP servers do not receive CLI flags from the host. Put relocation in the host env block:
{
"mcpServers": {
"respondio": {
"command": "respondio-pp-mcp",
"env": {
"RESPONDIO_HOME": "/srv/respondio"
}
}
}
}
Precedence matters in fleets: an ambient per-kind variable such as RESPONDIO_DATA_DIR overrides an explicit --home for that kind. Use RESPONDIO_HOME or the per-kind variables for durable fleet relocation; treat --home as the weaker per-invocation lever.
Relocation is one-way. Unsetting RESPONDIO_HOME does not move files back to platform defaults, and doctor cannot find credentials left under a former root. Move the files manually before unsetting relocation variables.
Existing installs keep working because the platform-default rung matches the legacy layout. On the first auth write, stored secrets leave config.toml and are consolidated into credentials.toml under the data directory. Run respondio-pp-cli doctor --fail-on warn to check path and credential-location warnings in automation.
Commands
comment
Add internal comments to contacts
respondio-pp-cli comment <identifier> - Create an internal comment on a contact
contact
Manage Respond.io contacts and contact-level actions
respondio-pp-cli contact add-tags - Add tags to a contactrespondio-pp-cli contact create - Create a new contact (identifier must be email: or phone:)respondio-pp-cli contact delete - Delete a contactrespondio-pp-cli contact get - Get a contact by identifier (id:123, email:user@example.com, phone:+1234567890)respondio-pp-cli contact list - List contacts with optional search and filtersrespondio-pp-cli contact list-channels - List all channels connected to a contactrespondio-pp-cli contact merge - Merge two contacts into onerespondio-pp-cli contact remove-tags - Remove tags from a contactrespondio-pp-cli contact update - Update an existing contactrespondio-pp-cli contact update-lifecycle - Update a contact's lifecycle stagerespondio-pp-cli contact upsert - Create or update a contact keyed by email/phone identifier
conversation
Manage conversation assignment and status
respondio-pp-cli conversation assign - Assign or unassign a conversationrespondio-pp-cli conversation update-status - Open or close a conversation
message
Send and retrieve messages for a contact
respondio-pp-cli message get - Get a message by IDrespondio-pp-cli message list - List messages for a contactrespondio-pp-cli message send - Send a message to a contact
space
Respond.io workspace-level operations
respondio-pp-cli space create-custom-field - Create a custom field definitionrespondio-pp-cli space create-tag - Create a workspace tagrespondio-pp-cli space delete-tag - Delete a workspace tagrespondio-pp-cli space get-custom-field - Get a custom field by IDrespondio-pp-cli space get-user - Get a user by IDrespondio-pp-cli space list-channels - List all channels in the workspacerespondio-pp-cli space list-closing-notes - List closing note categoriesrespondio-pp-cli space list-custom-fields - List all custom field definitionsrespondio-pp-cli space list-templates - List message templates for a channelrespondio-pp-cli space list-users - List users in the workspacerespondio-pp-cli space update-tag - Update a workspace tag
Self-learning loop
This CLI caches per-question discovery so repeat queries skip the walk and structurally similar queries get answered via entity substitution. The loop also self-captures: every invocation is journaled locally, and failed-flag corrections plus fresh teaches surface as candidates on the next recall for confirm/reject judgment. Agents call recall before discovery and fire teach & after answering. See the ## Automatic learning section in SKILL.md for the full protocol.
respondio-pp-cli recall <query> - Look up cached resources for a query before running discoveryrespondio-pp-cli teach - Record a query -> resource mapping (silent on success, safe to background with &)respondio-pp-cli learnings list - Inspect taught rowsrespondio-pp-cli learnings forget <query> - Undo a teachrespondio-pp-cli learnings candidates - List auto-captured candidates awaiting confirm/rejectrespondio-pp-cli learnings stats - Local loop metrics: recall hit rate, teach-to-reuse, playbook resolution, candidate countsrespondio-pp-cli teach-pattern - Install a query/resource template up frontrespondio-pp-cli teach-lookup - Add an entity mapping (e.g. country code, team alias) for pattern substitution
Pass --no-learn or set RESPONDIO_NO_LEARN=true to disable the loop for deterministic flows.
The local store's schema version stamp is one-way: once this version of respondio-pp-cli opens the database, older binaries refuse it with a version error — upgrade the binary rather than downgrading.
Output Formats
# Human-readable table (default in terminal, JSON when piped)
respondio-pp-cli contact list
# JSON for scripting and agents
respondio-pp-cli contact list --json
# Filter to specific fields
respondio-pp-cli contact list --json --select id,name,status
# Dry run — show the request without sending
respondio-pp-cli contact list --dry-run
# Agent mode — JSON + compact + no prompts in one flag
respondio-pp-cli contact list --agent
Agent Usage
This CLI is designed for AI agent consumption:
- Non-interactive - never prompts, every input is a flag
- Pipeable -
--json output to stdout, errors to stderr
- Filterable -
--select id,name returns only fields you need
- Previewable -
--dry-run shows the request without sending
- Explicit retries - add
--idempotent to create retries and add --ignore-missing to delete retries when a no-op success is acceptable
- Confirmable -
--yes for explicit confirmation of destructive actions
- Piped input - write commands can accept structured input when their help lists
--stdin
- Offline-friendly - sync/search commands can use the local SQLite store when available
- Agent-safe by default - no colors or formatting unless
--human-friendly is set
Exit codes: 0 success, 2 usage error, 3 not found, 4 auth error, 5 API error, 7 rate limited, 10 config error.
Runtime Endpoint
This CLI resolves endpoint placeholders at runtime, so one installed binary can target different tenants or API versions without regeneration.
Endpoint environment variables:
RESPONDIO_IDENTIFIER resolves {identifier}
Base URL: https://api.respond.io/v2
Health Check
respondio-pp-cli doctor
Verifies configuration, credentials, and connectivity to the API.
Configuration
Run respondio-pp-cli doctor to see the resolved config, data, state, and cache directories. The platform-default config path is ~/.config/respondio-pp-cli/config.toml; --home, RESPONDIO_HOME, and per-kind env vars can relocate it.
Static request headers can be configured under headers; per-command header overrides take precedence.
Environment variables:
| Name | Kind | Required | Description |
|---|
RESPONDIO_IDENTIFIER | endpoint | Yes | |
RESPOND_IO_API_TOKEN | per_call | Yes | Set to your API credential. |
agentcookie (optional)
If you use agentcookie to sync secrets across machines, this CLI auto-adopts agentcookie-managed credentials with no extra setup. When the daemon writes to this CLI's config, respondio-pp-cli doctor reports agentcookie: detected and auth-status labels the source as agentcookie. Skip this section if you don't use agentcookie - the CLI works the same as any other.
Troubleshooting
Authentication errors (exit code 4)
- Run
respondio-pp-cli doctor to check credentials
- Verify the environment variable is set:
echo $RESPOND_IO_API_TOKEN
Not found errors (exit code 3)
- Check the resource ID is correct
- Run the
list command to see available items
API-specific
- HTTP 401 / 403 on commands — Confirm RESPOND_IO_API_TOKEN is set and valid via 'respondio-pp-cli doctor'.
- Rate limited (429) on wide syncs — The CLI respects X-RateLimit headers and retries with backoff; narrow with --resources and --limit.
- Empty local results — Run 'respondio-pp-cli sync' first - novel reports read the local mirror, not the live API.
Sources & Inspiration
This CLI was built by studying these projects and resources:
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