EM Kit CLI

The EM Kit CLI lets you query and update EM Kit data from your terminal.

• Works with the EM Kit desktop app runtime.
• If EM Kit is not running, the first CLI command launches it automatically.
• Supports both one-shot commands and an interactive TUI.
• Returns JSON responses so it’s easy to script or pipe into AI agents.
• Focuses on EM Kit local data (it is not a GitHub CLI replacement).

Install from EM Kit desktop

1. Open Settings → Command Line Tool.
2. Click Install Command Line Tool.
3. Confirm the install location.

On macOS, the default install directory is:

~/.emkit

The executable path is typically:

~/.emkit/emkit

Add to PATH

If you see CLI install directory is not in PATH, add the install directory to your shell PATH.

zsh (default on macOS)

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.emkit:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

bash

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.emkit:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

fish

fish_add_path $HOME/.emkit

Verify:

which emkit
emkit help

EM Kit MCP

If you want to connect EM Kit to Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex through MCP, use the dedicated guide:

• EM Kit MCP

Usage modes

One-shot commands

emkit doctor
emkit workspace list
emkit workspace summary --id 1
emkit member list --workspace-id 1
emkit issue list --workspace-id 1 --status todo,in_progress

Interactive TUI

emkit
# or
emkit tui

The TUI supports tab autocomplete, up/down history, and the help and quit commands.

Global options

These flags apply to any command.

--input <json|@file|@->   # JSON payload for create/update commands (inline, @file, or @- for stdin)
--compact                 # Print responses as a single line of JSON
--data-dir <path>         # Override data directory (only honored when the app starts)

JSON output

CLI responses are JSON, which makes it easy to consume from scripts and AI agents.

{
  "ok": true,
  "command": "workspace list",
  "data": [
    { "id": 1, "name": "Platform", "created_at": "2026-03-06 19:21:00" }
  ]
}

Use compact output when piping:

emkit workspace list --compact

Command reference

Commands are grouped by section, matching the emkit help output. In the syntax below:

• <value> marks a required argument.
• [--flag <value>] marks an optional flag.
• <a|b|c> marks an enum — one of the listed values.
• Payloads passed via --input accept inline JSON, @file.json, or @- to read from stdin.

System

emkit doctor                              # Show app + database runtime status
emkit mcp                                 # Run EM Kit as an MCP stdio server
emkit help                                # Show command help
emkit quit                                # Exit TUI mode (TUI only)

emkit db query --sql <sql> [--params <json>]   # Run a SELECT and return rows
emkit db exec  --sql <sql> [--params <json>]   # Run a write statement (INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE)

Example:

emkit db query --sql 'SELECT id, name FROM workspaces LIMIT 10'
emkit db exec --sql 'UPDATE workspaces SET name = ? WHERE id = ?' --params '["Platform",1]'

Workspace

emkit workspace list                               # List workspaces
emkit workspace get     --id <id>                  # Get one workspace
emkit workspace create  --name <name>              # Create workspace
emkit workspace update  --id <id> --name <name>    # Rename workspace
emkit workspace delete  --id <id>                  # Delete workspace
emkit workspace summary --id <id>                  # Counts + latest review period snapshot

emkit member list   --workspace-id <id> [--limit <n>]        # List team members
emkit member get    --id <id>                                 # Get one team member
emkit member create --input <json>                            # Create team member
emkit member update --id <id> --input <json>                  # Update team member
emkit member delete --id <id>                                 # Delete team member

Example:

emkit workspace create --name "Platform"
emkit member create --input '{"workspace_id":1,"name":"Jane Doe","email":"jane@acme.com"}'
emkit workspace summary --id 1

Delivery

Work log

emkit work-log list   --workspace-id <id> \
                      [--category <manager|team>] [--contributor-id <id>] \
                      [--start-date <YYYY-MM-DD>] [--end-date <YYYY-MM-DD>] \
                      [--days <n>] [--limit <n>]
emkit work-log get    --id <id>
emkit work-log create --input <json>
emkit work-log update --id <id> --input <json>
emkit work-log delete --id <id>

Example:

emkit work-log list --workspace-id 1 --category manager --days 14 --limit 20
emkit work-log create --input '{
  "workspace_id": 1,
  "category": "team",
  "date": "2026-04-24",
  "title": "Shipped onboarding refresh",
  "contributors": [{ "member_id": 3, "sentiment": "positive" }]
}'

Issues and comments

emkit issue list   --workspace-id <id> \
                   [--status <s1,s2>] [--priority <p1,p2>] \
                   [--assignee-type <me|member|copilot>] [--assignee-member-id <id>]
emkit issue get    --id <id>
emkit issue create --input <json>
emkit issue update --id <id> --input <json>
emkit issue delete --id <id>

emkit issue-comment list   --issue-id <id>
emkit issue-comment create --input <json>        # issue_id, content required; author_type: user|copilot
emkit issue-comment update --id <id> --content <text>
emkit issue-comment delete --id <id>

Example:

emkit issue list --workspace-id 1 --priority urgent,high --assignee-type me
emkit issue create --input '{"workspace_id":1,"title":"Fix login bug","priority":"high"}'
emkit issue update --id 5 --input '{"status":"in_progress"}'

Notes

emkit note list   --workspace-id <id> \
                  [--note-type-id <id>] [--member-id <id>] \
                  [--start-date <YYYY-MM-DD>] [--end-date <YYYY-MM-DD>] \
                  [--days <n>] [--limit <n>]
emkit note get    --id <id>
emkit note create --input <json>        # workspace_id, name, date required
emkit note update --id <id> --input <json>
emkit note delete --id <id>

emkit note-type list   --workspace-id <id>
emkit note-type get    --id <id>
emkit note-type create --input <json>   # workspace_id, name required
emkit note-type update --id <id> --input <json>
emkit note-type delete --id <id>        # fails if notes reference it or it is system-defined

Example:

emkit note list --workspace-id 1 --days 14 --limit 20
emkit note create --input '{
  "workspace_id": 1,
  "name": "Weekly staff sync",
  "date": "2026-04-24",
  "note_type_id": 2,
  "content": "## Agenda\n- roadmap"
}'

Inbox

emkit inbox create --input <json>       # workspace_id, title required

People & Performance

Feedback

emkit feedback list   --workspace-id <id> [--status <to_share|shared|all>] [--limit <n>]
emkit feedback get    --id <id>
emkit feedback create --input <json>    # workspace_id, member_id, feedback_type, content required

Objectives

emkit objective list   --member-id <id>
emkit objective get    --id <id>
emkit objective create --input <json>   # member_id, title, period_name, start_date, end_date required
emkit objective update --id <id> --input <json>

One-on-ones

emkit one-on-one list --member-id <id>
emkit one-on-one get  --id <id>

Review periods and performance reviews

emkit review-period list   --workspace-id <id>
emkit review-period latest --workspace-id <id>                 # Latest period + summaries
emkit review-period create --input <json>                      # workspace_id, title, start_date, end_date required

emkit performance-review list   --member-id <id>
emkit performance-review get    --id <id>
emkit performance-review create --input <json>                 # member_id, review_period_id required
emkit performance-review update --id <id> --input <json>       # status, rating, notes

emkit peer-feedback list --review-id <id>
emkit peer-feedback get  --id <id>

emkit pip list --member-id <id>
emkit pip get  --id <id>

Career path

emkit career-path levels            --workspace-id <id>
emkit career-path update-level      --workspace-id <id> --level-id <id> --input <json>
emkit career-path skills            --workspace-id <id>
emkit career-path skill             --workspace-id <id> --skill-id <id>
emkit career-path create-skill      --workspace-id <id> --input <json>
emkit career-path update-skill      --workspace-id <id> --skill-id <id> --input <json>
emkit career-path team-positioning  --workspace-id <id> [--member-id <id>]
emkit career-path upsert-assessment --member-id <id> --input <json>   # skill_id, skill_level_id required

Reports

emkit report history --workspace-id <id>    # List stored report snapshots
emkit report get     --report-id <id>
emkit report delete  --report-id <id>

Troubleshooting

CLI install directory is still reported as not in PATH

1. Make sure your shell config contains $HOME/.emkit (or your selected install directory).
2. Open a new terminal window (or source your shell config).
3. Check current PATH:

echo $PATH

4. Re-run Refresh in EM Kit Settings → Command Line Tool.

Install directory is not writable

Create the directory and set ownership:

mkdir -p ~/.emkit
chown -R "$USER" ~/.emkit

Then install again from EM Kit Settings.

Development mode behavior

If EM Kit is running via npm run dev:electron, the installed dev launcher can target your dev app runtime. Keep the dev app running while testing terminal commands.