omnigraph/docs/user/cli.md

CLI Guide

Core Graph Flow

omnigraph init --schema ./schema.pg ./graph.omni
omnigraph load --data ./data.jsonl --mode overwrite ./graph.omni
omnigraph snapshot ./graph.omni --branch main --json
omnigraph query  --uri ./graph.omni --query ./queries.gq --name get_person --params '{"name":"Alice"}'
omnigraph mutate --uri ./graph.omni --query ./queries.gq --name insert_person --params '{"name":"Mina","age":28}'

omnigraph query is the canonical read command (pairs with POST /query); omnigraph mutate is the canonical write command (pairs with POST /mutate). The previous names omnigraph read and omnigraph change keep working as visible aliases — invocations emit a one-line deprecation warning to stderr and otherwise behave identically. See Deprecated names for the migration table.

For ad-hoc reads and mutations (REPLs, AI agents, one-off scripts), pass the GQ source inline with -e / --query-string instead of a file path:

omnigraph query --uri ./graph.omni \
  -e 'query find($name: String) { match { $p: Person { name: $name } } return { $p.name, $p.age } }' \
  --params '{"name":"Alice"}'

omnigraph mutate --uri ./graph.omni \
  -e 'query add($name: String, $age: I32) { insert Person { name: $name, age: $age } }' \
  --params '{"name":"Inline","age":42}'

-e is mutually exclusive with --query <path> and --alias <name>; exactly one of the three must be provided. The inline source travels through the same parser, lint, params binding, and commit machinery as a file-based query — only the source loader changes.

Branching And Reviewable Data Flows

omnigraph branch create --uri ./graph.omni --from main feature-x
omnigraph branch list --uri ./graph.omni
omnigraph branch merge --uri ./graph.omni feature-x --into main

omnigraph ingest --data ./batch.jsonl --branch review/import-2026-04-09 ./graph.omni
omnigraph export ./graph.omni --branch main --type Person > people.jsonl
omnigraph commit list ./graph.omni --branch main --json
omnigraph commit show --uri ./graph.omni <commit-id> --json

Remote Server Mode

Serve a graph:

omnigraph-server ./graph.omni --bind 127.0.0.1:8080

Read through the HTTP API:

omnigraph query \
  --graph http://127.0.0.1:8080 \
  --query ./queries.gq \
  --name get_person \
  --params '{"name":"Alice"}'

If the server requires auth, set OMNIGRAPH_SERVER_BEARER_TOKEN on the server and configure the matching bearer_token_env in omnigraph.yaml.

Multi-graph servers (v0.6.0+)

Against a multi-graph server (started with --config omnigraph.yaml referencing a non-empty graphs: map), use omnigraph graphs list to enumerate the registered graphs. The server must configure bearer tokens and serve.policy.file with a rule that allows graph_list; /graphs is closed by default even when the server runs with --unauthenticated.

OMNIGRAPH_BEARER_TOKEN=admin-token \
  omnigraph graphs list --uri http://server.example.com --json

For config-driven clients, set the remote graph's bearer_token_env to an environment variable containing a token whose actor is authorized by serve.policy.file.

list rejects local URI targets — it's for remote multi-graph servers only.

Runtime add/remove is not in v0.6.0. To add a graph, stop the server, add a graphs.<id> entry to omnigraph.yaml, then restart. To remove, stop the server, delete the entry, restart.

Per-graph URLs: hit a graph's cluster route from any subcommand by pointing --uri at it:

omnigraph read --uri http://server.example.com/graphs/beta --query ./q.gq ...

Runs, Policy, And Diagnostics

omnigraph lint  --query ./queries.gq --schema ./schema.pg --json
omnigraph check --query ./queries.gq ./graph.omni --json

omnigraph schema plan --schema ./next.pg ./graph.omni --json
omnigraph schema apply --schema ./next.pg ./graph.omni --json
omnigraph policy validate --config ./omnigraph.yaml
omnigraph policy test --config ./omnigraph.yaml
omnigraph policy explain --config ./omnigraph.yaml --actor act-alice --action read --branch main

omnigraph commit list ./graph.omni --json
omnigraph commit show --uri ./graph.omni <commit-id> --json

(The legacy omnigraph run list/show/publish/abort subcommands were removed in MR-771; mutations and loads publish atomically and the commit graph (omnigraph commit list) is the audit surface.)

query lint and query check are the same command surface. In v1, graph-backed lint uses local or s3:// graph URIs; HTTP targets are only supported when you also pass --schema.

Config

omnigraph.yaml lets the CLI and server share named graphs, defaults, and query roots:

version: 1
servers:
  dev:
    endpoint: http://127.0.0.1:8080
graphs:
  local:
    storage: ./demo.omni
  dev:
    server: dev
    bearer_token_env: OMNIGRAPH_BEARER_TOKEN

defaults:
  graph: local
  branch: main

query:
  roots:
    - queries
    - .

The config file can also define:

• serve: bind / served-set / server-level policy defaults
• auth env files
• query aliases for common read and change commands
• per-graph policy: for Cedar authorization rules

When policy is enabled, schema apply is authorized through the schema_apply action and is typically limited to admins on protected main.

Global-first layering

The CLI merges a user-global ~/.omnigraph/config.yaml under the project ./omnigraph.yaml, so it works from any directory with no project file. A graph, server, or default defined only in the global config is fully usable. Inspect the result with omnigraph config view [--show-origin] [--resolved <graph>], and set the active default graph with omnigraph use <graph>. Precedence, env vars, and merge rules are in cli-reference.md. The server is unaffected — it reads only its project/--config deployment manifest.

Deprecated names

The CLI was renamed to align with the HTTP server's canonical endpoint names (POST /query, POST /mutate) and the query keyword in the GQ language. The previous spellings keep working forever; invocations emit a one-line warning to stderr and otherwise behave identically.

Old (deprecated)	New (canonical)	Migration
omnigraph read	omnigraph query	Same flags and behavior. read is a visible clap alias.
omnigraph change	omnigraph mutate	Same flags and behavior. change is a visible clap alias.
omnigraph query lint	omnigraph lint	Same flags. The argv-level shim rewrites query lint to lint.
omnigraph query check	omnigraph check	check is a visible alias of omnigraph lint.

The command: field in aliases.<name> in omnigraph.yaml accepts both read / change (legacy) and query / mutate (canonical); the two spellings are interchangeable on the wire via serde aliases.