API based commands

Overview

tip

A general rule of thumb is that try to use API based commands by default as they are more portable as they do not rely on any external executables, only go-c8y-cli.

API based commands are commands which are generated via a YAML specification. Each specification can contain multiple commands and each command corresponds to one HTTP REST request.

API based commands offer a first class integration into go-c8y-cli as the feel much more like other in-built commands as they include; tab completion, documentation, support for in-built data types (e.g. devices, agents, applications etc.). This is possible because under the hood go-c8y-cli is applying the same API processing that it uses internally to generate the golang code for each command, however the main difference is that go-c8y-cli is interpreting the commands at runtime rather than generating static golang code.

📄️ Command groups

A command group is used to logically group commands of a similar nature together.

📄️ Body building

One major aspect of an API is the creation or modification of entities. Such entities could be any thing such as devices, applications, configuration etc.

📄️ Tab completion

Tab completion is the killer feature on the commands line. It improves the useability of the extension and can reduce the reliance on documentation (though it shouldn't be a substitute for good docs)

📄️ Parameter types

Parameter (or flag) types are used to defined how a flag's value should be interpreted. The supported parameter types which can be referenced from the API specification are listed below.