---
title: "FAQs on Command Line Interface (CLI)"
canonical: "https://support.appfire.com/space/SUPPORT/89138793/FAQs%20on%20Command%20Line%20Interface%20(CLI)"
format: markdown
---
## Overview

> Macro (excerpt)
> 
> This article provides answers to the most frequently asked questions on the CLI app.

## FAQs


<details>
<summary>Where exactly does this app run?</summary>

*Jira/Confluence/Bamboo/Bitbucket/Atlassian Command Line Interface* *(CLI)* has 2 components:

1. <u>CLI Connector</u> - This is installed on the server using Universal Plug-in Manager (UPM) and provides a specific license validation REST API. It is accessible to CLI client via ***<base-url>/rest/org.swift.confluence.cli/latest/validatelicense***.
2. <u>CLI Client</u> - This can be installed on any operating system (Windows, Linux, OSX) that has Java 8 or higher.

<span style="color: #172b4d">Download the CLI Client from </span>[Downloads - CLI Clients](https://bobswift.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/info/pages/103022955/Downloads+-+CLI+Clients)<span style="color: #172b4d"> on</span><span style="color: #172b4d"> the local machine where you want to execute the actions. S</span><span style="color: #172b4d">ee the page</span><span style="color: #172b4d"> </span>[What is the difference between CLI clients and Run CLI add-ons?](https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ACLI/pages/60560580/What+is+the+difference+between+CLI+clients+and+Run+CLI+add-ons) for more information.
</details>

<details>
<summary>Do clients still require an instance app (CLI Connector) be installed?</summary>

**<span style="color: #000000">Yes</span>**<span style="color: #000000">, with some exceptions</span><span style="color: #008000">. </span><span style="color: #000000">This has not changed. The Connector app provides license enforcement, and, in some cases, extended remote interfaces are not available from the base Atlassian product.</span>

<span style="color: #000000">The following clients are provided at no charge and do not require a connector:</span>

- [UPM Command Line Interface (CLI)](https://bobswift.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/UPMCLI)
- [CSV Command Line Interface (CLI)](https://bobswift.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/CSVCLI)
- [Bitbucket Cloud Command Line Interface (CLI)](https://bobswift.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/BCCLI) - <span style="color: #000000">no charge for a limited time only</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>Can CLI Clients be purchased separately?</summary>

**No**<span style="color: #008000">**. **</span><span style="color: #000000">CLI </span><span style="color: #000000">Clients</span><span style="color: #000000"> </span><span style="color: #000000">are available at no charge with the purchase of one or more of server or cloud apps. </span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>What does an existing Run CLI Actions app customer need to do to remain properly licensed ?</summary>

<span style="color: #000000">Nothing, if they do not use CLI Clients and only use the integrated support as part of their Atlassian product. Renew your license as usual when maintenance has expired.</span>

<span style="color: #000000">If you want to use CLI Clients as well as the integrated capabilities, then an additional license is required for the CLI Connector. This license change was effective from</span> [CLI version 6.x](https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ACLI/pages/60565972/Atlassian+CLI+License+for+Versions+6.x) <span style="color: #000000">but was enforced only when upgrading Clients to 7.0 or higher. If you are entitled to a discounted license (determined as per maintenance expiry date), contact us at</span> [license@appfire.com](mailto:license@appfire.com).
</details>

<details>
<summary>How can I evaluate the CLI app prior to purchase? </summary>

<span style="color: #000000">Obtain an evaluation license for one of the Atlassian apps listed, install the app, and then, download the ACLI Client distribution. See</span><span style="color: #000000"> </span>[CLI Client Installation and Use](https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ACLI/pages/60560924/CLI+Client+Installation+and+Use)<span style="color: #000000"> </span><span style="color: #000000">for more information.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>Can an ACL Client be used to access an instance that does not have the Connector app installed?</summary>

**No**<span style="color: #008000">**. **</span><span style="color: #000000">ACLI Client is not licensed to be used to access an Atlassian app or instance that requires a Connector app to be installed.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>Can I continue to use a version of ACLI Client prior to version 7 ?</summary>

**Yes**<span style="color: #008000">.</span><span style="color: #008000"> </span><span style="color: #000000">Versions prior to 7.0 can be used under the terms in effect at that time. Links are available in the</span><span style="color: #000000"> </span>[<span style="color: #000000">Related Information</span>](https://bobswift.atlassian.net/wiki/pages/editpage.action?pageId=195101000#AtlassianCLILicenseforVersions6.x-RelatedInformation)<span style="color: #000000"> </span><span style="color: #000000">section.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>Do I need to purchase both the CLI and Run CLI Action apps to use both the client and the product specific functions ?</summary>

**Yes**<span style="color: #008000">.</span><span style="color: #000000"> You must purchase both the CLI and Run CLI Action apps to use both the client </span>**<span style="color: #000000">and</span>**<span style="color: #000000"> the product specific functions.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>If I am an official Atlassian Partner or Expert, can I get a special rate for CLI app?</summary>

**<span style="color: #000000">Yes</span>**<span style="color: #000000">. Atlassian</span><span style="color: #000000"> recognised partners and members of the </span><span style="color: #000000">Atlassian</span><span style="color: #000000"> Experts Program can use any CLI app free of charge for development, testing, or, demonstration purposes. A commercial license is required when used to provide services to customers. See </span>[<span style="color: #000000">Add-ons for Atlassian Experts</span>](https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/display/info/Add-ons+for+Atlassian+Experts)<span style="color: #000000"> for more details.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>Are CLI apps available for Atlassian Cloud ?</summary>

**Yes**<span style="color: #000000">. CLI apps for Jira, Jira Service Desk, Confluence Cloud etc., are available in Atlassian Cloud for purchase or trial subscription. Bitbucket Cloud is also supported by the ACLI Client and is currently available for a limited time at</span><span style="color: #000000"> </span>**no charge.**
</details>

<details>
<summary>Do I need a CLI license for an Atlassian server that is a developer/test system ?</summary>

**<span style="color: #000000">No,</span>**<span style="color: #000000"> for all servers except Crucible/FishEye.</span>

1. <span style="color: #000000">Any Atlassian paid app automatically provides a </span>**<span style="color: #000000">developer</span>**<span style="color: #000000"> license associated with your production license. Go to</span> [my.atlassian.com](http://my.atlassian.com)<span style="color: #000000">, expand the app, and, look for a link.</span>
2. <span style="color: #000000">We have purposefully allowed CLI to work with </span>**<span style="color: #000000">developer</span>**<span style="color: #000000"> servers where the connector is installed but do not have a license. This is to make it easier for administrators and add-on developers.</span>
3. <span style="color: #000000">Unfortunately, we are unable to provide same support for Crucible/FishEye at this time due to limitations in determining a developer licensed server.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>How many client users can I have ?</summary>

**<span style="color: #000000">Unlimited</span>**<span style="color: #000000">. Any number of users can install clients and connect to a server. The requirement is that the host must have the </span>**<span style="color: #000000">CLI Connector</span>**<span style="color: #000000"> component installed with valid license.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>Which server product should I choose ?</summary>

<span style="color: #000000">Choose the product specific </span>**<span style="color: #000000">Command Line Interface</span>**<span style="color: #000000"> (CLI Connector) if you want to use a client to connect to the Atlassian product.</span>

<span style="color: #000000">Choose the product specific </span>**<span style="color: #000000">Run CLI Actions</span>**<span style="color: #000000"> app for integrated capabilities like JIRA workflow actions, Confluence macros, Bamboo tasks, or similar product capabilities available with these apps.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>	 Where do I find a CLI Connector on the Marketplace ?</summary>

<span style="color: #000000">Each of the following product specific </span>**<span style="color: #000000">Command Line Interface (CLI)</span>**<span style="color: #000000"> Marketplace entries represent respective CLI Connectors (UPM installable). The links are provided as under:</span>

- [JIRA Command Line Interface (CLI)](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/org.swift.jira.cli)
- [Confluence Command Line Interface (CLI)](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/org.swift.confluence.cli)
- [Bitbucket Command Line Interface (CLI)](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/org.swift.stash.cli)
- [HipChat Command Line Interface (CLI)](https://bobswift.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/HCLI)
- [Bamboo Command Line Interface (CLI)](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/org.swift.bamboo.cli)
- [Crucible Command Line Interface (CLI)](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/org.swift.crucible.cli)
- [FishEye Command Line Interface (CLI)](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/org.swift.fisheye.cli)

<span style="color: #000000">The following clients do not need a connector:</span>

- [UPM Command Line Interface (CLI)](https://bobswift.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/UPMCLI)
</details>

<details>
<summary>Where do I find CLI Client on the Marketplace ?</summary>

[Atlassian Command Line Interface (CLI)](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/org.swift.atlassian.cli)<span style="color: #333333"> </span><span style="color: #000000">provides a client distribution that contains all product specific clients. It is included at no charge with any of the CLI Connectors.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>How does CLI Client access Atlassian applications ?</summary>

<span style="color: #000000">The CLI client uses request/response protocol built on REST API calls provided by Atlassian. It performs remote actions against your Atlassian applications.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>What permissions does CLI Client require ?</summary>

<span style="color: #000000">Nothing specific to the app. The users standard Atlassian application permissions to determine what the user can or cannot do, just like any other instance access via REST APIs or the user interface.</span>  
<span style="color: #000000">Our app honors the permissions provided by the host app, and, if the user does not have specific permission, the user is not allowed to perform the action using CLI client.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>How is a CLI Client user authenticated ?</summary>

<span style="color: #000000">The CLI Client authentication is different for Cloud and Server versions of Confluence. For Server, authentication is based on the username and password provided when running the command from the CLI Client or distribution. For Cloud, authentication is based on the username as email ID and password as API token. For additional information on authentication, refer to</span><span style="color: #172b4d"> </span>[this document](https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ACLI/pages/60563795/Authentication)<span style="color: #172b4d">.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>Are there any risks in using the CLI app ?</summary>

<span style="color: #000000">The risks in using this app are no different from performing the same operations via the Atlassian application user interface. CLI has just those capabilities that Atlassian provided API offers. That said, as with any automation tool, we encourage our customers to carefully test their CLI actions in test environments whenever possible. We also suggest using the </span>*<span style="color: #000000">simulate</span>*<span style="color: #000000"> option, to understand in detail what a given command does, before using it in a live environment.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>Can this app be misused beyond the application permission given to users ?</summary>

<span style="color: #000000">No. The CLI can perform only those operations that are permitted to be executed </span><span style="color: #000000">via the Atlassian application's user interface. </span><span style="color: #000000">So, while it cannot be misused, it is very powerful; thus, must be used with caution and after thorough testing.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>What can be done if the above happens ?</summary>

<span style="color: #000000">The recourse or rollback options are identical to those in the user interface. Some options to consider are making backups of data that is expected to change, or, making a plan to revert the changes via CLI. For example, if CLI is used to create new users in bulk, a CLI command must be ready to be used to remove or disable those users, if the results are unexpected.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>What do customers like in this app ?</summary>

<span style="color: #000000">Our customers use the CLI to automate tedious and repetitive tasks so that they can spend their time on more productive work. Our customers daily save many work hours with this app. Some operations in the Atlassian User Interface, that require many clicks and many screens, can be performed using minimal commands with this app.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>Is this app easy to learn ?</summary>

<span style="color: #000000">The CLI is a very powerful tool. For example, it has over 200 actions available for Confluence. This can sometimes be a challenging learning curve till one understands the consistent patterns in commands. Once that is understood well, it becomes easier to create CLI commands.</span>
</details>

<details>
<summary>What support platforms are available for the CLI app ?</summary>

<span style="color: #000000">The Appfire support team actively monitors the</span><span style="color: #172b4d"> </span>[Atlassian Community](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?advanced=false&allow_punctuation=false&q=jira+cli)<span style="color: #172b4d"> </span><span style="color: #000000">and our own</span><span style="color: #172b4d"> </span>[CLI Questions forum](https://bobswift.atlassian.net/wiki/plugins/servlet/ac/com.atlassian.confluence.plugins.confluence-questions/globalQuestionsViewer?ac.com.atlassian.confluence.plugins.confluence-questions.path=/topics/atlassian-command-line-interface-add-on)<span style="color: #172b4d"> </span><span style="color: #000000">to guide new users. We respond quickly and thoroughly to all</span><span style="color: #172b4d"> </span>[support questions](https://bobswift.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/info/pages/18284666/Help)<span style="color: #172b4d"> </span><span style="color: #000000">as well.</span>
</details>