---
title: "Direct API Access and Generic Commands"
canonical: "https://test.abhinandan.one/cli-overview/cli-generic-api-access"
markdown_url: "https://test.abhinandan.one/cli-overview/cli-generic-api-access.md"
publisher: "Primitive SDKs"
kind: "reference"
content_type: "reference"
category: "CLI"
parent: "cli-overview"
description: "Every generated Primitive API operation is callable from the primitive CLI as tag:operation-id, with list-operations and describe for discovery."
keywords: ["primitive list-operations", "primitive emails:list-emails", "primitive describe", "api-command", "generated API commands", "operation manifest CLI"]
last_modified: "2026-08-11T18:54:56.943731+00:00"
published_at: "2026-08-11T18:54:56.784969+00:00"
source_files:
  - "cli-node/src/oclif/commands/agent-upgrade.ts"
sections:
  - {anchor: "generic-operation-commands", title: "Generic operation commands"}
  - {anchor: "listing-every-operation", title: "Listing every operation"}
  - {anchor: "describing-an-operation", title: "Describing an operation"}
  - {anchor: "api-client-plumbing", title: "api-client plumbing"}
  - {anchor: "shell-completion-and-endpoint-test-redirects", title: "Shell completion and endpoint test redirects"}
  - {anchor: "next-steps", title: "Next steps"}
---

> Documentation index: https://test.abhinandan.one/llms.txt

# Direct API Access and Generic Commands

Call any generated Primitive API operation directly from the CLI without waiting for a dedicated task-oriented command, and explore the full operation manifest with list-operations, describe, and completion helpers.

The `primitive` CLI exposes every operation in the [operation manifest](https://test.abhinandan.one/operation-manifest.md) as a generic command, in addition to the task-oriented commands (`primitive send`, `primitive functions deploy`, and so on) documented elsewhere. Use the generic form when a task-oriented command doesn't exist yet, or when you need full schema parity with the underlying OpenAPI operation.

## Generic operation commands

Every generated operation is callable directly as `tag:command`, where the command name is the kebab-cased operation id from the manifest:

```bash
primitive emails:list-emails
primitive sending:reply-to-email
```

Reach for the task-oriented commands (`primitive send`, `primitive reply`, `primitive memories`, `primitive routes`) for normal workflows. The generic `tag:operation-id` form stays available for compatibility and full schema parity, and exposes every field the OpenAPI schema declares rather than a curated subset:

```bash
primitive send --to alice@example.com --body "Hello"
```

## Listing every operation

`primitive list-operations` prints the full [operation manifest](https://test.abhinandan.one/operation-manifest.md) as JSON: every operation's command name, HTTP method, path, parameters, and inlined request/response JSON Schemas.

```bash
primitive list-operations
```

Pipe it through `jq` to inspect a single operation's shape without probing the server with malformed payloads:

```bash
primitive list-operations | jq '.[] | select(.command == "send-email")'
primitive list-operations | jq '.[] | select(.command == "send-email") | .requestSchema'
```

This is the same manifest data the CLI's generic `api-command` path and `describe` helper read from; `list-operations` is the raw dump for scripting and agent tooling.

## Describing an operation

`primitive describe` prints one operation's manifest entry, by command name: method, path, parameters, and the inlined request/response schemas. Use it instead of `list-operations | jq` when you already know which operation you want:

```bash
primitive describe send-email
```

The response schema is derived from the operation's 200/201 envelope with the `data` field peeled off, so what's printed is the shape you actually get back, not the full `{ success, data, meta }` envelope.

## api-client plumbing

Every command, generic or task-oriented, builds its request client with `createAuthenticatedCliApiClient`, a wrapper over the shared [PrimitiveApiClient](https://test.abhinandan.one/primitive-api-client.md) from `@primitivedotdev/api-core`. It resolves the API key (the `--api-key` flag, `PRIMITIVE_API_KEY`, or saved OAuth login credentials) and the base URL, then hands back an authenticated client that each command passes to a specific generated operation function.

Errors from any generated operation call go through a shared error-payload extractor (`extractErrorPayload`) and a shared printer (`writeErrorWithHints`), so the error code, message, gates, and request id read the same whether you called a task-oriented command or a bare `tag:operation-id` command. A 401 additionally triggers an unauthorized hint pointing at re-authentication.

## Shell completion and endpoint test redirects

Bash/zsh/powershell/fish completion setup and the internal `endpoints-test-redirect` helper (exercised by `primitive routes-test` and `primitive functions-test-function`) are covered on [Shell Completion and Endpoint Test Redirects](https://test.abhinandan.one/cli-completion-and-utilities.md).