Apollo CLI

Terminal-first interface for managing tasks, releases, projects, knowledge base, notes, reminders, flashcards, and AI — from your terminal.

Overview

The Apollo CLI (apollo) brings your entire workspace to the terminal. Manage tasks, query releases, check project status, search the knowledge base, take notes, review flashcards, and chat with Apollo Brain — all without leaving your editor or terminal.

The CLI is designed for three audiences: developers who live in the terminal, scripts/CI that need structured output, and Claude Code as a skill for AI-assisted workflows.

Installation

npm

npm install -g @apollo/cli

From source

# Clone the repo and link locally
cd apollo/cli
npm install
npx tsc
npm install -g .

After installation, verify it works:

apollo --version

Quick Start

# 1. Authenticate
apollo login

# 2. See your tasks
apollo task mine

# 3. Mark a task as done
apollo task done "fix auth bug"

# 4. Search the knowledge base
apollo kb search "deployment" -p "Apollo"

# 5. Create a personal note
apollo note create -t "Meeting notes" --content "Key decisions: ..."

# 6. Check flashcards due for review
apollo flashcard due

# 7. Ask Apollo Brain a question
apollo ai "What tasks are blocked right now?"

# 8. Personal dashboard
apollo status

Authentication

The CLI uses a browser-based login flow (similar to gh auth login or aws sso login):

1. Start login

   Run apollo login. The CLI starts a temporary local server on localhost:9876.

2. Browser opens

   Your browser opens to apol.dev/cli-auth where you authenticate via your normal Apollo login.

3. Token stored

   After authentication, the token is saved to ~/.apollo/config.json. The local server shuts down automatically.

Token Management

Command	Description
apollo login	Authenticate via browser
apollo logout	Clear stored credentials
apollo whoami	Show current user and auth status

CI / Automation

For non-interactive environments (CI pipelines, Claude Code), set the APOLLO_TOKEN environment variable:

export APOLLO_TOKEN="your-supabase-jwt-token"
apollo task list --json

When APOLLO_TOKEN is set, the CLI skips all interactive prompts.

Global Flags

These flags work with every command:

--json          # Output raw JSON (for scripts and Claude Code)
--no-color      # Disable colored output

Output Modes

The CLI automatically adapts its output based on context:

Mode	When	Behavior
Pretty	Interactive terminal (TTY)	Colored tables, spinners, icons
Plain	Piped output (no TTY)	Clean text, no ANSI codes
JSON	--json flag	Raw structured data for parsing

Auto-detected via process.stdout.isTTY. You never need to configure this manually.

Fuzzy Name Resolution

Every command that accepts a resource reference supports multiple formats:

Input	Resolution
550e8400-...	Direct UUID pass-through
"Fix authentication bug"	Exact name match (case-insensitive)
"fix auth"	Fuzzy match — resolves if single clear match
"deploy"	Ambiguous — prompts you to pick from candidates
me	Special: resolves to the authenticated user (for --assignee)

When a fuzzy match is ambiguous, the CLI shows candidates:

Multiple matches for "deploy":
  1. Deploy staging environment
  2. Deploy monitoring stack
  3. Deploy CLI to npm

Select [1-3]:

In --json mode, ambiguous matches return an error with candidates instead of prompting.

Configuration

All CLI state lives in ~/.apollo/:

~/.apollo/
├── config.json     # Auth tokens, default project, preferences
└── cache/          # Resolver cache (auto-managed)

Command Groups

Task Commands

Create, update, assign, complete, and bulk-manage tasks

Releases & Projects

Manage releases, assign tasks to releases, and export projects

Epics

View epics, drill into releases and tasks, track initiative progress

Developer Workflow

Git-aware task start/stop, smart ranking, saved filters, dependency trees

Knowledge Base

Search, create, and manage KB pages and folders

Personal Space

Notes, reminders, and flashcards with spaced repetition

Apollo AI

Chat with Apollo Brain from your terminal

Claude Code Integration

Use Apollo CLI as a Claude Code skill