> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.unitlab.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.unitlab.ai/api-sdk-cli/clis/cli-overview-and-output-modes.md).

# CLI overview and output modes

{% hint style="info" %}
**Outcome:** Navigate the command tree and choose concise human output or JSON output.
{% endhint %}

```
unitlab configure
unitlab project ...
unitlab batch-queue ...
unitlab assets ...
unitlab folders ...
unitlab dataset ...
unitlab workflow ...
unitlab release ...
unitlab ontology ...
unitlab cloud ...
unitlab embeddings ...
```

Use `unitlab <group> --help` and `unitlab <group> <command> --help` for the exact options installed with the pinned version. Most resource commands accept `--json`; use it for scripts and CI. Human output is intentionally concise.

### Operating contract

| Concern           | Required behavior                                                           |
| ----------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Execution surface | Pinned `unitlab==3.0.0` command in the intended Python 3.10+ environment.   |
| Machine contract  | Use `--json`; human-readable output is not an automation interface.         |
| Target resolution | Resolve stable IDs with a read command before a state-changing command.     |
| Success evidence  | Exit status, JSON result, returned IDs, and a read-after-write state check. |

### Failure and recovery boundary

| Condition                                       | Response                                                                                                     |
| ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Authentication or authorization fails           | Stop, correct the service identity or access model, rotate exposed credentials, and rerun a read-only check. |
| Validation or entitlement rejects the operation | Correct the input or entitlement; do not retry an unchanged request.                                         |
| A request times out                             | Inspect remote state before repeating a mutation because the server may have accepted it.                    |
| Asynchronous processing exceeds its deadline    | Preserve the Batch Queue or release ID, continue bounded monitoring, and inspect item-level failures.        |
| Only part of a batch succeeds                   | Keep successful identifiers, isolate failed rows, and retry only the corrected subset.                       |

{% hint style="warning" %}
Pin and test the production SDK version. Use stable IDs, keep secrets out of logs and command history, and record the correlation ID, target IDs, counts, final state, and redacted error details for material state changes.
{% endhint %}