CLI quickstart

Configure the CLI, create a project, upload data, wait for processing, and emit JSON for automation.

Outcome: Configure the CLI, create a project, upload data, wait for processing, and emit JSON for automation.

unitlab configure --api-key YOUR_API_KEY
unitlab project create "Road review" --json
unitlab project list
unitlab project upload PROJECT_ID ./data --fps 2.0 --json
unitlab batch-queue wait PROJECT_ID BATCH_QUEUE_ID --json
unitlab project data-units PROJECT_ID --json

Use --json when another process will parse the result. Human output is concise and can change for readability; JSON output is the machine interface. A project upload exits non-zero on partial file failure, even when some files succeeded. Capture output and inspect the created Batch Queue before deciding whether to retry.

Every command group supports --help. Use the installed command’s help as the authoritative option list for the pinned SDK version.

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.

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.

---

Explore related Unitlab capabilities: enterprise data annotation workflows