CLI Usage Guide - Devly CLI Documentation

Basic Syntax

The basic syntax for Devly CLI is:

          
          Syntax
        
          devly [flags] <tool> [input]

Where:

[flags] -- Optional flags like --path, --export, --timeout, --set
<tool> -- The tool name (e.g., base64, jsonformat, hash)
[input] -- The input string to process (optional if using stdin or --path)

Command Options

Flag	Short	Description
--path	-f	Read input directly from a file. Recommended for large files as the app reads the file itself without copying through shared storage.
--export	-o	Write output to a file instead of printing to terminal. Useful for large outputs.
--timeout	-t	Override the auto-selected timeout in seconds. Maximum is 300 seconds (5 minutes).
--list	-l	Show all available tools grouped by category.
--version	-v	Show the current version.
--help	-h	Show help information.
--set	-s	Override a tool option using `key=value` format. Can be specified multiple times. See --set examples below.

--set Flag

The --set flag (short: -s) overrides a tool's default options from the command line using key=value format. This lets you control tool behaviour without opening the app.

          
          Terminal
          
          # jsonpath — pass the path expression (pipe provides the JSON)
curl -s https://dummyjson.com/users/1 | devly jsonpath --set path=$.firstName

# jsonpath — with --path for the JSON file
devly jsonpath --path data.json --set path=$.address.city

# hmac — provide the secret key as an option
echo "my message" | devly hmac --set secretKey=mysecret

# Multiple --set flags at once
devly jsonformat --path data.json --set sortKeys=true --set indent=4

jsonpath shorthand

For jsonpath, you can pass the path expression as a positional argument instead of using --set path=. Both of these are equivalent:

curl -s https://dummyjson.com/users/1 | devly jsonpath '$.firstName'
curl -s https://dummyjson.com/users/1 | devly jsonpath --set path=$.firstName

Input Methods

Devly CLI supports multiple ways to provide input:

1. Direct Argument

Pass the input directly as an argument:

          
          Terminal
        
          devly base64 "Hello World"
# Output: SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ=

devly jwt "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9..."

2. Pipe from stdin

Pipe output from another command:

          
          Terminal
        
          echo '{"name":"John","age":30}' | devly jsonformat

cat response.json | devly jsonformat

curl -s api.example.com/data | devly jsonformat

3. Redirect from file

Redirect file contents as input:

          
          Terminal
        
          devly jsonformat < data.json

devly yamlformat < config.yaml

4. Read from file (--path)

The recommended method for large files. The app reads the file directly:

          
          Terminal
        
          devly jsonformat --path /path/to/large-file.json

devly json2yaml -f config.json

Use --path for large files

When processing files larger than a few KB, using --path is more efficient because it avoids copying data through shared storage.

Output Options

Print to terminal (default)

By default, output is printed to stdout:

          
          Terminal
        
          devly base64 "Hello"
SGVsbG8=

Export to file (--export)

Save output directly to a file:

          
          Terminal
        
          # Format JSON and save to file
devly jsonformat --path data.json --export formatted.json

# Convert JSON to YAML and save
devly json2yaml --path config.json --export config.yaml

# Short form
devly jsonformat -f data.json -o pretty.json

Pipe to another command

Chain Devly with other tools:

          
          Terminal
        
          # Format JSON and pipe to less for paging
devly jsonformat --path large.json | less

# Format JSON and copy to clipboard
devly jsonformat --path data.json | pbcopy

# Chain multiple operations
cat data.json | devly jsonformat | grep "name"

Timeouts

Devly CLI automatically selects an appropriate timeout based on input size:

Input Size	Auto Timeout
< 512 KB	30 seconds
< 5 MB	60 seconds
< 50 MB	120 seconds
≥ 50 MB	180 seconds

You can override this with --timeout:

          
          Terminal
        
          # Set a 5-minute timeout for a complex operation
devly jsonformat --path huge.json --timeout 300

# Short form
devly json2yaml -f big.json -t 180

Maximum timeout is 300 seconds

The maximum allowed timeout is 5 minutes (300 seconds). If your operation needs more time, consider breaking it into smaller chunks.

Resource Limits

Devly CLI limits memory usage to 30% of your system RAM. This protects your system from running out of memory when processing large files.

Some tools (like json2yaml) can expand input significantly in memory -- up to 20x for complex conversions. Devly estimates memory usage upfront and will reject jobs that would exceed the limit before any processing begins.

          
          Example: Resource limit rejection
        
          devly json2yaml --path massive.json

# Error: Input too large. Estimated memory usage (4.2 GB)
# exceeds the 30% system limit (2.4 GB).

Common Examples

Encoding & Decoding

          
          Terminal
        
          # Base64 encode
devly base64 "Hello World"

# Base64 decode (input is already encoded)
devly base64 "SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ="

# URL encode
devly urlencode "Hello World & Goodbye"

# JWT decode
devly jwt "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIs..."

Formatting

          
          Terminal
        
          # Format JSON from clipboard
pbpaste | devly jsonformat | pbcopy

# Format a JSON file in place
devly jsonformat --path data.json --export data.json

# Format SQL
devly sqlformat "SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = 1"

# Format YAML
devly yamlformat --path config.yaml

Hashing

          
          Terminal
        
          # Generate hash (shows all algorithms)
devly hash "password123"

# Generate UUID
devly uuid

# Generate random string
devly randomstring

Conversions

          
          Terminal
        
          # JSON to YAML
devly json2yaml --path config.json --export config.yaml

# XML to JSON
devly xml2json --path data.xml

# CSV to JSON
devly csv2json --path data.csv --export data.json