Announcing the Raytha CLI

The Raytha CLI is out. raytha is a single binary that manages a whole Raytha site through the REST API: themes, content types, content, site pages, menus, media and functions. Every command prints one JSON document, and the tool was built so an AI agent can build a website from a brief.

Version 0.1.0 shipped on October 2, 2026. It is MIT licensed, like Raytha, and it talks to Raytha 2.0. The source and releases are at github.com/RaythaHQ/raytha-cli.

Install

Linux and macOS:

curl -fsSL https://raytha.com/cli/install.sh | sh

Windows, in PowerShell:

irm https://raytha.com/cli/install.ps1 | iex

The script downloads the build for your operating system and CPU, checks its SHA-256 against the release, and installs one binary to ~/.local/bin (or %LOCALAPPDATA%\raytha\bin on Windows). Run it again to upgrade. Then point it at a site:

export RAYTHA_URL=https://your-site.example.com
export RAYTHA_API_KEY=your-key
raytha doctor

The key is an administrator's API key, created in the admin under Admins. It has that administrator's permissions and nothing more. raytha doctor reports whether the site answers, whether the key is accepted, and which groups of commands it may use. Nothing is written to disk.

What you can do with it

A theme becomes a directory of files. Pull the default theme, edit the Liquid, and push it back. --dry-run parses every template on the server first and reports what would change, with a line and column for syntax errors.

raytha theme pull raytha_default_theme ./site
raytha theme push ./site --dry-run
raytha theme push ./site --activate

The same shape covers the rest of the site. Create content types and fields, import items from a JSON file, build site pages out of widgets, and edit menus and functions. Edits are partial: flags you leave out keep their current value. Deletes require --yes.

The manual ships inside the binary, so it matches the version you installed. raytha guide lists the topics and raytha guide build-a-site is the end-to-end recipe. When you are done, raytha check requests every public route and exits non-zero if any fail.

Output is always one JSON document, {"ok":true,"data":...} or {"ok":false,"error":{"code","message","hint"}}. Exit codes are stable: 2 for usage, 3 for auth or a missing permission, 4 for not found, 5 for validation, 6 for the server or the network.

Hand it to an agent

This is the part the tool was designed for. Install the CLI where your agent runs, give it RAYTHA_URL and RAYTHA_API_KEY, and tell it to read raytha guide build-a-site before it touches anything. Then describe the site the way you would brief a contractor: who it is for, what it contains, and what done looks like.

Cursor, Claude Code, Codex and anything else that can run a shell all work. There is no plugin. The repository ships a short skill file for tools that read Agent Skills, and the same five rules fit in an AGENTS.md. On a missing permission the CLI names it and tells the agent to stop.

Two complete sites were built this way on an empty install, and every command is in the repository: Aurora Observatory and Kiln & Kettle. Kiln & Kettle is a pottery studio and tea room with five content types, 63 items, 19 widgets and six pages.

The API key is the boundary. Scope the administrator's role to the task, do the first run against a fresh site or a duplicated theme, and review the result. The theme lands in a directory you can keep in git, and every write is in the audit log.

Where to read more

• The CLI page, with the install command and a walkthrough.
• CLI overview: install, connect, output contract.
• Build a site with an AI agent: the setup, a sample prompt, and how to review the result.
• Command reference.
• Release v0.1.0 on GitHub.