a3ip CLI

Pronounced "ay-trip"

Command-line tool for creating, validating, and bundling A3IP packages.

Install

pip install a3ip

Optional: install with YAML support for faster, more reliable manifest parsing:

pip install "a3ip[yaml]"

Commands

a3ip new <name>

Scaffold a new package that passes a3ip validate on the first run.

a3ip new my-workflow

Creates my-workflow/ with:

my-workflow/
├── manifest.yaml          ← package metadata, permissions, components
├── CONFIGURE.md           ← questions to ask the user at install time
├── INSTALL.md             ← step-by-step install guide for the AI
├── README.md              ← human-facing description
├── components/
│   └── skills/
│       └── my-workflow.md ← the main skill file
└── scripts/               ← Python/PowerShell automation scripts go here

a3ip validate <package_dir>

Run 9 normative checks against the A3IP spec.

a3ip validate my-workflow/

Validating: my-workflow/

Check 1 (config coverage):     0 error(s)  0 warning(s)
Check 2 (script existence):    0 error(s)  0 warning(s)
...
Check 9 (trust→plan section):  0 error(s)  0 warning(s)

✓ Validation passed — no errors or warnings.

Exit code 0 if clean, 1 if any errors. Warnings don't affect the exit code.

Add --json to get a machine-readable report alongside the human output.

a3ip bundle <package_dir>

Build a .a3ip.bundle file ready to distribute.

a3ip bundle my-workflow/
# → my-workflow.a3ip.bundle

The bundle is a plain-text file containing every package file. Drop it into a conversation with any A3IP-compatible AI and ask it to install.

To include the spec for recipients who may not know A3IP:

a3ip bundle my-workflow/ --spec path/to/A3IP-SPEC-v1.5.md

Full example

pip install "a3ip[yaml]"

a3ip new code-review-flow
cd code-review-flow
# ... edit manifest.yaml, INSTALL.md, skills/ ...
a3ip validate .
a3ip bundle .
# → ../code-review-flow.a3ip.bundle

Links

• Specification: a3ip.dev — github.com/a3ip-standard/spec
• Example packages: github.com/a3ip-standard/packages
• PyPI: pypi.org/project/a3ip

License

Apache 2.0 — use freely in commercial and open source projects. Includes explicit patent grant.

A3IP CLI v1.0.0 · © 2026 Maksym Prydorozhko