Actionbox CLI

Actionbox is input() for software that cannot wait at the terminal. The CLI lets scripts, CI jobs, scheduled tasks, and AI agents ask a human for a decision and continue when the answer arrives.

Install

Install the platform-specific CLI wrapper from PyPI:

python -m pip install actionbox

The standalone shell, PowerShell, Homebrew, and direct-download paths are not public installation options yet.

Get started

Create a Source in the Actionbox dashboard, then configure the CLI with its API key:

actionbox configure
actionbox doctor
actionbox ask "Deploy to production?" --option approve --option reject --wait

The waiting command exits after the Action is resolved. Stopping it with Ctrl+C only stops local polling; the Action remains open in Actionbox.

In recognized GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, and CircleCI environments, the CLI adds bounded origin metadata such as the workflow reference, repository or branch labels, and build URL. Use --no-origin when that context should not be sent with an Action.

Paid plans can attach secondary operations with --controls-json. Callback controls require --callback-url. ActionBox delivers a signed request to that URL, and your integration decides how to execute it.

actionbox send "Worker failed" \
  --callback-url https://example.com/actionbox \
  --controls-json '[{"key":"retry","label":"Retry worker","kind":"callback"}]'

Scheduled-job monitoring

Create and manage heartbeat Watches from the CLI, or wrap an existing command so Actionbox receives start, success, and failure signals:

actionbox watch list
export ACTIONBOX_WATCH_URL="https://api.actionbox.cloud/hb/..."
actionbox run -- ./backup.sh

Keep Source API keys and Watch URLs in a secret manager or protected CI environment. Supplying the Watch URL through ACTIONBOX_WATCH_URL keeps it out of the Actionbox process arguments. Do not embed capabilities in browser code, logs, or source control.

Documentation

• Actionbox documentation
• Actionbox website

License

MIT.