vexy-lines-cli 1.0.22

CLI tool and MCP passthrough server for Vexy Lines

vexy-lines-cli

Command-line interface and MCP passthrough server for Vexy Lines — the macOS vector art app.

Parse .lines files, batch export to PDF/SVG, apply styles to images and video, and connect Claude Desktop or Cursor directly to the Vexy Lines MCP API.

Install

pip install vexy-lines-cli

Requires Python 3.11+. Pulls in vexy-lines-apy (MCP client, style engine) and vexy-lines-py (parser) automatically.

For video processing and the GUI: pip install vexy-lines-run (all dependencies are included).

Quick start

# Inspect a file without opening the app
vexy-lines-cli info artwork.lines

# Show the layer/group/fill tree
vexy-lines-cli file-tree artwork.lines

# Export a folder of .lines files to PDF (auto-launches the app)
vexy-lines-cli export ./my-art/ --format pdf

# Apply a style template to a folder of photos
vexy-lines-cli style-transfer --style template.lines --input-dir ./photos/ --output-dir ./out/

# Check MCP connectivity
vexy-lines-cli mcp-status

Subcommand reference

Parser — no app required

Command	What it does
info <file>	Show caption, DPI, dimensions, layer/fill counts
file-tree <file>	Print the layer/group/fill hierarchy
extract-source <file>	Save the embedded source image to disk
extract-preview <file>	Save the embedded preview image to disk
batch-convert	Extract preview or source images from a directory of .lines files

All parser commands accept --json-output for machine-readable output.

vexy-lines-cli info artwork.lines --json-output
vexy-lines-cli batch-convert --input-dir ./art/ --output-dir ./thumbs/ --what preview --format jpg

Export — auto-launches app

Uses dialog-less export: injects settings into macOS preferences, triggers File > Export, then restores original prefs. Input can be a single file or a directory.

vexy-lines-cli export ./art/ --format svg --output ./svg-out/
vexy-lines-cli export artwork.lines --format pdf --dry-run   # preview without exporting
vexy-lines-cli export ./art/ --force --timeout-multiplier 2

Options: --format (pdf/svg), --force, --dry-run, --timeout-multiplier (0.1–10.0), --max-retries (0–10), --say-summary.

Style — app must be running

# Single style across all images
vexy-lines-cli style-transfer --style look.lines --input-dir ./frames/ --format svg

# Interpolate between two styles across the sequence
vexy-lines-cli style-transfer --style start.lines --end-style end.lines \
    --input-dir ./frames/ --output-dir ./out/

# Apply style to video
vexy-lines-cli style-video --style look.lines --input clip.mp4 --output result.mp4

# Resume an interrupted video job (automatic — just re-run the same command)
vexy-lines-cli style-video --style look.lines --input clip.mp4 --output result.mp4

# Force restart (discard cached frames)
vexy-lines-cli style-video --style look.lines --input clip.mp4 --output result.mp4 --force

# Auto-clean job folder after completion
vexy-lines-cli style-transfer --style look.lines --input-dir ./frames/ --cleanup

All style commands create a job folder ({output}-vljob/) that stores intermediate .lines, .svg, and raster files. If the process is interrupted, re-running the same command skips already-completed items. Use --force to start fresh or --cleanup to remove the job folder after completion.

MCP — app must be running

Direct JSON-RPC calls to the Vexy Lines embedded server (localhost:47384).

Command	What it does
mcp-status	Check if the MCP server is reachable
tree	Print the live document layer tree
new-document	Create a new document
open <file>	Open a .lines file
add-fill <layer-id> <fill-type>	Add a fill to a layer
render	Trigger a full render

vexy-lines-cli mcp-status
vexy-lines-cli tree --json-output
vexy-lines-cli new-document --width 210 --height 297 --dpi 300
vexy-lines-cli add-fill 42 linear --color "#ff0000"

All MCP commands accept --host and --port (defaults: 127.0.0.1:47384).

MCP bridge

Command	What it does
mcp-serve	Start the stdio-to-TCP bridge (same as running vexy-lines-mcp)

MCP server setup

vexy-lines-mcp bridges Claude Desktop and Cursor to the Vexy Lines TCP server. It reads newline-delimited JSON-RPC from stdin, forwards over TCP, and writes responses to stdout.

Add to your Claude Desktop config (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vexy-lines": {
      "command": "vexy-lines-mcp"
    }
  }
}

For Cursor, add the same block under mcp.servers in .cursor/mcp.json.

The bridge auto-launches the Vexy Lines app on first connection. Pass --no-launch to disable:

vexy-lines-cli mcp-serve --no-launch
vexy-lines-cli mcp-serve --host 127.0.0.1 --port 47384

Full documentation

Read the docs for the complete CLI reference, export pipeline internals, and more examples.

License

MIT