CLI Reference

The openlinear command — launch the desktop app and manage GitHub authentication.

npm install -g openlinear

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Launch

openlinear [args...]

The launcher searches for the desktop binary in the following order:

Platform	Search paths
macOS	~/Applications/OpenLinear.app, ~/.openlinear/OpenLinear.app
Linux	~/.openlinear/openlinear, ~/.openlinear/openlinear.AppImage

On Linux, the launcher applies environment flags for X11/Wayland compatibility and passes all arguments through to the app.

If the binary is not found:

OpenLinear desktop app not found.

Install it from npm:
  npm install -g openlinear

Or download the latest desktop release:
  https://github.com/kaizen403/openlinear/releases/latest

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GitHub Commands

All GitHub auth commands use local-only flows. No hosted callback server is required.

Command	Description
openlinear github login	Authenticate with GitHub (auto-selects best method)
openlinear github login --browser	Force browser-based OAuth flow
openlinear github login --device	Force device flow (for headless environments)
openlinear github status	Show current auth status
openlinear github whoami	Display authenticated GitHub username
openlinear github logout	Remove stored credentials

See GitHub Authentication for detailed flow documentation.

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Post-Install Behavior

When you run npm install -g openlinear, the postinstall script runs automatically:

1. Platform detection

   Identifies macOS (Apple Silicon / Intel) or Linux x64.

2. Binary download

   Downloads the latest desktop release from GitHub Releases.

3. Installation

   • macOS: Places OpenLinear.app in ~/Applications/
   • Linux: Places the AppImage in ~/.openlinear/ and registers a .desktop entry at ~/.local/share/applications/openlinear.desktop

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Library API

The openlinear package also exports TypeScript utilities for programmatic use:

Entry point	Contents
openlinear	Re-exports everything below
openlinear/types	Zod schemas, validation functions for execution metadata
openlinear/validation	Payload sanitization and forbidden-field utilities
openlinear/config	Feature flag parsing and execution mode helpers

See Library Overview for full API documentation.