clay) is JSON-first: every command writes machine-readable JSON to stdout on success and a structured error envelope to stderr on failure. There are no spinners, colors, or progress bars, so agents and scripts can branch on the output and exit code directly.
Output contract
Pipe stdout straight into
jq, and read the exit code ($?) to decide what to do next.
Exit codes
Branch on these from agents and scripts instead of parsing error text.Environment variables
Authentication
clay login opens a browser to authorize the CLI with OAuth — this works from a human terminal or an agent’s shell tool. Use clay whoami as the canonical check that authentication is working, and clay logout to clear a stored credential.
On machines where a local browser can’t open — SSH sessions, containers, headless machines — use clay login --device instead. It prints a link and a short code; open the link in a browser on any device to approve the sign-in, and the CLI completes automatically. Run clay login --help for details.