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Use the Para CLI with Claude, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, and other coding agents to manage project setup, API keys, and integration checks from the terminal.

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What You’ll Learn

  • How to give an agent a safe Para CLI workflow
  • Which CLI commands are useful for setup, key management, and diagnostics
  • How agents can inspect the command catalog instead of guessing command syntax
  • Which operations should require your approval before the agent runs them

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Start With CLI Context

Install and authenticate the CLI before asking an agent to configure Para:
Then let the agent inspect the machine-readable command catalog:
The catalog includes command paths, arguments, options, JSON support, interactivity, side effects, and examples. Agents should use it before running unfamiliar para commands.
For broader Para context, give your agent the or connect the .

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Prompt Claude or Codex

Use a prompt that gives the agent a clear boundary:
For a new Next.js app, ask for a full setup path:
For an existing app, ask the agent to inspect first:

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Common Agent Workflows

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Confirm Context

Use these commands before any mutation so the agent knows which organization, project, and key environment are active.

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Save Project Defaults

para init --yes writes .pararc for the current directory using the resolved org, project, and key environment. Commit .pararc only if your team wants shared project defaults, and never store secrets in it.

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Manage API Key Settings

Use category commands for focused changes. Most para keys config category commands can run interactively or with flags.

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Diagnose an Integration

Agents can use para doctor --json to identify missing env vars, framework-specific setup issues, API key mismatches, duplicate modal instances, package issues, and other integration problems.

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Use JSON Safely

Many commands support --json for agent and CI workflows. Some commands require enough non-interactive flags before JSON output is allowed:
Treat key rotation, key archival, project archival, migration apply, rollback apply, and CLI updates as approval-required operations. They can change live configuration or local files.

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Keep Secrets Out of Chat

  • Prefer para keys get --copy when you need the public API key locally.
  • Use para keys get --copy-secret only when you intentionally need the secret key.
  • Avoid pasting secret keys into an agent conversation.
  • Ask the agent to summarize configuration without printing full secrets.