bo-cli

Command-line interface for the Business Online platform.

Communicates with Business Online via MCP servers (JSON-RPC 2.0 over Streamable HTTP) or directly via the REST API to manage companies, contacts, leads, projects, NCRs, timelines, and QCPs.

Installation

Requires Node.js 18 or later.

From npm (recommended):

npm install -g businessonline-cli

From GitHub:

npm install -g github:iQubeS/bo-cli

From source:

git clone https://github.com/iQubeS/bo-cli.git
cd bo-cli
npm install
npm run build
npm link

Updating

bo update               # Update from npm (recommended)
bo update --from github # Update from GitHub (latest main branch)

Or manually:

npm install -g businessonline-cli    # From npm
npm install -g github:iQubeS/bo-cli  # From GitHub

Setup

bo config set --interactive

This prompts for your environment name, backend mode (MCP or REST), and credentials.

MCP Mode (default)

Connects to four MCP servers (Customer, Leads, Projects, NCR). Two auth methods are supported per environment:

OAuth (recommended for interactive use) — device code flow against the upstream Entra tenant. Refresh-token backed. No redirect URI management, no loopback server, no per-tenant URI registration:

bo auth login                    # sign in to all 4 servers
bo auth login --server customer  # just one
bo auth status                   # show per-server sign-in state
bo auth logout [--all]           # clear stored tokens

Enable OAuth by adding "auth": { "method": "oauth" } to the environment in ~/.bo-cli/config.json. The CLI discovers the upstream Entra tenant and client ID from each MCP server's .well-known/oauth-protected-resource metadata at runtime — nothing to configure by hand.

Per-tenant Entra prerequisite: each of the 4 app registrations used by the MCP servers must have "Allow public client flows" enabled (Azure Portal → App registration → Authentication → Advanced settings). One checkbox per app registration. No redirect URIs to coordinate.

Sign-in UX: bo auth login prints a URL and a short code. Visit the URL in any browser, enter the code, and complete sign-in. The CLI polls the token endpoint and exits when tokens arrive. This is the same pattern as az login, gh auth login, and kubectl oidc-login.

Bearer token (for CI / service accounts) — set auth.method: "bearer" (or omit the auth block) and:

export BO_CLI_ENV=production
export BO_CLI_TOKEN=your-bearer-token

BO_CLI_TOKEN always forces bearer mode for that invocation, even when the config is set to OAuth — useful as a CI escape hatch.

REST API Mode

Connects directly to the Business Online REST API. Requires an API key, tenant name, and API version.

export BO_CLI_ENV=production
export BO_CLI_API_KEY=your-api-key

Configuration is stored at ~/.bo-cli/config.json.

Verify your setup:

bo status        # Shows connection status and mode
bo config test   # Tests connectivity

Shell Completions

bo autocomplete bash         # Bash
bo autocomplete zsh          # Zsh
bo autocomplete powershell   # PowerShell

Commands

Companies

Contacts

Leads

Projects

NCR (Non-Conformance Reports)

Timeline (cross-module)

Module can be company, lead, or project.

QCP (Quality Control Plans, cross-module)

Configuration

Enum Configuration (REST mode)

In REST API mode, enum values (status options, activity types, etc.) are configured locally rather than loaded from the server.

Common Flags

Note: --debug output may include request/response data. Avoid using in environments where console output is logged or shared.

Examples

# List companies as a table
bo companies list

# Search leads and output as JSON
bo leads list --search "Acme" --json

# Create a contact interactively
bo contacts create --interactive

# Preview what a project update would do
bo projects update proj-123 --name "New Name" --preview

# Get a company with debug output
bo companies get comp-456 --debug

# List timeline events for a lead
bo timeline list lead lead-789

# Show valid enum values for leads
bo config enums --category leads

# Paginate through NCRs
bo ncr list --limit 10 --offset 20 --sort -createdDate

Development

npm run build        # Compile TypeScript + generate oclif manifest
npm test             # Run tests (vitest)
npm run lint         # Type-check (tsc --noEmit)

Run a single test:

npx vitest run test/formatters.test.ts

Architecture

src/
  base-command.ts           # BaseCommand with MCP connection, error handling, debug
  commands/                 # oclif commands organized by module
    companies/              # list, get, create, update, types
    contacts/               # list, get, create, update
    leads/                  # list, get, create, update, dashboard, types, meddic
    projects/               # list, get, create, update, dashboard, types, departments
    ncr/                    # list, get, create, update
    timeline/               # list, get, create, update (cross-module)
    qcp/                    # list, get (cross-module)
    config/                 # set, show, test, enums
    cache.ts, status.ts, update.ts
  mcp/
    client.ts               # McpClient wrapping @modelcontextprotocol/sdk
    connection-manager.ts   # Singleton managing 4 server connections
  config/index.ts           # Config loading/saving (~/.bo-cli/config.json)
  enums/                    # Server-fetched enum values with static fallbacks
  errors.ts                 # Typed errors (Auth, Connection, Server, Validation)
  formatters/               # Table, JSON, CSV output + MCP response unwrapping
  utils/                    # Cache manager, interactive prompts

The CLI connects to four MCP servers: Customer (companies + contacts), Leads, Projects, and NCR. Each command calls this.withConnection(serverName, fn) which handles config loading, connection, enum loading, execution, and disconnect.

Backend Abstraction

The CLI uses a BackendClient interface with two implementations:

• MCP mode (McpBackendClient): Connects to four MCP servers via Streamable HTTP
• REST mode (RestBackendClient): Calls the REST API directly via HttpClient

Commands use this.withConnection(serverName, fn) which automatically selects the right backend based on configuration. The OperationRouter maps MCP tool names to REST API endpoints with parameter name translation.

src/
  backend/
    types.ts                # BackendClient interface
    mcp-factory.ts          # MCP backend factory
    mcp-backend.ts          # MCP implementation
    rest-factory.ts         # REST backend factory
  rest/
    http-client.ts          # HTTP client with retry, rate limiting, pagination
    rest-client.ts          # REST implementation of BackendClient
    operation-router.ts     # Maps MCP operations → REST endpoints

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Business Online AS. All rights reserved. See LICENSE.

Contact

Business Online AS