HPL CLI (Alpha) 🧭🦊

Status: Alpha
A modern, automation-safe CLI for The Human Pattern Lab.

HPL is the official command-line interface for The Human Pattern Lab.

Formerly developed under the codename Skulk, HPL is built to work just as well for humans at the keyboard as it does for automation, CI, and agent-driven workflows.

This package is in active alpha development. Interfaces are stabilizing, but expect iteration.

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What HPL Connects To

HPL is the CLI for the Human Pattern Lab API.

By default, it targets a Human Pattern Lab API instance. You can override the API endpoint with --base-url to use staging or a self-hosted deployment of the same API.

Note: --base-url is intended for alternate deployments of the Human Pattern Lab API, not arbitrary third-party APIs.

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Authentication

HPL supports token-based authentication via the SKULK_TOKEN environment variable.

export SKULK_TOKEN="your-api-token"

(Optional) Override the API endpoint:

export SKULK_BASE_URL="https://api.thehumanpatternlab.com"

SKULK_BASE_URL should point to the root of a Human Pattern Lab API deployment.
Do not include additional path segments.

Some API endpoints may require authentication depending on server configuration.

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Quick Start

Install (alpha)

npm install -g @thehumanpatternlab/hpl@alpha

Run a command

hpl notes sync --dir ./src/labnotes/en

For machine-readable output:

hpl --json notes sync

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Commands

hpl <domain> <action> [options]

notes

• hpl notes list
• hpl notes get <slug>
• hpl notes sync --dir <path>

health

hpl health

version

hpl version

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JSON Output Contract

Structured output is treated as a contract, not a courtesy.

npm run json:check

Fails if any non-JSON output appears on stdout.

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The Human Pattern Lab
https://thehumanpatternlab.com

The lantern is lit.
The foxes are watching.