> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tensormesh.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Production Scripting

> Use the Tensormesh CLI safely from CI, shell scripts, and operational automation.

This guide documents the CLI's actual scripting behavior today.

## Output Modes

Use machine-readable output whenever another program will parse the result:

```sh theme={null}
tm --output json version
tm --output json models list
tm --output json infer doctor
```

Available root output modes are:

* `text`: human-readable default
* `json`: structured scripting output
* `yaml`: structured scripting output
* `raw`: unmodified body/text when available, otherwise a compact one-line serialization of local command data
* `table`: human-readable tabular output

For automation, prefer `--output json`. `--output raw` is most useful when you explicitly want passthrough text from an upstream response.

Current caveat: `tm infer chat --stream`, `tm infer completions --stream`, and `tm infer responses --stream` only support `--output text`. For streaming automation, use the SDK or consume the upstream SSE endpoint directly.

## Readiness Checks And Exit Codes

For automation, use the readiness commands with `--exit-status`:

```sh theme={null}
tm auth status --exit-status
tm doctor --exit-status
tm infer doctor --exit-status
```

Use the surface-specific commands when you need strict gating for one workflow:

* `tm auth status --exit-status` for the local Control Plane token plus gateway credential prerequisites
* `tm infer doctor --exit-status` for direct gateway inference prerequisites
* `tm doctor --exit-status` for a stricter combined readiness check

Without `--exit-status`, those commands still print useful diagnostics, but they are not strict shell gates.

## Timeouts

Global request timeout:

```sh theme={null}
tm --timeout 20 models list
```

Environment default:

```sh theme={null}
export TENSORMESH_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=20
```

Streaming inference uses:

* `--timeout` for the connect timeout
* `--stream-idle-timeout` for idle SSE reads

Example:

```sh theme={null}
tm infer responses --model MiniMaxAI/MiniMax-M2.5 \
  --stream --stream-idle-timeout 60 \
  --json '{"input":"hi"}'
```

## Retries And Rate Limits

Global retry setting:

```sh theme={null}
tm --max-retries 2 models list
```

Environment default:

```sh theme={null}
export TENSORMESH_MAX_RETRIES=2
```

Current CLI behavior:

* only idempotent methods are retried automatically: `GET`, `HEAD`, `OPTIONS`, `PUT`, `DELETE`
* automatic retries happen for network failures and HTTP `429`, `500`, `502`, `503`, `504`
* when a retryable HTTP response includes `Retry-After`, the CLI waits for that server-provided delay before retrying, capped at `8s`
* otherwise backoff is exponential: `0.5s`, `1s`, `2s`, `4s`, `8s` max
* non-idempotent `POST` requests are not retried automatically

`tm infer chat` uses POST. Setting `--max-retries` has no effect on inference requests. `--max-retries` applies to management commands such as `tm models list` and `tm activities list`.

`Retry-After` may be either delta-seconds or an HTTP date; both are honored when present, up to the same `8s` maximum delay.

Operational advice:

* if the service is rate-limiting you, reduce concurrency before raising `--max-retries`
* remember that retries still stop at an `8s` maximum delay per attempt, even if the server asks for longer

## Pagination Patterns

Control Plane commands use the pagination shape exposed by each endpoint family.

Page/size style examples:

```sh theme={null}
tm --output json activities list --page 2 --size 50
tm --output json tickets list --status TICKET_STATUS_OPEN --page 1 --size 20
```

Page-token style example:

```sh theme={null}
tm --output json billing transactions list --page-size 25 --page-token "$NEXT_PAGE_TOKEN"
```

When you are scripting, prefer `--output json` and pass the next token or page values explicitly rather than scraping table output.

## Error Surface

The CLI distinguishes a few failure classes:

* usage/config errors: missing required args, invalid UUIDs, invalid timeout values
* HTTP errors: include `HTTP <status>` and may include `request_id`
* network errors: surfaced as connection or timeout failures

Example shell pattern:

```sh theme={null}
tm_auth_json="$(
  mktemp -t tm-auth.XXXXXX 2>/dev/null || \
  mktemp "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/tm-auth.XXXXXX"
)"
trap 'rm -f "$tm_auth_json"' EXIT

if ! tm --output json auth status --exit-status >"$tm_auth_json" 2>&1; then
  cat "$tm_auth_json"
  exit 1
fi
```

## Idempotency And Mutations

Mutation commands such as `create`, `deploy`, `upsert`, `message`, and `add` do not get automatic retries.

That is intentional: if you need retry logic around non-idempotent operations, add it in your wrapper with explicit safeguards around duplicate effects.

## What To Avoid

* do not parse `text` or `table` output in CI
* do not treat `tm auth status`, `tm doctor`, or `tm infer doctor` as strict health checks unless you add `--exit-status`
* do not assume `POST` mutations are retried for you
* do not set `--max-retries` so high that repeated retryable failures still create unacceptable CI wait time

## Headless And CI Authentication

For CI or remote environments where a browser cannot be opened:

```sh theme={null}
tm auth login --no-open-browser --max-wait-seconds 60
```

The default wait ceiling is 300 seconds. Lower it for CI jobs with tight timeouts. See the [Authentication Guide](/cli/guides/authentication) for the full token and refresh workflow.

## Related Reference

* [`tm`](/cli/reference)
* [`tm doctor`](/cli/reference/doctor)
* [`tm auth status`](/cli/reference/auth/status)
* [`tm auth login`](/cli/reference/auth/login)
* [`tm infer doctor`](/cli/reference/infer/doctor)
* [`tm infer chat`](/cli/reference/infer/chat)
* [`tm activities list`](/cli/reference/activities/list)
* [`tm billing transactions list`](/cli/reference/billing/transactions/list)