cli-anything-inkscape

A stateful command-line interface for vector graphics editing, following the same patterns as the GIMP and Blender CLI harnesses. Directly manipulates SVG (XML) documents with a JSON project format for state tracking.

Installation

This CLI is installed as part of the cli-anything-inkscape package:

pip install cli-anything-inkscape

Prerequisites:

• Python 3.10+
• inkscape must be installed on your system

Usage

Basic Commands

# Show help
cli-anything-inkscape --help

# Start interactive REPL mode
cli-anything-inkscape

# Create a new document
cli-anything-inkscape document new -o project.json

# Run with JSON output (for agent consumption)
cli-anything-inkscape --json document info -p project.json

REPL Mode

When invoked without a subcommand, the CLI enters an interactive REPL session:

cli-anything-inkscape
# Enter commands interactively with tab-completion and history

You can also start the REPL with a nonexistent project path. The CLI now seeds a new in-memory document instead of failing immediately:

cli-anything-inkscape --project /abs/path/new-title.inkscape-cli.json

Command Groups

Document

Document management commands.

Shape

Shape management commands.

Text

Text management commands.

Style

Style management commands.

Transform

Transform operations (translate, rotate, scale, skew).

Layer

Layer management commands.

Path Group

Path boolean operations.

Gradient

Gradient management commands.

Export Group

Export/render commands.

Session

Session management commands.

Examples

Create a New Project

Create a new inkscape project file.

cli-anything-inkscape document new -o myproject.json
# Or with JSON output for programmatic use
cli-anything-inkscape --json document new -o myproject.json

Interactive REPL Session

Start an interactive session with undo/redo support.

cli-anything-inkscape
# Enter commands interactively
# Use 'help' to see available commands
# Use 'undo' and 'redo' for history navigation

Export Project

Export the project to a final output format.

cli-anything-inkscape --project myproject.json export pdf output.pdf --overwrite

Wrapped Text Layout

For title cards, chips, and portrait-safe panels, prefer wrapped text boxes instead of manually inserting line breaks:

cli-anything-inkscape --project title.json text add \
  --text "Real capture + Veo cold open + Gemini score + thumbnail plate" \
  --x 180 --y 470 --font-size 118 \
  --box-width 1180 --box-height 260 --line-height 1.05

cli-anything-inkscape --project title.json text set 0 box-width 980
cli-anything-inkscape --project title.json text set 0 line-height 1.15

Notes:

• box-width wraps long copy into multiple exported SVG tspan lines.
• box-height lets long copy fail safely instead of running off-canvas.
• Use wrapped text boxes for long-copy graphics before resorting to manual line breaking.

State Management

The CLI maintains session state with:

• Undo/Redo: Up to 50 levels of history
• Project persistence: Save/load project state as JSON
• Session tracking: Track modifications and changes

Output Formats

All commands support dual output modes:

• Human-readable (default): Tables, colors, formatted text
• Machine-readable (--json flag): Structured JSON for agent consumption

# Human output
cli-anything-inkscape project info -p project.json

# JSON output for agents
cli-anything-inkscape --json project info -p project.json

For AI Agents

When using this CLI programmatically:

1. Always use --json flag for parseable output
2. Check return codes - 0 for success, non-zero for errors
3. Parse stderr for error messages on failure
4. Use absolute paths for all file operations
5. Verify outputs exist after export operations
6. Prefer wrapped text boxes for headlines and variable-length copy so layouts remain stable across edits

More Information

• Full documentation: See README.md in the package
• Test coverage: See TEST.md in the package
• Methodology: See HARNESS.md in the cli-anything-plugin

Version

1.0.1