CLI & API keys

Agencies work at scale, so the acira CLI is the natural tool: pull a client site, edit it in your own editor with your own version control, and publish it back. This page covers how API keys and the CLI fit an agency workflow.

Agency-scoped API keys

Create API keys in the app under Settings → API Keys. A key carries your account's identity and reaches the sites you have access to — for agency staff, that's the client sites in your portfolio. Point the CLI at a key with acira auth, or set ACIRA_API_KEY in CI.

Use a separate key per developer and per CI system so you can revoke one without disrupting the rest. See API keys for good practices.

A portfolio workflow

acira list                       # see the client sites you can access
acira pull acme-dental           # pull one to your machine
cd acme-dental
acira init                        # add AGENTS.md for AI editors
acira preview                     # local preview with the real runtime
# ...edit, commit to your own repo...
acira lint
acira publish -m "Launch the new services page"

Because the CLI and the AI agent edit the same project, a client can keep making small content changes in the app while your team does deeper work locally — the publish gates keep the two from clobbering each other.

Single-page apps for client portals

For app-like surfaces on a client site — a customer portal, a booking dashboard — build a single-page app with your own toolchain and publish just the built bundle. Your framework source stays in your agency's repository; only the output ships to the site.

Keep your own source of truth

Since a pulled site is plain files, keep client projects in your own version control. That gives you history, review, and CI independent of the platform, while acira publish remains the step that takes a change live.