@permify-toolkit/cli

CLI for managing schemas, seeding relationships, and querying relationship data from your Permify instance.

Installation

pnpm add @permify-toolkit/cli

Configuration

The CLI relies on a permify.config.ts file in your project root. See Configuration for full details.

Schema Definition Options

Inline Schema (AST-based)

import {
  defineConfig,
  schema,
  entity,
  relation,
  permission
} from "@permify-toolkit/core";

export default defineConfig({
  tenant: "t1",
  client: {
    endpoint: "localhost:3478",
    insecure: true
  },
  schema: schema({
    user: entity({
      relations: {
        manager: relation("user")
      },
      permissions: {
        manage: permission("manager")
      }
    }),
    document: entity({
      relations: {
        owner: relation("user"),
        viewer: relation("user")
      },
      permissions: {
        view: permission("viewer or owner"),
        edit: permission("owner")
      }
    })
  }),
  relationships: {
    seedFile: "./relationships.json",
    mode: "append"
  }
});

File-based Schema

import { defineConfig, schemaFile } from "@permify-toolkit/core";

export default defineConfig({
  tenant: "t1",
  client: { endpoint: "localhost:3478", insecure: true },
  schema: schemaFile("./schema.perm")
});

Tenant Configuration

The --tenant flag is optional if tenant is defined in permify.config.ts.

Resolution order:

--tenant CLI flag (or PERMIFY_TENANT env var)
tenant field in permify.config.ts
Error if neither is provided

Commands

Schema

`schema push`

Pushes the schema defined in your config to the Permify server.

permify-toolkit schema push [--tenant <tenant-id>] [flags]

Flags:

Flag	Alias	Description	Default
`--tenant`		Tenant ID to push to	From config
`--create-tenant`	`-c`	Create tenant if it doesn't exist	`false`

Examples:

# Push using tenant from config
permify-toolkit schema push

# Push to a specific tenant
permify-toolkit schema push --tenant my-tenant-id

# Push and create tenant if needed
permify-toolkit schema push --tenant new-tenant-id --create-tenant

Schema Validation:

The Permify server validates your schema on push. If there are errors, you'll see a detailed message:

Error: Entity "usr" referenced in relation "document.owner" does not exist

`schema validate`

Validates your schema locally without connecting to a Permify server. Catches structural errors, broken references, permission cycles, and suspicious patterns before you push.

permify-toolkit schema validate

This command takes no flags. It reads schema configuration from permify.config.ts in the current directory.

What it checks:

Category	Examples
Input	Schema source exists, file readable, `.perm` extension required
Structure	At least one entity defined
References	Relation targets exist, permission symbols resolve, traversal targets valid
Expression syntax	No dangling operators (`owner or`), balanced parentheses, no double-dot traversal (`parent..view`)
Cycles	Direct self-reference (`view = view`), indirect cycles (`view → edit → view`)
Warnings	Unused relations, entities with no permissions

Output:

When the schema is valid:

✔ Schema is valid

When valid but with warnings:

⚠ Schema is valid with warnings

Warnings:
  1. Entity "document": relation "viewer" is never used in any permission
  2. Entity "organization": has no permissions defined

When validation fails:

Error: Schema validation failed:
Permission "document.view" references undefined relation or permission "viewer"

Examples:

# Validate schema in your current project
permify-toolkit schema validate

# Validate before pushing in CI
permify-toolkit schema validate && permify-toolkit schema push

Use before push

Run schema validate before schema push for instant local feedback, no server connection needed.

`schema diff`

Previews what will change before pushing a schema update. Compares your local schema (from permify.config.ts) against the schema currently deployed on the Permify server — or against another local .perm file.

permify-toolkit schema diff [--tenant <id>] [flags]

Flags:

Flag	Alias	Description	Required	Default
`--tenant`		Tenant ID to diff against	No	From config
`--create-tenant`	`-c`	Create tenant if it doesn't exist	No	`false`
`--source`	`-s`	Path to a `.perm` file to compare against (local-vs-local mode)	No
`--verbose`	`-v`	Show raw unified text diff after the structural summary	No	`false`
`--exit-code`	`-e`	Exit with code 1 if changes are detected (useful for CI pipelines)	No	`false`

Examples:

# Compare local schema against what's deployed on the server
permify-toolkit schema diff

# Compare against a specific tenant
permify-toolkit schema diff --tenant staging

# Compare two local schemas (no server connection needed)
permify-toolkit schema diff --source ./old-schema.perm

# Include a unified text diff for full detail
permify-toolkit schema diff --verbose

# CI mode — fail the pipeline if schema has drifted
permify-toolkit schema diff --exit-code

Output:

The command shows a structural summary of changes at the entity, relation, and permission level:

Schema Diff Output

Green (+) — added entities, relations, or permissions
Red (-) — removed entities, relations, or permissions
Yellow (~) — modified entities (contents changed), or individual relations/permissions whose definition changed

When no changes are detected:

✔ Schema is up to date — no changes detected (tenant: t1)

When no schema exists on the remote server yet (first-time push), everything is shown as additions:

Schema Diff — tenant: t1
ℹ No schema found on remote — showing full schema as additions

With --verbose, a unified text diff is appended below the structural summary:

--- remote (tenant: t1)
+++ local (permify.config.ts)
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 entity user {}
 entity document {
   relation owner @user
+  relation editor @user
-  permission view = owner
+  permission view = owner or editor
+  permission edit = editor
 }

Exit codes:

Code	Meaning
`0`	No changes detected, or changes detected (default mode)
`1`	Changes detected and `--exit-code` flag is set

Use in CI pipelines

Combine --exit-code with your CI to detect schema drift:

permify-toolkit schema diff --exit-code || echo "Schema has changed — review before pushing"

Preview before push

Run schema diff before schema push to review exactly what will change on the server. Pair with --verbose for a complete picture.

Relationships

`relationships seed`

Seeds relationship data from a JSON file.

permify-toolkit relationships seed [--tenant <id>] [--file-path <path>] [flags]

Flags:

Flag	Alias	Description	Default
`--tenant`		Tenant ID to seed to	From config
`--file-path`	`-f`	Path to JSON file with tuples	From config
`--create-tenant`	`-c`	Create tenant if it doesn't exist	`false`

Example relationships.json:

{
  "tuples": [
    {
      "entity": { "type": "organization", "id": "org_1" },
      "relation": "member",
      "subject": { "type": "user", "id": "alice" }
    },
    {
      "entity": { "type": "document", "id": "doc_1" },
      "relation": "owner",
      "subject": { "type": "user", "id": "bob" }
    },
    {
      "entity": { "type": "document", "id": "doc_1" },
      "relation": "viewer",
      "subject": { "type": "user", "id": "charlie" }
    }
  ]
}

Examples:

# Seed to existing tenant
permify-toolkit relationships seed --tenant my-tenant-id --file-path ./data/relationships.json

# Seed and create tenant
permify-toolkit relationships seed --tenant new-tenant-id --file-path ./relationships.json --create-tenant

`relationships list`

Queries and displays relationship tuples from a Permify tenant. Useful for debugging authorization — quickly see what relationships exist for a given entity type.

Unlike schema push or relationships seed, this command does not require a schema in your config. It only needs a client connection.

permify-toolkit relationships list --entity-type <type> [--tenant <id>] [flags]

Flags:

Flag	Alias	Description	Required	Default
`--entity-type`	`-e`	Entity type to query	Yes
`--tenant`		Tenant ID	No	From config
`--entity-id`		Filter by a specific entity ID	No
`--relation`	`-r`	Filter by relation name	No
`--subject-type`	`-s`	Filter by subject type	No
`--subject-id`		Filter by subject ID	No
`--output`	`-o`	Output format: `table` or `compact`	No	`table`
`--page-size`	`-p`	Number of results per gRPC page	No	`50`

Minimal config required:

// permify.config.ts — no schema needed for read-only commands
export default {
  tenant: "t1",
  client: {
    endpoint: "localhost:3478",
    insecure: true
  }
};

Examples:

# List all relationships for the "document" entity type
permify-toolkit relationships list -e document

# Filter by relation and subject
permify-toolkit relationships list -e document -r viewer -s user

# Show a specific entity's relationships
permify-toolkit relationships list -e document --entity-id doc-1

# Use compact output (one tuple per line)
permify-toolkit relationships list -e document -o compact

# Specify tenant and page size
permify-toolkit relationships list -e document --tenant my-tenant -p 100

Output formats:

Table (default):

Entity Type  Entity ID  Relation  Subject Type  Subject ID  Subject Relation
document     doc-1      owner     user          alice
document     doc-1      viewer    user          bob
document     doc-2      viewer    group         eng         member
✔ Found 3 relationships

Compact (one Zanzibar-style tuple per line):

document:doc-1#owner@user:alice
document:doc-1#viewer@user:bob
document:doc-2#viewer@group:eng#member
✔ Found 3 relationships

When no relationships match:

ℹ No relationships found.

Debugging permissions

Use relationships list to verify that the tuples you expect actually exist in Permify. If a permission check fails unexpectedly, list the relationships for that entity to see what's stored.

`relationships export`

Exports relationship tuples from a Permify tenant to a JSON file. The output format is identical to the relationships seed input format — so you can export from one tenant and seed into another.

Like relationships list, this command does not require a schema in your config.

permify-toolkit relationships export --entity-type <type> --file-path <path> [--tenant <id>] [flags]

Flags:

Flag	Alias	Description	Required	Default
`--entity-type`	`-e`	Entity type to query	Yes
`--file-path`	`-f`	Output file path (must be `.json`)	Yes
`--tenant`		Tenant ID	No	From config
`--entity-id`		Filter by a specific entity ID	No
`--relation`	`-r`	Filter by relation name	No
`--subject-type`	`-s`	Filter by subject type	No
`--subject-id`		Filter by subject ID	No
`--page-size`	`-p`	Number of results per gRPC page	No	`100`

Examples:

# Export all document relationships to a file
permify-toolkit relationships export -e document -f ./backup/documents.json

# Export only viewer relationships
permify-toolkit relationships export -e document -r viewer -f viewers.json

# Export from a specific tenant
permify-toolkit relationships export -e document --tenant staging -f staging-docs.json

Output file format:

The exported JSON file uses the same structure as relationships seed, so you can directly re-import it:

{
  "tuples": [
    {
      "entity": { "type": "document", "id": "doc-1" },
      "relation": "owner",
      "subject": { "type": "user", "id": "alice" }
    },
    {
      "entity": { "type": "document", "id": "doc-1" },
      "relation": "viewer",
      "subject": { "type": "user", "id": "bob" }
    }
  ]
}

Common workflows:

# Back up relationships before a migration
permify-toolkit relationships export -e document -f ./backup/documents.json
permify-toolkit relationships export -e organization -f ./backup/orgs.json

# Copy relationships from staging to dev
permify-toolkit relationships export -e document --tenant staging -f transfer.json
permify-toolkit relationships seed --tenant dev -f transfer.json

# Export, inspect, edit, then re-seed
permify-toolkit relationships export -e document -f tuples.json
# ... edit tuples.json manually ...
permify-toolkit relationships seed --tenant t1 -f tuples.json

Export + Seed round-trip

The export format is designed to be seed-compatible. You can export from one environment, review or modify the JSON, and seed it into another — making it easy to migrate or duplicate relationship data across tenants.

Local Development

# Build the package
pnpm build

# Run using local bin script
./bin/permify-toolkit schema push --tenant dev-tenant -c

Installation​

Configuration​

Schema Definition Options​

Inline Schema (AST-based)​

File-based Schema​

Tenant Configuration​

Commands​

Schema​

schema push​

schema validate​

schema diff​

Relationships​

relationships seed​

relationships list​

relationships export​

Local Development​

Installation

Configuration

Schema Definition Options

Inline Schema (AST-based)

File-based Schema

Tenant Configuration

Commands

Schema

`schema push`

`schema validate`

`schema diff`

Relationships

`relationships seed`

`relationships list`

`relationships export`

Local Development