Next to a graphical user interface, MonkeyCI also provides a command-line interface (or CLI). The CLI can be used to trigger builds, run them locally, verify build scripts or run unit tests.

Installation

In order to install the CLI, you will first need to install Java. You'll need Java 21 or later for the CLI to work correctly. Then run this script:

$ wget https://monkeyci-artifacts.s3.fr-par.scw.cloud/install-cli.sh -O - | bash

It will download the MonkeyCI jar file, put it in a local directory and create a binary that allows you to invoke it. The binary is installed in $HOME/bin, which usually is in your PATH. If it doesn't work, check if the bin dir has been added to your path.

Invocation

Running the CLI is done by invoking the monkeyci command:

$ monkeyci build --help

NAME:
  build - Build commands

USAGE:
  build [global-options] command [command options] [arguments...]

VERSION:
 0.19.4

COMMANDS:
   run                  Runs build locally
   verify               Verifies local build script
   test                 Runs build script unit tests

GLOBAL OPTIONS:
   -?, --help

Although there are other commands, they are intended for internal use and so only the build command will be discussed here.

run

Runs a build locally. It will load the build script, and execute any jobs according to the configuration. For container jobs, podman is used. Note that local builds do not count towards your credit consumption, and it will also not register on the main application. Artifacts and caches are not downloaded or published.

This can be useful to run a one-of, or to try something out. For actual testing it's better to write unit tests.

verify

When you want to do a quick verification of your build script syntax, the build verify command is ideal. It does not run any jobs or tests, but it does a static code analysis of the build script itself, and will flag any syntax errors or warnings.

test

Runs any unit tests that you may have configured on your build script. See unit tests for more details.