Sightkick CLI Reference: build, browser, call, runtime, and skills

The sightkick CLI compiles a .sightkick/ tool layer against a .sightmap/ corpus, and drives the compiled tools on a live page. It shells out to the sightmap CLI for browser work, so both need to be on your PATH.

npm install -g @sightmap/sightmap @sightmap/sightkick

Commands that take an app directory expect one holding both .sightkick/ and .sightmap/. In the examples below that is ., the current directory.

`sightkick build`

Compiles the corpus and the tool layer into a single self-contained IR document.

sightkick build <app-dir | .sightkick-dir> [-o out.json] [--verify]

Flag	Description
`-o`, `--out`	Write the IR to a file. Defaults to stdout.
`--verify`	Also check each tool’s `returns` extractors against the view’s captured snapshots, and warn on fields that resolve empty on every row.

Every component, property, and view reference is resolved against the corpus. Unresolved names fail the build and print candidates. --verify needs a captured snapshot, so run sightmap capture on the view first; without one it warns that there is nothing to check against.

$ sightkick build . --verify -o tools.ir.json
✓ wrote 2 tool(s) to tools.ir.json

`sightkick browser`

Builds the IR, starts a Sightmap browser session, and injects the runtime so the tools register on the page.

sightkick browser <app-dir> [--url URL] [--webmcp] [--no-inspector]
                            [--extensions PATHS] [--profile DIR]
                            [--cdp-port N] [--no-start]

Flag	Description
`--url`	Page to open. Defaults to the corpus’s home view URL.
`--webmcp`	Enable the blink flags that expose the native `document.modelContext`, and load the bundled WebMCP inspector for driving tools with Gemini from Chrome’s side panel.
`--no-inspector`	With `--webmcp`, use the native surface without the inspector.
`--extensions`	Load extra unpacked extensions, merged with the defaults.
`--profile`, `--cdp-port`, `--chrome-flag`	Passed through to `sightmap browser start`.
`--no-start`	Inject into an already-running session instead of starting one. Use this after editing the corpus.

The injection is persisted, so the tools re-register on SPA route changes and on full page loads. Re-run with --no-start to refresh the injected IR after a corpus or manifest change. It runs Sightmap from the app directory, so the session lives in that directory’s .sightmap/. Drive it from there.

$ sightkick browser .
→ injecting runtime + IR (2 tool(s), persisted) …
✓ sightkick tools are live on the page.

Confirm what registered with the Sightmap CLI:

$ sightmap browser mcp list
WebMCP (native) — 2 tool(s):
  search_flights — Search flights for a route and date.
  select_fare — Choose a fare from the results.

`sightkick call`

Invokes one tool by name against a live browser session and prints its ToolResult as JSON. Exits non-zero when the tool reports ok:false.

sightkick call <app-dir> <tool> [--param k=v ...] [--via webmcp|cli] [--timeout-ms N]

Flag	Description
`--param k=v`	One tool parameter. Repeat for each.
`--via`	How the tool runs. `webmcp` (default) or `cli`.
`--timeout-ms`	Overall timeout for the call.

See Running tools for how the two paths differ and when to pick each.

$ sightkick call . search_flights --param origin=SFO --param destination=JFK
{
  "ok": true,
  "items": [{ "fare": "$214", "stops": "nonstop" }],
  "guidance": [{ "tool": "select_fare", "reason": "pick one of the fares you just found" }]
}

The result carries ok, value or items, skipped when an idempotency guard fired, and guidance from any journey the tool appears in.

`sightkick runtime`

Emits the runtime bundle, about 19 KB, for injecting into a page you serve yourself.

sightkick runtime [-o out.js]

Load the bundle, then register an IR with it:

window.__sightkick.load(ir)

The bundle is embedded in the CLI, so re-emit it after upgrading sightkick.

`sightkick skills install`

Installs the agent skills into ~/.agents/skills, or a directory you name. It also installs the supporting Sightmap skills, so this one command covers the whole workflow.

sightkick skills install [--target DIR]

$ sightkick skills install
installed 2 sightkick skill(s) → ~/.agents/skills
  sightkick-authoring
  sightkick-debug
installing the supporting sightmap skills …
  sightmap-authoring
  sightmap-browser

​sightkick build

​sightkick browser

​sightkick call

​sightkick runtime

​sightkick skills install

`sightkick build`

`sightkick browser`

`sightkick call`

`sightkick runtime`

`sightkick skills install`