CLI Tour

Audience: anyone who wants a map of every pulse subcommand before diving into per-command details.

This page is a one-liner index of the CLI tree. Each row links to its detailed chapter where applicable; commands that are minor variants of each other (per-format import/export leaves) are listed compactly.

LLM agents using MCP: there is no equivalent skill — agents drive Pulse through MCP tools, not the CLI. Start at the getting-started skill instead.

Top-level groups

pulse [--json] [--slim]
├── import      Tabular → .pulse (csv, tsv, ndjson, jsonarray, parquet, arrow, excel)
├── export      .pulse  → tabular (same format set)
├── convert     Tabular → tabular, with .pulse as the transparent middle
├── cohort      Inspect or filter an existing .pulse file
├── api         Processing operations (process, compose, ask, predict, sample, facet)
├── synth       Generate synthetic cohorts (from-schema, from-profile)
├── profile     Capture a statistical profile of a cohort
├── skills      Read the embedded LLM skill pack
└── mcp         Run the Model Context Protocol server over stdio

Bare pulse --json prints the self-describing root manifest — commands, components, field types, and skill metadata in one envelope. Pass --slim to drop prose descriptions for size-sensitive clients.

API operations

The “processing facade” — these are the operations exposed via the Go library API and the MCP tool set.

Command	Purpose	Chapter
`pulse api process`	Execute one request against a cohort	api process
`pulse api compose`	Execute multiple requests in batch / parallel	api compose
`pulse api ask`	Parse a natural-language query and execute	api ask
`pulse api predict`	Validate a request without executing	api predict
`pulse api sample`	Return up to N rows	api sample
`pulse api facet`	Return distinct values of a field	api facet

Cohort lifecycle

Command	Purpose	Chapter
`pulse cohort inspect PATH`	Read header + schema (no record data)	cohort inspect
`pulse cohort filter`	Write a filtered subset to a new `.pulse`	See Internals → Architecture

Import / export / convert

pulse import <format> and pulse export <format> share the same flag shape per format (--input, --output, --schema for import). Supported formats today:

csv · tsv · ndjson · jsonarray · parquet · arrow · excel

Each format has a per-leaf command (e.g. pulse import csv). Run pulse import --help or pulse export --help for the full list.

pulse convert SOURCE TARGET chains import + export with no intermediate file unless --keep-pulse PATH is passed. Format is auto-detected from extensions.

Synthetic data

Command	Purpose	Chapter
`pulse synth from-schema`	Generate from a JSON spec	synth from-schema
`pulse synth from-profile`	Generate from a captured profile	synth from-profile
`pulse profile create`	Capture a profile from an existing cohort	profile create

Self-description & LLM surface

Command	Purpose	Chapter
`pulse --json`	Root manifest (commands, components, field types, skills)	manifest
`pulse skills list`	List embedded skills with metadata	How LLMs Use Pulse
`pulse skills show NAME`	Print a skill’s full markdown body	same
`pulse mcp`	Serve MCP over stdio	mcp

Cross-cutting flags

Most leaves accept --json (envelope output), --no-defaults (turn off smart operator-type inference), and the operation-specific flags documented per page. Full list: Flag Reference.

The single environment variable to know is PULSE_DATA_DIR — see Installation.

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Pulse Documentation