jk

GitHub CLI–style workflows for Jenkins controllers

jk is a single Go binary for Jenkins operators. Search jobs across folders, trigger and follow runs, stream logs, download artifacts, and manage credentials, nodes, queues, and plugins. Output is human, JSON, or YAML.

This is not the official Jenkins CLI (jenkins-cli.jar; jenkins.io).

Status (v0.0.36, 11 Aug 2026): released and tested against stock Jenkins LTS REST APIs. Auth, contexts, search, jobs, runs, logs, artifacts, tests, credentials, nodes, queue, and plugins ship today. Companion plugin, JCasC, events, and metrics are not in this binary. The version stays 0.x for that reason.

Features

• Context-aware auth – store multiple controllers, switch with jk context use, or pin a context via JK_CONTEXT.
• Friendly pipelines – trigger, rerun, follow, and summarize jobs with human or JSON/YAML output.
• Job provisioning & config – create Bitbucket-backed Multibranch Pipeline jobs, inspect raw config.xml, patch Jenkinsfile paths, and rescan multibranch jobs.
• Scriptable output – --format json|yaml, --jq, and --template for machine-friendly pipelines; --quiet for scripting.
• Discovery-first runs – filter with --filter, bound history with --since, group by parameters, and attach machine-readable metadata for agents.
• Artifacts & tests – browse artifacts, download filtered sets, and surface aggregated test reports.
• Platform operations – cordon nodes, manage credentials, inspect queues, and view installed plugins.
• GitHub CLI parity – command structure and UX mirror gh, easing adoption in developer toolchains.

Installation

Install the jk binary from the paths below. Homebrew uses avivsinai/tap (jk); Scoop uses avivsinai/scoop-bucket. There is no Nix package and no PyPI project for this CLI.

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

brew install avivsinai/tap/jk

Scoop (Windows)

scoop bucket add avivsinai https://github.com/avivsinai/scoop-bucket
scoop install jk

Go Install

# Install latest version
go install github.com/avivsinai/jenkins-cli/cmd/jk@latest

# Or install specific version
go install github.com/avivsinai/jenkins-cli/cmd/jk@v0.0.36

Binary will be installed to $GOPATH/bin (or $HOME/go/bin by default).

Binary Downloads

Download prebuilt binaries (macOS, Linux, Windows) or .deb packages from GitHub Releases.

From Source

git clone https://github.com/avivsinai/jenkins-cli.git
cd jenkins-cli
make build   # produces ./bin/jk

AI Coding Skill

Install the jk skill for Claude Code or Codex CLI:

npx skills add avivsinai/jenkins-cli -g -y

npx skild install @avivsinai/jk -t claude -y

/plugin marketplace add avivsinai/skills-marketplace
/plugin install jk@avivsinai-marketplace

git clone https://github.com/avivsinai/jenkins-cli.git
cp -r jenkins-cli/skills/jk ~/.claude/skills/

Quickstart

Find jobs fast with jk search (alias for jk run search) before drilling into specific pipelines.

jk auth login https://jenkins.company.example      # authenticate and create a context
jk context ls                                      # list available contexts
jk search --job-glob '*deploy-*' --limit 5 --json               # discover job paths across folders
jk job create auth-relay --folder platform/services --repo-owner playg --repository my-service-repo --script-path services/auth-relay/Jenkinsfile --credentials bitbucket-ro
jk job config platform/services/auth-relay | rg scriptPath
jk job configure platform/services/auth-relay --script-path services/auth-relay/Jenkinsfile
jk job config platform/services/auth-relay | jk job configure platform/services/auth-relay --stdin
jk job scan platform/services/auth-relay
jk run ls team/app/pipeline --filter result=SUCCESS --since 7d --limit 5 --json --with-meta
jk run ls team/app/pipeline --include-queued   # include queued builds (shown as qN)
jk run params team/app/pipeline                    # inspect inferred parameter metadata
jk log team/app/pipeline 128 --follow              # stream logs until completion
jk artifact download team/app/pipeline 128 -p "**/*.xml" -o out/

Jenkins SSO / Google OAuth

jk uses Jenkins API tokens for scripted clients. If your controller uses Google OAuth, OpenID Connect, Okta, Azure AD, or another browser-based SSO realm, sign in to Jenkins in the browser first, open /me/configure, create a Jenkins API token, then run:

jk auth login https://jenkins.company.example --username <jenkins-user-id> --token <JENKINS_API_TOKEN>

Use your Jenkins user ID for --username. For many Google/OIDC setups that is your email address, but some SSO realms use an opaque provider ID instead. If you are unsure, sign in to Jenkins in the browser and open <jenkins-url>/whoAmI/api/json; use the returned name value. If it reports anonymous, sign in first. Do not paste a Google OAuth access token into --token — Jenkins REST calls expect a Jenkins API token.

This works because Jenkins validates API tokens before consulting the security realm, so SSO realms such as the google-login plugin do not block token-based CLI access (covered by an end-to-end test against a google-login controller).

jk auth login verifies the credentials against the controller before finishing:

• On success it reports the authenticated user (Logged in to <url> as <user>).
• If Jenkins rejects the credentials (or treats them as anonymous), the login fails and the previous context, token, and active-context selection are restored — a typo can't clobber a working login. The error explains the API-token workflow and points to the browser whoAmI check above.
• If the request is redirected to a sign-in page (Jenkins form login, securityRealm/commenceLogin, or an external identity provider), jk reports that the request never authenticated instead of failing on an HTML response. The same detection applies to every jk command, so an expired token against an SSO-fronted controller produces an actionable error.
• If the controller cannot be reached, the credentials are saved unverified with a warning. Use --no-verify to skip the check entirely (for example when bootstrapping configuration before the controller is up).

Service accounts cannot authenticate through a browser-based SSO realm like google-login — they never become Jenkins users, so they cannot hold API tokens. That setup requires a bearer-validating front door (Google IAP, a JWT filter, or similar) in front of Jenkins; support for bearer/front-door authentication is tracked in issue #129.

Secret Storage

By default, jk stores API tokens in the OS keychain. --allow-insecure-store or JK_ALLOW_INSECURE_STORE=1 selects the encrypted file backend instead of trying native keyring backends. KEYRING_BACKEND remains an explicit backend override for advanced use.

For noninteractive file-backend use, set JK_KEYRING_PASSPHRASE before running jk; compatible fallback variables are KEYRING_FILE_PASSWORD and KEYRING_PASSWORD.

Structured jk search output already includes lightweight search metadata; --with-meta is only needed for jk run ls (jk search accepts it as a no-op for flag parity).

Add --json, --yaml, or --format json|yaml to supported commands for machine-readable output. Use --jq or --template to select or reshape JSON results.

# Extract a single field with jq
jk run view team/app/pipeline 128 --format json --jq '.result'

# Custom formatting with Go templates
jk run view team/app/pipeline 128 --format json --template 'Result={{.result}}'

Job Commands

Current job provisioning and config management is focused on Multibranch Pipeline workflows:

# Create a Bitbucket-backed Multibranch Pipeline job
jk job create auth-relay \
  --folder platform/services \
  --repo-owner playg \
  --repository my-service-repo \
  --script-path services/auth-relay/Jenkinsfile \
  --credentials bitbucket-ro \
  --branch-strategy all

# Fetch raw config.xml (stdout is always XML)
jk job config platform/services/auth-relay > auth-relay.config.xml

# Replace config.xml from a file or stdin
jk job configure platform/services/auth-relay --file auth-relay.config.xml
cat auth-relay.config.xml | jk job configure platform/services/auth-relay --stdin

# Patch only the Jenkinsfile path inside a Multibranch Pipeline config
jk job configure platform/services/auth-relay --script-path services/auth-relay/Jenkinsfile

# Trigger a multibranch rescan
jk job scan platform/services/auth-relay

Documentation

• Specification - Architecture and design decisions
• API Contracts - JSON/YAML schemas for structured output
• Agent Cookbook - Automation recipes and examples
• Changelog - Release notes and migration guidance

Security

This project uses automated secret scanning (gitleaks), dependency updates (Dependabot), and security posture tracking (OSSF Scorecard).

Found a security issue? See our security policy for responsible disclosure.

Community

• Read the code of conduct and contributing guide
• Ask questions or propose ideas via GitHub Discussions (coming soon) or issues
• Follow the support guidelines for help

Development

Quick Start

# First-time setup
make pre-commit-install  # Install git hooks (gitleaks, formatting, etc.)

# Standard workflow
make build      # Build the binary
make test       # Run unit tests
make lint       # Run linters
make security   # Run security checks (gitleaks + pre-commit)

Full Test Suite

make e2e        # End-to-end tests (requires Docker)
make e2e-up     # Launch test Jenkins (port 28080)
make e2e-down   # Tear down test environment

Prerequisites:

• golangci-lint for linting
• gitleaks for secret scanning
• pre-commit for git hooks
• Docker/Colima for e2e tests

Note: E2e tests require Docker. On macOS with Colima, use colima start --network-address. See CONTRIBUTING.md for details. Skip with JK_E2E_DISABLE=1 make test.

Before Submitting PRs

make security   # Gitleaks + pre-commit checks
make lint       # Run linter
make test       # Run tests

License

jk is available under the MIT License.