Is the CapiscIO CLI really free forever?

Yes! The CLI is completely free and open source. No credit card required, no usage limits, no hidden fees. Use it in development, CI/CD, production monitoring—anywhere you need agent validation.

How do I install the CapiscIO CLI?

Install via npm with "npm install -g capiscio" or pip with "pip install capiscio". The CLI works on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Full installation docs available at docs.capiscio.com/cli/installation.

Can I use the CLI to monitor third-party agents?

Absolutely! The CLI is perfect for continuous monitoring of partner agents. Set up cron jobs or scheduled tasks to validate third-party agents on a schedule and get alerts when they fail validation.

Does the CLI work in CI/CD pipelines?

Yes! The CLI outputs structured JSON and uses standard exit codes (0 for pass, 1 for fail), making it ideal for GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, or any CI/CD system. We provide ready-to-use workflow templates.

What does the CLI validate?

The CLI performs comprehensive validation: Agent Card JSON schema, protocol compliance, endpoint availability, JWS signature verification, transport protocol support (REST/gRPC/MCP), and capability definitions. It verifies Identity (signatures), Integrity (payload hashes), and Freshness (timestamps).

Can I customize validation rules?

Yes! Use configuration files to set custom thresholds, enable/disable specific checks, choose which transport protocols to test, and define failure criteria. Perfect for different environments (dev vs prod) or compliance requirements.

CLI · Built on capiscio-core

Validate A2A Agents From Your Terminal

Catch broken agent cards and failed signatures before they hit production.

Use the capiscio CLI to validate A2A agent cards, test live endpoints, and run the same agent identity and integrity checks your guards enforce at runtime.

CLI secures your pipeline. Guard secures your runtime.

🛠️

Pre-Deployment

Catch errors before commit

🔄

CI/CD Gates

Block invalid deployments

🔍

3rd Party Validation

Verify external agents

⏰

Scheduled Checks

Cron / CI based health checks

Get started in 30 seconds

Install via npm (recommended)

npm install -g capiscio

Or via pip

pip install capiscio

Then validate an A2A agent card:

capiscio validate ./agent-card.json

View on GitHub

Stop These Developer Failures

We've been on the receiving end of broken agents. The CLI exists so you don't have to be.

🔥

"It worked on my machine..."

— Every developer at 2 AM

You committed an agent card with a bad transport URL or missing field. CI passed. Production broke.

✓ Solution:

capiscio validate ./agent-card.json

Validate agent cards before commit

👻

"Their agent stopped responding..."

— Platform engineer monitoring 3rd parties

You depend on a third party agent. They changed schema or broke their endpoint. Your users see failures first.

✓ Solution:

capiscio validate https://thirdparty.com/agent-card.json --test-live

Validate card and hit live endpoint

⏰

"CI says pass, prod says fail"

— DevOps lead with broken pipeline

Your tests only check JSON shape. They don't check that signatures verify or that the transport responds.

✓ Solution:

uses: capiscio/validate-a2a@v1

Live endpoint + signature checks

Four Ways to Use the CLI

Choose the workflow that fits your needs

🛠️

1. Pre-Deployment Validation

Validate agent cards locally before commit

Install once:

npm install -g capiscio

Validate anytime:

capiscio validate ./agent-card.json

Perfect for:

• Local development workflow
• Pre-commit validation hooks
• Quick agent card debugging

🔄

2. CI/CD Quality Gate

Block invalid or non-responsive agents from deploying

Add to workflow:

- uses: capiscio/validate-a2a@v1 with: agent-card: ./agent.json test-live: true

Perfect for:

• GitHub Actions / GitLab CI
• Pull request validation
• Deployment gating

🔍

3. Third-Party Agent Validation

Verify external agents you depend on

Validate any live agent:

capiscio validate https://external-agent.com

Check compliance:

✓ Agent card: valid
✓ Signature: valid (Ed25519)
✓ Endpoint: 200 OK

Perfect for:

• Vetting partner agents
• Registry submissions
• Due diligence on new integrations

⏰

4. Scheduled Checks

Combine CLI with cron or your scheduler

Cron job example:

# Every 6 hours0 */6 * * * capiscio validate \https://agent.com --json \> /var/log/agent-health.log

GitHub Actions schedule:

on: schedule: - cron: '0 */6 * * *'

Perfect for:

• Periodic health checks
• Catching signature failures early
• Detecting transport issues

Why use the capiscio CLI?

Production-ready validation for AI agents

🛡️

CORE

Aligned with SimpleGuard

• Uses same verification semantics as Guard
• Agent Identity (Ed25519 signatures)
• Payload integrity (body hash)
• Freshness (timestamp checks)

🔒

A2A Protocol Aware

• Validates A2A agent cards against spec
• Checks endpoints behave as declared
• Supports HTTP/A2A today
• JSON-RPC/gRPC evolving with spec

Live Endpoint Testing

• Hit declared HTTP transport
• Ensure correct response behavior
• Verify not just JSON shape
• Real connectivity checks

CI & Automation Friendly

• JSON output for pipelines
• Clear exit codes
• GitHub Action available
• Plug straight into CI

Usage Examples

Common validation scenarios

Basic Agent Validation

Validate agents from URLs or local files

# Validate a local agent card

capiscio validate ./agent-card.json

# Validate a remote agent and test its endpoint

capiscio validate https://example.com/agent-card.json --test-live

Clear, Actionable Output

Human friendly in the terminal, machine friendly in CI.

Successful Validation

✓ Agent card: ./agent-card.json

✓ A2A schema: valid

✓ Signature: valid (Ed25519, kid=payments-agent)

✓ Endpoint: 200 OK (https://api.example.com/a2a)

All checks passed.

Failed Validation

✗ Agent card: ./agent-card.json

✓ A2A schema: valid

✗ Signature: invalid (mismatched key)

✗ Endpoint: timeout (https://api.example.com/a2a)

2 checks failed. See --json output for details.

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know

Runtime Enforcement

Need real-time enforcement, not just validation?

The CLI is perfect for development and CI/CD. For live production traffic, use the Capiscio Guard to enforce the same agent identity and integrity checks at the HTTP boundary.

Enforce agent identity - Plus payload integrity and replay protection
Drop-in Guard - Python SDK or Go sidecar
Built on core semantics - Same checks as the CLI

Explore Guard

# Python guard in action

from capiscio_sdk import secure, SecurityConfig

agent = secure(
    MyAgentExecutor(),
    SecurityConfig.production()
)

# ✅ Every request validated
# ⚡ <2ms overhead
# 🔒 100% compliant

Ready to validate and harden your AI agents?

Start with the capiscio CLI to validate A2A agents and test live endpoints. Then add the Guard when you are ready to enforce checks at runtime.

npm: npm install -g capiscio && capiscio validate

pip: pip install capiscio && capiscio validate

View Documentation

Open source • Built on capiscio-core • Designed for production