pp-etherpad

Etherpad — Printing Press CLI

Prerequisites: Install the CLI

This skill drives the etherpad-pp-cli binary. You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill. If it is missing, install it first:

1. Install via the Printing Press installer. It defaults binaries to $HOME/.local/bin on macOS/Linux and %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PrintingPress\bin on Windows:

   npx -y @mvanhorn/printing-press-library install etherpad --cli-only
   

2. Verify: etherpad-pp-cli --version
3. Ensure the reported install directory is on $PATH for the agent/runtime that will invoke this skill.

If the npx install fails (no Node, offline, etc.), fall back to a direct Go install (requires Go 1.26.5 or newer):

go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/productivity/etherpad/cmd/etherpad-pp-cli@latest

If --version reports "command not found" after install, the runtime cannot see the binary directory on $PATH. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds.

Command Reference

anonymize-author — Manage anonymize author

• etherpad-pp-cli anonymize-author — anonymizes an author across all their edits

append-chat-message — Manage append chat message

• etherpad-pp-cli append-chat-message — appends a chat message

append-text — Manage append text

• etherpad-pp-cli append-text — appends text to a pad

check-token — Manage check token

• etherpad-pp-cli check-token — returns ok when the current API token is valid

compact-pad — Manage compact pad

• etherpad-pp-cli compact-pad — compacts a pad's revision history, keeping recent revisions only

copy-pad — Manage copy pad

• etherpad-pp-cli copy-pad — copies a pad with full history and chat

copy-pad-without-history — Manage copy pad without history

• etherpad-pp-cli copy-pad-without-history — copies a pad without history or chat

create-author — Manage create author

• etherpad-pp-cli create-author — creates a new author

create-author-if-not-exists-for — Manage create author if not exists for

• etherpad-pp-cli create-author-if-not-exists-for — this functions helps you to map your application author ids to Etherpad author ids

create-diff-html — Manage create diff html

• etherpad-pp-cli create-diff-html — returns an HTML diff between two revisions of a pad

create-group — Manage create group

• etherpad-pp-cli create-group — creates a new group

create-group-if-not-exists-for — Manage create group if not exists for

• etherpad-pp-cli create-group-if-not-exists-for — this functions helps you to map your application group ids to Etherpad group ids

create-group-pad — Manage create group pad

• etherpad-pp-cli create-group-pad — creates a new pad in this group

create-pad — Manage create pad

• etherpad-pp-cli create-pad — creates a new (non-group) pad. Note that if you need to create a group Pad, you should call createGroupPad

create-session — Manage create session

• etherpad-pp-cli create-session — creates a new session. validUntil is an unix timestamp in seconds

delete-group — Manage delete group

• etherpad-pp-cli delete-group — deletes a group

delete-pad — Manage delete pad

• etherpad-pp-cli delete-pad — deletes a pad

delete-session — Manage delete session

• etherpad-pp-cli delete-session — deletes a session

get-attribute-pool — Manage get attribute pool

• etherpad-pp-cli get-attribute-pool — returns the attribute pool of a pad

get-author-name — Manage get author name

• etherpad-pp-cli get-author-name — Returns the Author Name of the author

get-chat-head — Manage get chat head

• etherpad-pp-cli get-chat-head — returns the chatHead (chat-message) of the pad

get-chat-history — Manage get chat history

• etherpad-pp-cli get-chat-history — returns the chat history

get-html — Manage get html

• etherpad-pp-cli get-html — returns the text of a pad formatted as HTML

get-last-edited — Manage get last edited

• etherpad-pp-cli get-last-edited — returns the timestamp of the last revision of the pad

get-pad-id — Manage get pad id

• etherpad-pp-cli get-pad-id — returns the read-write pad ID for a given read-only pad ID

get-public-status — Manage get public status

• etherpad-pp-cli get-public-status — return true of false

get-read-only-id — Manage get read only id

• etherpad-pp-cli get-read-only-id — returns the read only link of a pad

get-revision-changeset — Manage get revision changeset

• etherpad-pp-cli get-revision-changeset — returns the changeset at a given revision of a pad

get-revisions-count — Manage get revisions count

• etherpad-pp-cli get-revisions-count — returns the number of revisions of this pad

get-saved-revisions-count — Manage get saved revisions count

• etherpad-pp-cli get-saved-revisions-count — returns the number of saved revisions of a pad

get-session-info — Manage get session info

• etherpad-pp-cli get-session-info — returns information about a session

get-stats — Manage get stats

• etherpad-pp-cli get-stats — returns server-wide statistics

get-text — Manage get text

• etherpad-pp-cli get-text — returns the text of a pad

list-all-groups — Manage list all groups

• etherpad-pp-cli list-all-groups — returns the IDs of all groups on this server

list-all-pads — Manage list all pads

• etherpad-pp-cli list-all-pads — list all the pads

list-authors-of-pad — Manage list authors of pad

• etherpad-pp-cli list-authors-of-pad — returns an array of authors who contributed to this pad

list-pads — Manage list pads

• etherpad-pp-cli list-pads — returns all pads of this group

list-pads-of-author — Manage list pads of author

• etherpad-pp-cli list-pads-of-author — returns an array of all pads this author contributed to

list-saved-revisions — Manage list saved revisions

• etherpad-pp-cli list-saved-revisions — returns the list of saved revisions of a pad

list-sessions-of-author — Manage list sessions of author

• etherpad-pp-cli list-sessions-of-author — returns all sessions of an author

list-sessions-of-group — Manage list sessions of group

• etherpad-pp-cli list-sessions-of-group — returns all sessions of a group

move-pad — Manage move pad

• etherpad-pp-cli move-pad — moves a pad — copy then delete the original

pad-users — Manage pad users

• etherpad-pp-cli pad-users — returns the list of users that are currently editing this pad

pad-users-count — Manage pad users count

• etherpad-pp-cli pad-users-count — returns the number of user that are currently editing this pad

restore-revision — Manage restore revision

• etherpad-pp-cli restore-revision — restores a pad to a specific revision

save-revision — Manage save revision

• etherpad-pp-cli save-revision — saves a revision of a pad

send-clients-message — Manage send clients message

• etherpad-pp-cli send-clients-message — sends a custom message of type msg to the pad

set-html — Manage set html

• etherpad-pp-cli set-html — sets the text of a pad with HTML

set-public-status — Manage set public status

• etherpad-pp-cli set-public-status — sets a boolean for the public status of a pad

set-text — Manage set text

• etherpad-pp-cli set-text — sets the text of a pad

Finding the right command

When you know what you want to do but not which command does it, ask the CLI directly:

etherpad-pp-cli which "<capability in your own words>"

which resolves a natural-language capability query to the best matching command from this CLI's curated feature index. Exit code 0 means at least one match; exit code 2 means no confident match — fall back to --help or use a narrower query.

Auth Setup

Store your access token:

etherpad-pp-cli auth set-token YOUR_TOKEN_HERE

Or set ETHERPAD_OPENID as an environment variable.

Run etherpad-pp-cli doctor to verify setup.

Agent Mode

Add --agent to any command. Expands to: --json --compact --no-input --no-color --yes.

• Pipeable — JSON on stdout, errors on stderr

• Filterable — --select keeps a subset of fields. Dotted paths descend into nested structures; arrays traverse element-wise. Critical for keeping context small on verbose APIs:

  etherpad-pp-cli anonymize-author --agent --select id,name,status
  

• Previewable — --dry-run shows the request without sending

• Offline-friendly — sync/search commands can use the local SQLite store when available

• Non-interactive — never prompts, every input is a flag

• Explicit retries — use --idempotent only when an already-existing create should count as success

Response envelope

Commands that read from the local store or the API wrap output in a provenance envelope:

{
  "meta": {"source": "live" | "local", "synced_at": "...", "reason": "..."},
  "results": <data>
}

Parse .results for data and .meta.source to know whether it's live or local. A human-readable N results (live) summary is printed to stderr only when stdout is a terminal — piped/agent consumers get pure JSON on stdout.

Agent Feedback

When you (or the agent) notice something off about this CLI, record it:

etherpad-pp-cli feedback "the --since flag is inclusive but docs say exclusive"
etherpad-pp-cli feedback --stdin < notes.txt
etherpad-pp-cli feedback list --json --limit 10

Entries are stored locally at ~/.etherpad-pp-cli/feedback.jsonl. They are never POSTed unless ETHERPAD_FEEDBACK_ENDPOINT is set AND either --send is passed or ETHERPAD_FEEDBACK_AUTO_SEND=true. Default behavior is local-only.

Write what surprised you, not a bug report. Short, specific, one line: that is the part that compounds.

Output Delivery

Every command accepts --deliver <sink>. The output goes to the named sink in addition to (or instead of) stdout, so agents can route command results without hand-piping. Three sinks are supported:

Unknown schemes are refused with a structured error naming the supported set. Webhook failures return non-zero and log the URL + HTTP status on stderr.

Named Profiles

A profile is a saved set of flag values, reused across invocations. Use it when a scheduled agent calls the same command every run with the same configuration - HeyGen's "Beacon" pattern.

etherpad-pp-cli profile save briefing --json
etherpad-pp-cli --profile briefing anonymize-author
etherpad-pp-cli profile list --json
etherpad-pp-cli profile show briefing
etherpad-pp-cli profile delete briefing --yes

Explicit flags always win over profile values; profile values win over defaults. agent-context lists all available profiles under available_profiles so introspecting agents discover them at runtime.

Exit Codes

Argument Parsing

Parse $ARGUMENTS:

1. Empty, help, or --help → show etherpad-pp-cli --help output
2. Starts with install → ends with mcp → MCP installation; otherwise → see Prerequisites above
3. Anything else → Direct Use (execute as CLI command with --agent)

MCP Server Installation

Install the MCP binary from this CLI's published public-library entry or pre-built release, then register it:

claude mcp add etherpad-pp-mcp -- etherpad-pp-mcp

Verify: claude mcp list

Direct Use

1. Check if installed: which etherpad-pp-cli If not found, offer to install (see Prerequisites at the top of this skill).
2. Match the user query to the best command from the Unique Capabilities and Command Reference above.
3. Execute with the --agent flag:

   etherpad-pp-cli <command> [subcommand] [args] --agent
   

4. If ambiguous, drill into subcommand help: etherpad-pp-cli <command> --help.