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The developer route

This section documents kapi, the connector for a developer's working checkout. It is one of several routes into a workspace — a content platform, a design tool, or a repository connected server-side reach the same workspace without any of it. Use this section when the source files live in a repository someone edits every day and the results should land in that working tree.

For when to choose this route over a server-side repository connector, see the kapi connector.

note

The Bowrain commands ship as the kapi-bowrain plugin for the kapi CLI — there is no separate bowrain binary. Every command below is invoked as kapi <command> (e.g. kapi init, kapi push). See Installation to set it up.

The project model​

A connected project is a kapi project whose recipe declares a server: block:

  • kapi.yaml — the recipe (committed): languages, content collections, flows, plugins, brand, and the server connection
  • .kapi/flows/ — optional file-per-flow definitions (committed)
  • .kapi/cache/sync-cache.json — sync state (gitignored, local only)
  • .kapi/cache/blocks.db — block store (gitignored, regenerable)

The CLI searches upward from the current directory, the way git finds a repository root. See Project model for the full recipe reference.

Catching a project up​

One verb brings every language up to date:

kapi up          # runs on the server — org keys, shared memory and vocabulary
kapi up --plan   # dry run: pending work, reuse from memory, and a cost estimate

On a connected project kapi up prints its resolved venue first (server), pushes what drifted, streams the run's progress into the terminal, and pulls the results down. What a machine cannot decide parks into the team's review queue. See kapi up for flags and venue resolution, and Keeping content caught up for what a run does.

Moving content without producing​

kapi push and kapi pull are pure transport — like git push and git fetch, they move project state and never draft anything:

kapi status    # local changes, per-language coverage, server standing
kapi diff      # compare local against the server
kapi pull      # fetch teammates' and reviewers' work
kapi push      # send local changes up

Only changed blocks transfer — sync is content-addressed.

Running one flow​

For a specific composition — one named flow, one pass, no gate loop — define a flow in .kapi/flows/ (or inline on the recipe) and run it:

kapi run my-flow          # a custom flow
kapi run translate-qa     # a built-in composed flow

Ad-hoc file work stays available outside any project, for example kapi translate messages.json --target-lang fr or kapi pseudo-translate src/locales/en.json. See Flows.

Configuration​

kapi config name                                                   # print a project setting
kapi config name "My App"                                          # set it
kapi config set bowrain.server.url https://app.bowrain.cloud       # set the default server

See kapi config.

Next steps​