> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.moderncollections.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.moderncollections.io/sdks/cli.md).

# CLI

`mc-api` is the command-line client for the Modern Collections **external REST API** — the creditor-API-key surface. It ships from the `mc_api` Python package, which also provides a typed client library (`mc_api.client.MCClient`) and an [MCP server](/mcp-servers/overview.md) (`mc-api-mcp`). The CLI and the MCP server are thin front-ends over the same hardened HTTP client, so they depend only on the public HTTP contract and version independently of the backend.

## Install

The `mc-api` package is not on PyPI yet — it is distributed by Modern Collections during onboarding. Install the provided package into your virtualenv:

```bash
pip install ./mc_api      # path to the provided package
```

This installs two console scripts onto your `PATH`: `mc-api` (this CLI) and `mc-api-mcp` (the MCP stdio server). Verify the install:

```bash
mc-api --help
```

## Configuration

Configuration is entirely environment-driven. Pick an environment **or** an explicit base URL, and supply a creditor API key. **There is no production default — by design**: a forgotten flag can never silently aim a test key at production.

| Variable          | Values                 | Notes                                                                      |
| ----------------- | ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `MC_API_ENV`      | `demo` \| `prod`       | Selects a known environment.                                               |
| `MC_API_BASE_URL` | An explicit base URL   | Overrides `MC_API_ENV`. The `/v1` prefix is added automatically if absent. |
| `MC_API_KEY`      | `ca_<prefix>_<secret>` | The creditor API key. **Never printed or logged.**                         |

The key is read into the request `Authorization: Bearer <key>` header only — it is excluded from `repr()`, exceptions, and log output.

### Environment → base URL

The API is versioned under `/v1`; the client adds that prefix for you.

| `MC_API_ENV` | Base URL                                |
| ------------ | --------------------------------------- |
| `demo`       | `https://app.demo.moderncollections.io` |
| `prod`       | `https://api.moderncollections.io`      |

{% hint style="info" %}
On **demo**, the bare `/health` route belongs to the dashboard origin, not the API — so `mc-api health --env demo` may report a non-JSON body. Authenticated `/v1/*` calls still reach the backend normally.
{% endhint %}

### Setting it up

```bash
export MC_API_ENV=prod
export MC_API_KEY=ca_a3f8c0d1_your_secret_here

mc-api health
```

### Selection precedence

When more than one source is present, the resolved target follows this order (highest first):

1. `--base-url` (explicit flag)
2. `--env` (explicit flag)
3. `MC_API_BASE_URL` (environment variable)
4. `MC_API_ENV` (environment variable)

If nothing selects a target, the command exits `2` with a configuration error — there is no fallback to production.

## Global options

Global options are resolved on the root command and **must precede the subcommand**:

```bash
mc-api [GLOBAL OPTIONS] <command> [SUBCOMMAND ARGS]
```

| Option           | Env var           | Default | Description                                 |
| ---------------- | ----------------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| `-e`, `--env`    | `MC_API_ENV`      | —       | `demo` \| `prod`.                           |
| `--base-url`     | `MC_API_BASE_URL` | —       | Override the API base URL.                  |
| `--api-key`      | `MC_API_KEY`      | —       | Creditor API key (`ca_...`). Never printed. |
| `-o`, `--output` | —                 | `table` | Output format: `table` \| `json`.           |
| `--timeout`      | —                 | `30.0`  | Read timeout in seconds.                    |

```bash
# Equivalent ways to target the demo environment:
mc-api --env demo health
MC_API_ENV=demo mc-api health
mc-api --base-url https://app.demo.moderncollections.io health
```

### Output format

`table` (the default) renders human-readable Rich tables. Collection responses become a row per item; detail objects become a flat field/value table. `-o json` emits pretty-printed JSON for scripting and piping:

```bash
mc-api -o json analytics summary | jq '.total_recovered_amount'
```

## Command tree

```
mc-api
├── health                          Check API reachability
├── placements
│   ├── create                      Place an overdue invoice
│   ├── get      <placement_id>     Retrieve a placement
│   ├── list                        List placements (paginated)
│   ├── recall   <placement_id>     Recall a placement (stop outreach)
│   ├── posture  <placement_id>     Change collection posture
│   └── audit    <placement_id>     Read the append-only audit trail
├── payments
│   ├── record   <placement_id>     Record a payment received
│   └── list                        List payment commitments
├── analytics
│   ├── summary                     Headline per-creditor aggregates
│   └── series   <metric>           Fetch an analytics series
└── disputes
    ├── get      <placement_id>     Inspect a placement's dispute
    └── ack      <placement_id>     Acknowledge a debtor's dispute
```

***

### `health`

Unauthenticated transport smoke test — confirms the API host is reachable. Hits the bare `/health` route (or `/health/deep` with `--deep`).

```bash
mc-api --env prod health
mc-api --env demo health --deep
```

***

### `placements create`

Place an overdue invoice for collection. `--company` and `--amount` are required; the rest are optional debtor contact and placement metadata.

| Option             | Required | Description                                        |
| ------------------ | -------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| `--company`        | yes      | Debtor company name.                               |
| `--amount`         | yes      | Invoice amount — positive decimal, e.g. `7500.00`. |
| `--email`          | no       | Debtor accounts-payable email.                     |
| `--phone`          | no       | Debtor phone.                                      |
| `--domain`         | no       | Debtor primary domain.                             |
| `--state`          | no       | Two-letter state.                                  |
| `--city`           | no       | City.                                              |
| `--zip`            | no       | ZIP / postal code.                                 |
| `--invoice-number` | no       | Your invoice number.                               |
| `--due-date`       | no       | ISO date, e.g. `2026-05-01`.                       |
| `--posture`        | no       | `preserve` \| `escalate`.                          |
| `--notes`          | no       | Free-text notes.                                   |
| `--callback-url`   | no       | Webhook callback URL for this placement.           |

```bash
mc-api placements create \
  --company "Acme Freight" \
  --amount 7500.00 \
  --email ap@acme.co \
  --domain acme.co \
  --state TX \
  --invoice-number INV-2041 \
  --due-date 2026-05-01 \
  --posture preserve \
  --notes "Net-30 invoice, 45 days past due"
```

***

### `placements get`

Retrieve a single placement by id.

```bash
mc-api placements get <placement_id>
mc-api -o json placements get <placement_id>
```

***

### `placements list`

List placements, paginated. Filter by one or more statuses (comma-separated).

| Option        | Default | Description                    |
| ------------- | ------- | ------------------------------ |
| `--page`      | `1`     | Page number.                   |
| `--page-size` | `25`    | Items per page.                |
| `--status`    | —       | Comma-separated status filter. |

```bash
mc-api placements list
mc-api placements list --status in_outreach
mc-api placements list --status in_outreach,disputed --page 2 --page-size 50
```

***

### `placements recall`

Recall a placement — stops all further outreach.

```bash
mc-api placements recall <placement_id>
```

***

### `placements posture`

Change a placement's collection posture. `--posture` is required.

```bash
mc-api placements posture <placement_id> --posture escalate
mc-api placements posture <placement_id> --posture preserve
```

***

### `placements audit`

Read a placement's append-only audit trail (keyset-paginated).

| Option         | Description                           |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| `--event-type` | Comma-separated event types (max 25). |
| `--cursor`     | Keyset cursor from a prior page.      |
| `--limit`      | Max events to return.                 |

```bash
mc-api placements audit <placement_id>
mc-api placements audit <placement_id> --event-type call.completed,payment.received --limit 50
mc-api -o json placements audit <placement_id> --cursor 2026-06-01T12:30:00+00:00
```

***

### `payments record`

Record a payment received against a placement. `--amount` is a positive decimal.

```bash
mc-api payments record <placement_id> --amount 500.00
```

{% hint style="warning" %}
Payment writes are never auto-retried by the client, so a recorded payment can't be silently duplicated. If a `record` command times out, check `payments list` before retrying.
{% endhint %}

***

### `payments list`

List payment commitments across your placements, paginated.

| Option        | Default | Description     |
| ------------- | ------- | --------------- |
| `--page`      | `1`     | Page number.    |
| `--page-size` | `25`    | Items per page. |

```bash
mc-api payments list
mc-api -o json payments list --page 1 --page-size 100
```

***

### `analytics summary`

Headline per-creditor aggregates (recovered totals, active placements, and the like).

```bash
mc-api analytics summary
mc-api -o json analytics summary
```

***

### `analytics series`

Fetch a named analytics series. The `<metric>` argument is one of:

`recovered-daily` · `status-distribution` · `call-heatmap` · `top-debtors` · `days-to-payment` · `email-funnel`

```bash
mc-api analytics series recovered-daily
mc-api -o json analytics series status-distribution
mc-api analytics series top-debtors
```

***

### `disputes get`

Inspect a placement's dispute, if one has been filed.

```bash
mc-api disputes get <placement_id>
mc-api -o json disputes get <placement_id>
```

***

### `disputes ack`

Acknowledge a dispute filed by a debtor. `--note` is optional context for the audit trail.

```bash
mc-api disputes ack <placement_id>
mc-api disputes ack <placement_id> --note "Spoke with AP; sending corrected invoice"
```

## Exit codes

Every command maps its outcome to one of three exit codes, so you can drive the CLI from scripts and CI:

| Code | Meaning                     | Typical cause                                                                                                    |
| ---- | --------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `0`  | Success                     | The request completed and any response was printed.                                                              |
| `1`  | API / runtime error         | A non-2xx response, a timeout, or a transport error. The status and the server's `detail` are printed to stderr. |
| `2`  | Configuration / usage error | No environment selected, missing API key, unknown env name, or a bad flag.                                       |

```bash
if mc-api -o json placements get <placement_id> > placement.json; then
  echo "fetched"
else
  case $? in
    1) echo "API error — check status/detail on stderr" ;;
    2) echo "config error — set MC_API_ENV and MC_API_KEY" ;;
  esac
fi
```

## Safety properties

* The API key lives only in the `Authorization` header — excluded from `repr()`, exceptions, and logs.
* Explicit connect/read/write timeouts (no unbounded reads).
* Only idempotent `GET`s are retried (on `429`/`5xx`, with exponential backoff). `POST`/`PATCH`/`DELETE` are never auto-retried, so a create or a payment can't be duplicated.
* No production default environment — every invocation must select a target explicitly.

## See also

* [Authentication](/getting-started/authentication.md) — how creditor keys (`ca_...`) are issued.
* [Environments](/getting-started/environments.md) — `demo` vs `prod` base URLs.
* [MCP Servers overview](/mcp-servers/overview.md) — the `mc-api-mcp` stdio server built from the same client.
* [REST API overview](/rest-api/overview.md) — the underlying HTTP contract (canonical machine-readable spec: `api-reference/rest-api/openapi.yaml`).
* [Python SDK](/sdks/python.md) · [JavaScript SDK](/sdks/javascript.md) · [Codegen](/sdks/codegen.md).


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