Use this skill when a user asks you to operate dce, inspect its API commands, or find the right generated command for an API task.
Workflow
- Search for candidates with
dce search "<intent>" --json; use--limitwhen needed. Search is only candidate discovery. - Inspect the exact command with
dce commands show <path...> --jsonbefore executing an unfamiliar command. - If the command detail has
auth.required=true, rundce auth status -o jsonbefore execution and readhostnameandsource. Host resolution order:--hostname>$DCE_HOST> the selected host (dce auth use <host>) >http.default_hostname> the single host inhosts.yml. If none applies, stop and ask the user to authenticate or select a host. - Execute only after flags, body, auth, HTTP path,
mutation,dry_run, and output hints are clear fromcommands show. Whenmutationis notread, preview with--<dry_run.flag>ifdry_run.modeishttp_preview; if preview is unavailable, obtain explicit user confirmation before execution.
General Commands
dce commands --json: full generated command catalog.dce commands --include-hidden --json: include hidden generated commands.dce commands show <path...> --json: source of truth for one command.dce commands schema --json: catalog schema version, surfaces, and dry-run result shape.dce search "<intent>" --json: ranked candidate commands.dce auth status -o json: resolvedhostname, itssource, theselectedhost, and every logged-in host.
Maintenance Commands
dce --versionordce -v: print CLI build version.
References
- Read
references/catalog.mdfor the command discovery protocol and catalog field meanings. - Read
references/modules/ai-lab.mdfor theai-labmodule command index. - Read
references/modules/billing-center.mdfor thebilling-centermodule command index. - Read
references/modules/business-cockpit.mdfor thebusiness-cockpitmodule command index. - Read
references/modules/container-management.mdfor thecontainer-managementmodule command index. - Read
references/modules/elasticsearch.mdfor theelasticsearchmodule command index. - Read
references/modules/global-management.mdfor theglobal-managementmodule command index. - Read
references/modules/insight.mdfor theinsightmodule command index. - Read
references/modules/kafka.mdfor thekafkamodule command index. - Read
references/modules/llm-studio.mdfor thellm-studiomodule command index. - Read
references/modules/microservice-engine.mdfor themicroservice-enginemodule command index. - Read
references/modules/minio.mdfor theminiomodule command index. - Read
references/modules/mongodb.mdfor themongodbmodule command index. - Read
references/modules/mysql.mdfor themysqlmodule command index. - Read
references/modules/operations-management.mdfor theoperations-managementmodule command index. - Read
references/modules/postgresql.mdfor thepostgresqlmodule command index. - Read
references/modules/rabbitmq.mdfor therabbitmqmodule command index. - Read
references/modules/redis.mdfor theredismodule command index. - Read
references/modules/rocketmq.mdfor therocketmqmodule command index. - Read
references/modules/seaweedfs.mdfor theseaweedfsmodule command index. - Read
references/modules/virtual-machines.mdfor thevirtual-machinesmodule command index. - Read
references/modules/workbench.mdfor theworkbenchmodule command index.
Rules
- Do not guess flags or request body shape from command names.
- Do not execute directly from search results; confirm with
commands showfirst. - When
mutationis notread, preview before execution ifdry_run.modeishttp_preview. If preview is unavailable, obtain explicit user confirmation before execution.unknownis not safe to treat as read. - Prefer
-o jsonfor machine-readable command output unless the user asks for human-readable output. - With
-o jsonor-o yaml, branch onerror.codeand process exit status;error.messageanderror.hintare safe human guidance, anderror.http.statusis the only optional HTTP context. - A configured stream pause is successful (
exit 0); inspect the collected output field mapped from the pause event instead of treating it as an error. - For collected streams, choose one mode:
-o jsonfor one stable document,--streamin the default output mode when catalogoutput.streaming.policy.liveis present, or-o rawfor wire events. - Use
--file,--set, or--set-strfor JSON request bodies according tocommands showbody requirements. - When
body.runtime_schemais present, normal execution fetches and validates against that schema before the target request; anhttp_previewdry-run stays network-free and skips this preflight. - For sensitive flags, prefer safe modes from
flags[].input_modes:--<flag>-env,--<flag>-file, or--<flag>-stdin.
Module availability
The catalog (dce commands / dce search) lists every module dce was built with, regardless of which modules are actually installed on the target host. A command appearing in the catalog does not guarantee its module is deployed.
A 404 / route-not-found at the module path level (the API route itself does not exist, not a specific object) is ambiguous: the module may not be installed, or the path/version may be wrong. On such a 404, actively confirm before concluding by running dce global-management about list-g-product-versions -o json (global-management is the always-present base module, so this is always available). Then:
- Module not in the list → it is not installed on this host. Do not retry, do not try sibling commands in the same module, and do not tell the user the capability exists — state plainly that the module is not installed.
- Module in the list → it is installed, so the
404is not a missing module. Re-check the exact path and params withdce commands show <path...> --json(likely a wrong path/version or a resource-level not-found); do not report the module as missing. - Resource-level
404(a specific ID/name on an otherwise-working module) means that object doesn't exist, not that the module is missing — handle that normally.