Orion CLI
OpenAPI-first CLI

Call APIs by operation ID, not by guesswork.

Start from intent, not from endpoint trivia. Search what you want to do, generate a valid payload from OpenAPI, and execute the call in seconds with reusable presets.

  • Semantic API discovery with fuzzy search
  • Automatic examples and request-body scaffolding
  • Fast execution with dry-run, curl preview, and presets
View on GitHub Read Docs
Open source under MIT Built for local API exploration Human-friendly and agent-friendly
terminal — outcome-first flow
$ orion search offers
30  get:/offers
28  post:/offers/create

$ orion example post:/offers/create --mode minimal
{
  "title": "string",
  "price": 0
}

$ orion call post:/offers/create --example --dry-run
✓ Request preview ready in one command
Why Orion

Made for the real work between docs and requests.

Orion sits in the gap between raw OpenAPI files and manual API poking. Instead of hunting through specs, stitching requests by hand, or jumping between tools, you work from the operation itself.

Operation-first

Use stable operation targets

Work directly with operation IDs and endpoint operations instead of manually reconstructing paths, payloads, and headers every time.

OpenAPI-aware

Inspect request and response shapes fast

See parameters, bodies, and responses without digging through YAML, chasing $refs, or reverse-engineering docs.

Curl-ready

Move from inspection to execution instantly

Generate ready-to-run curl commands for debugging, sharing examples, reproducing issues, and automating API workflows.

Why not just curl, Postman, or raw OpenAPI?

Because the painful part is mapping intent to the right request.

Curl is great once you already know the endpoint shape. Postman is useful once someone has assembled the request. Raw OpenAPI is the source of truth, but not the fastest interface for exploration. Orion turns the spec into a usable CLI surface.

What Orion helps with

  • Find the right operation quickly
  • Understand expected input and output before calling it
  • Generate a correct request from the spec
  • Give AI agents a predictable interface over API definitions
Quickstart

From discovery to request in a few commands.

Example operation IDs below are illustrative and spec-agnostic.

Find intent fast

orion search offers
orion search login
orion describe post:/offers/create

Start from what you want to do, then jump to the exact operation.

Execute in seconds

orion example post:/offers/create
orion call post:/offers/create --example --dry-run
orion call post:/offers/create

Generate payloads and execute with preview-first safety.

Install & Build

Simple setup for local-first API work.

Install

./setup.sh
# fallback:
zig build install --prefix ~/.local

Add Orion to your local toolchain and start exploring APIs from OpenAPI specs.

Build & test

zig build
zig test src/openapi_loader_integration_test.zig

Useful if you want to hack on the project, validate changes, or contribute.

Config

Layered configuration lets project settings override global defaults.

~/.config/orion/config.json
.orion/config.json

Current sweet spot

Orion is especially useful for local API exploration, debugging, internal tooling, CLI-based workflows, and agent-friendly access to OpenAPI-described systems.

Open source

Built in the open. Ready to test, inspect, and improve.

If the idea clicks with you, star the repo, try it on a real API spec, and break it in interesting ways. That is the fastest path to making it better.