generated: '2026-09-05'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://carsxe.com/docs/integrations/cli-quickstart and
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/carsxe/cli/main/README.md
name: carsxe
package: "@carsxe/cli"
registry: npm
version: 1.1.0
published: '2026-04-21'
repository: https://github.com/carsxe/cli
docs: https://carsxe.com/docs/integrations/cli-quickstart
requirements: Node.js 22 or higher
install:
  - npm install -g "@carsxe/cli"
authentication:
  methods:
    - {name: browser login, command: carsxe login, detail: "opens https://carsxe.com/cli-auth, stores the key in ~/.carsxe/config.json"}
    - {name: manual, command: carsxe config set-key YOUR_API_KEY}
    - {name: environment, variable: CARSXE_API_KEY, detail: takes precedence over the saved config file}
global_options:
  - {flag: "--table", description: output a formatted table instead of JSON}
  - {flag: "--raw", description: output compact single-line JSON}
  - {flag: "-v, --version", description: print version number}
  - {flag: "-h, --help", description: display help}
commands:
  - {command: login, group: auth, description: authorize via browser and save the API key automatically}
  - {command: config, group: auth, description: "manage the saved key — set-key, get-key, remove-key"}
  - {command: specs, group: vehicle, description: decode a VIN and get full vehicle specifications, operation: getVehicleSpecs}
  - {command: market-value, group: vehicle, description: retail, trade-in and wholesale valuation for a VIN, operation: getMarketValueV2}
  - {command: history, group: vehicle, description: vehicle history report for a VIN, operation: getVehicleHistory}
  - {command: recalls, group: vehicle, description: open safety recalls for a VIN, operation: getVehicleRecalls}
  - {command: lien-theft, group: vehicle, description: active liens and theft records for a VIN, operation: getLienTheft}
  - {command: international-vin, group: vehicle, description: decode a non-US VIN, operation: getInternationalVinDecoder}
  - {command: plate-decoder, group: plate, description: decode a license plate to vehicle data, operation: decodePlateV2}
  - {command: plate-image, group: plate, description: recognize a plate from an image, operation: recognizePlate}
  - {command: vin-ocr, group: plate, description: extract a VIN from an image, operation: vinOcr}
  - {command: ymm, group: vehicle, description: look up a vehicle by year, make and model, operation: getYearMakeModel}
  - {command: images, group: vehicle, description: vehicle image search, operation: getVehicleImages}
  - {command: obd, group: diagnostics, description: decode an OBD-II trouble code, operation: decodeObdCode}
exit_codes:
  0: success
  1: error (message on stderr)
note: >-
  The CLI is positioned as the agent-facing shell surface — the provider's own agent-onboarding
  skill names @carsxe/cli as the recommended path for coding agents and the raw HTTP API as the
  path for chat agents. It covers 12 of the 21 published operations; the Recalls Batch surface,
  Recalls by YMM, the US plate decoder and YMM Options have no CLI command.