generated: '2026-09-05'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://api.docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/introduction/, https://api.docs.cpanel.net/whm/introduction/,
  https://api.docs.cpanel.net/cpanel-api-2/, https://api.docs.cpanel.net/guides/guide-to-standardized-hooks/,
  and the x-codeSamples blocks in openapi/_original/ (a CLI sample on all 1,282 operations)
provider: cPanel
providerId: cpanel
description: >-
  cPanel ships first-party command-line tools for EVERY published API operation, and this is the
  most important thing to know about integrating with cPanel: the CLI is not a convenience layer
  over the HTTP API, it is a co-equal calling convention. The contract proves it — all 657 UAPI
  and all 625 WHM API 1 operations carry an x-codeSamples entry labelled "CLI" with the exact
  invocation. The tools are installed on the cPanel & WHM server itself; there is nothing to
  download and no package to install, which is why they appear here and not in packages/.
distribution:
  model: bundled-with-product
  install: none — shipped inside cPanel & WHM
  install_path: /usr/local/cpanel/bin/
  cloudlinux_note: >-
    cPanel documents that on CloudLinux the full path must be used —
    /usr/local/cpanel/bin/uapi and /usr/local/cpanel/bin/whmapi1 — because the short names may
    not resolve.
  registry: none
binaries:
  - name: uapi
    api: cPanel UAPI
    scope: one cPanel account
    synopsis: 'uapi --user=username --output=type Module function parameter=value parameter=value'
    flags:
      - name: --user
        description: The cPanel account username to run as.
      - name: --output
        description: json | jsonpretty | yaml
        default: yaml
      - name: --help
        description: Built-in help.
    example: 'uapi --output=jsonpretty --user=username Email list_pops'
    introduced: cPanel & WHM version 56
    docs: https://api.docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/introduction/
  - name: whmapi1
    api: WHM API 1
    scope: server-wide / reseller
    synopsis: 'whmapi1 function parameter=value parameter=value'
    flags:
      - name: --output
        description: json | jsonpretty | yaml
        default: yaml
      - name: --help
        description: Built-in help.
    example: 'whmapi1 listaccts api.chunk.enable=1 api.chunk.size=5 api.chunk.start=3'
    docs: https://api.docs.cpanel.net/whm/introduction/
  - name: cpapi2
    api: cPanel API 2 (legacy)
    scope: one cPanel account
    status: legacy — cPanel recommends UAPI instead
    docs: https://api.docs.cpanel.net/cpanel-api-2/
  - name: manage_hooks
    purpose: Register, list and remove Standardized Hooks (the server-side event system).
    install_path: /usr/local/cpanel/bin/manage_hooks
    docs: https://api.docs.cpanel.net/guides/guide-to-standardized-hooks/guide-to-standardized-hooks-the-manage-hooks-utility/
command_surface:
  shape: >-
    The command surface IS the API surface. There are no bespoke CLI verbs to learn: the module
    and function names are the same ones in the OpenAPI, and the query parameters become
    space-separated key=value pairs.
  uapi_operations: 657
  whm_operations: 625
  parameter_grammar:
    separator: space (the HTTP surface uses &)
    quoting: >-
      Special characters must be escaped or quoted. cPanel's own examples show JSON-encoded values
      passed as key=[\"a\",\"b\"] or key='{"a","b"}'.
    booleans: 1 and 0, never true/false
  pagination_filter_sort: >-
    The same api.* control variables work on the command line — api.chunk.enable, api.filter.a.field,
    api.sort_column and friends. See conventions/cpanel-conventions.yml.
  contract_extension:
    name: x-cpanel-cli-support
    present_on: 2 cPanel UAPI operations and 17 WHM API 1 operations
    meaning: Marks operations whose CLI availability differs from the default.
caveat:
  metadata_loss: >-
    cPanel documents that CLI calls do NOT return the metadata that URL-based calls return when a
    function experiences errors that prevent a successful run. An automation that shells out loses
    the failure envelope it would have received over HTTP. This is recorded in
    errors/cpanel-problem-types.yml as well, because it is a correctness trap rather than a
    convenience note.
in_product_console:
  name: WHM API Shell
  location: WHM » Home » Development » API Shell
  description: >-
    An in-product console for executing WHM API 1 functions with the sort/filter/paginate options
    exposed as form fields. cPanel points at it repeatedly in the API guides as the place to test a
    call. It executes for real — there is no dry-run.