Polar CLI
Unofficial CLI for Polar with full API parity. Optimized for both developers and AI agents.
When to use
Use this CLI when you need to:
- Manage Polar resources (products, customers, subscriptions, orders, etc.)
- Create or inspect checkouts and checkout links
- Issue, validate, or manage license keys
- Ingest events or query usage-based billing meters
- Set up webhooks
- Script or automate Polar workflows from the terminal
Install
npm install -g @miketromba/polar-cli
The CLI is also available via npx @miketromba/polar-cli, or install with yarn/pnpm/bun.
Authentication
# Interactive login (token is stored locally)
polar auth login --token <access-token>
# Or set the environment variable (preferred for CI/scripts/agents)
export POLAR_ACCESS_TOKEN=polar_at_xxx
Get an access token at https://polar.sh/settings.
Check auth status:
polar auth status
Command grammar
All commands follow this pattern:
polar <resource> <action> [id] [--flags]
Examples:
polar products list
polar customers get <id>
polar subscriptions create --customer-id <id> --product-id <id>
polar checkouts create --products <product-id>
polar webhooks delete <id> --yes
Run polar --help for all resources. Run polar <resource> --help for actions and examples.
Output formats
The CLI auto-detects the environment:
| Context | Default format | Description |
|---|---|---|
| TTY (interactive) | table | Human-readable columns with color |
| Piped / non-TTY | compact | key=value one-liners, minimal tokens |
Override with -o <format>:
| Format | Flag | Use case |
|---|---|---|
| compact | -o compact | AI agents, scripting |
| json | -o json | Programmatic consumption |
| jsonl | -o jsonl | Streaming, jq pipelines |
| csv | -o csv | Export, spreadsheets |
| tsv | -o tsv | Unix tools (cut, awk) |
| id | -o id | Pipe IDs to other commands |
| count | -o count | "How many?" queries |
| table | -o table | Human-readable |
Parsing compact output
Compact format is optimized for AI agents:
products 1-5/42 page=1
[1] id=prod_123 name="Pro Plan" isRecurring=true prices=1
[2] id=prod_456 name="Starter" isRecurring=true prices=1
next: polar products list --page 2 --limit 5
Field selection
polar customers list --fields id,email,name
polar products get <id> --detail # Full detail view
Common workflows
List and filter resources
polar products list
polar products list --query "Pro" --limit 5
polar customers list --email user@example.com
polar subscriptions list --active --product-id <id>
polar orders list --customer-id <id> --output json
Create resources
polar customers create --email user@example.com --name "Jane Doe"
polar products create --name "Pro Plan" --prices '[{"amount":2999,"currency":"usd","recurringInterval":"month"}]'
polar checkouts create --products <product-id> --customer-email user@example.com
polar discounts create --name "20% Off" --type percentage --amount 20 --duration once
polar webhooks create --url https://example.com/hook --events order.created,subscription.created
Update and delete
polar products update <id> --name "Enterprise Plan"
polar customers update <id> --name "Jane Smith"
polar customers delete <id> --yes # --yes required for destructive actions
License keys
polar license-keys list
polar license-keys validate --key XXXX-XXXX --organization-id <org-id>
polar license-keys activate --key XXXX-XXXX --organization-id <org-id> --label "Prod Server"
Usage-based billing
polar meters list
polar events ingest --events '[{"name":"api_call","externalCustomerId":"user_123"}]'
polar metrics get --start-date 2025-01-01 --end-date 2025-01-31 --interval month
Pagination
polar products list --limit 50 --page 2
polar products list --first 3 # Shorthand: --limit 3 --page 1
polar products list --all # Fetch all pages
Pipe patterns
# Get all product IDs
polar products list -o id
# Count active subscriptions
polar subscriptions list --active -o count
# Export customers as JSON
polar customers list --all -o json > customers.json
# Pipe to jq
polar orders list -o jsonl | jq '.totalAmount'
Environment variables
| Variable | Purpose |
|---|---|
POLAR_ACCESS_TOKEN | Access token (overrides stored credential) |
POLAR_ORGANIZATION_ID | Default organization ID |
POLAR_SERVER | production or sandbox |
POLAR_OUTPUT | Default output format |
Key global flags
| Flag | Short | Description |
|---|---|---|
--output <format> | -o | Output format |
--fields <list> | -f | Comma-separated field selection |
--detail | -d | Full detail view |
--org <id> | Organization ID override | |
--yes | -y | Skip confirmation prompts |
--quiet | -q | Data only, no hints or headers |
--server <name> | -s | production or sandbox |
Resources
For the full list of resources and their operations, see reference.md.
Official Polar documentation
For deeper understanding of Polar platform concepts, API behaviors, scopes, webhook events, or feature guides, fetch the official docs index:
https://polar.sh/docs/llms.txt
This is a machine-readable index of all Polar documentation. Use it when you need to:
- Understand how a Polar feature works (e.g., usage-based billing, seat-based pricing, trials)
- Check required API scopes for an operation
- Look up webhook event payloads and lifecycle
- Find guides for specific workflows (e.g., checkout sessions, license key validation)
- Verify API behavior or constraints that the CLI wraps
Fetch the index, find the relevant doc URL, then fetch that page for full details.