HKUDS cli-anything-blender
A stateful command-line interface for 3D scene editing, following the same patterns as the GIMP CLI harness. Uses a JSON scene description format with bpy script generation for actual Blender rendering.
Installation
This CLI is installed as part of the cli-anything-blender package:
pip install cli-anything-blender
Prerequisites:
- Python 3.10+
- blender (>= 4.2) must be installed on your system
Usage
Basic Commands
# Show help
cli-anything-blender --help
# Start interactive REPL mode
cli-anything-blender
# Create a new scene project
cli-anything-blender scene new -o scene.blend-cli.json
# Run with JSON output (for agent consumption)
cli-anything-blender --json --project scene.blend-cli.json scene info
REPL Mode
When invoked without a subcommand, the CLI enters an interactive REPL session:
cli-anything-blender
# Enter commands interactively with tab-completion and history
Command Groups
Scene
Scene management commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
new |
Create a new scene |
open |
Open an existing scene |
save |
Save the current scene |
info |
Show scene information |
profiles |
List available scene profiles |
json |
Print raw scene JSON |
Object Group
3D object management commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
add |
Add a 3D primitive object |
remove |
Remove an object by index |
duplicate |
Duplicate an object |
transform |
Transform an object (translate, rotate, scale) |
set |
Set an object property (name, visible, location, rotation, scale, parent) |
list |
List all objects |
get |
Get detailed info about an object |
Material
Material management commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
create |
Create a new material |
assign |
Assign a material to an object |
set |
Set a material property (color, metallic, roughness, specular, alpha, etc.) |
list |
List all materials |
get |
Get detailed info about a material |
Modifier Group
Modifier management commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
list-available |
List all available modifiers |
info |
Show details about a modifier |
add |
Add a modifier to an object |
remove |
Remove a modifier by index |
set |
Set a modifier parameter |
list |
List modifiers on an object |
Camera
Camera management commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
add |
Add a camera to the scene |
set |
Set a camera property |
set-active |
Set the active camera |
list |
List all cameras |
Light
Light management commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
add |
Add a light to the scene |
set |
Set a light property |
list |
List all lights |
Animation
Animation and keyframe commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
keyframe |
Set a keyframe on an object |
remove-keyframe |
Remove a keyframe from an object |
frame-range |
Set the animation frame range |
fps |
Set the animation FPS |
list-keyframes |
List keyframes for an object |
Render Group
Render settings and output commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
settings |
Configure render settings |
info |
Show current render settings |
presets |
List available render presets |
execute |
Render the scene (generates bpy script) |
script |
Generate bpy script without rendering |
Preview
Real preview bundle capture and live preview session commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
preview recipes |
List available preview recipes |
preview capture |
Render a real preview bundle for the active scene |
preview latest |
Return the latest existing preview bundle |
preview live start |
Start a live preview session and publish the first bundle |
preview live push |
Publish a refreshed bundle into the live session |
preview live status |
Read current live-session state without rendering |
preview live stop |
Stop the live session without deleting artifacts |
Typical bundle artifacts for recipe quick:
hero.pngfrom real Eevee preview renderingworkbench.pngfrom real Blender Workbench rendering
Live sessions persist:
session.jsonas the mutable head- immutable bundle directories
trajectory.jsonas append-only command-to-preview history
Viewer side:
cli-hub previews inspect <bundle-or-session>cli-hub previews html <bundle-or-session> -o page.htmlcli-hub previews watch <session-dir> --opencli-hub previews open <bundle-or-session>
Session
Session management commands.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
status |
Show session status |
undo |
Undo the last operation |
redo |
Redo the last undone operation |
history |
Show undo history |
Examples
Create a New Project
Create a new Blender scene project file.
cli-anything-blender scene new -o myscene.blend-cli.json
# Or with JSON output for programmatic use
cli-anything-blender --json scene new -o myscene.blend-cli.json
Interactive REPL Session
Start an interactive session with undo/redo support.
cli-anything-blender
# Enter commands interactively
# Use 'help' to see available commands
# Use 'undo' and 'redo' for history navigation
State Management
The CLI maintains session state with:
- Undo/Redo: Up to 50 levels of history
- Project persistence: Save/load project state as JSON
- Session tracking: Track modifications and changes
Output Formats
All commands support dual output modes:
- Human-readable (default): Tables, colors, formatted text
- Machine-readable (
--jsonflag): Structured JSON for agent consumption
# Human output
cli-anything-blender --project scene.blend-cli.json scene info
# JSON output for agents
cli-anything-blender --json --project scene.blend-cli.json scene info
Preview Workflow
Use Blender previews when the agent needs truthful visual checkpoints:
# List preview recipes
cli-anything-blender --project scene.blend-cli.json preview recipes
# Capture a real preview bundle
cli-anything-blender --json --project scene.blend-cli.json preview capture --recipe quick
# Start a live preview loop
cli-anything-blender --json --project scene.blend-cli.json preview live start --recipe quick --mode poll --source-poll-ms 500
# Query current live head without rendering
cli-anything-blender --json --project scene.blend-cli.json preview live status --recipe quick
For agents, preview capture --json returns bundle metadata plus artifact file
paths. preview live status --json returns session metadata plus a compact
trajectory_summary.
For AI Agents
When using this CLI programmatically:
- Always use
--jsonflag for parseable output - Check return codes - 0 for success, non-zero for errors
- Parse stderr for error messages on failure
- MANDATORY: Use absolute paths for all file operations (rendering, project files). Relative paths are prone to failure in background execution.
- Use
preview captureorpreview live ...for visual verification instead of inferring scene quality from JSON alone - Read returned artifact paths such as
hero.pngandworkbench.png; the JSON payload references files, it does not inline image bytes - Treat
_bundle_diras one snapshot only; for stable live history, use_session_dirplus_trajectory_path - Use
cli-hub previews ...only to inspect/open existing previews; preview generation itself always happens throughcli-anything-blender preview ...
More Information
- Full documentation: See README.md in the package
- Test coverage: See TEST.md in the package
- Methodology: See HARNESS.md in the cli-anything-plugin
Version
1.0.0