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Terminal Tools

Document Metadata
Category: Tools & Utilities / Terminal Tools (CX-Tools)
Audience: Developers, System Administrators, Operators, SREs, Power Users
Difficulty: Intermediate to Advanced
Time Required: Approximately 20–40 minutes
Prerequisites: Node.js runtime installed (CX-Tools requires Node.js), access to a ConnexCS account, permissions to run operational tasks (SQL queries, script management, key-value operations, deployments), and ability to authenticate via CX tokens or environment variables.
Related Topics: Debugging Guide, ScriptForge, Troubleshooting – Signalling, Troubleshooting – Media
Next Steps: Install and configure CX-Tools, authenticate using `cx configure` or environment variables, explore core commands (scripts, SQL queries, KV store, deployments), integrate CLI usage into your development or operational workflows, and automate recurring tasks via scripts or CI pipelines.

Overview

CX-Tools ("cx")/Terminal Toolsis the official ConnexCS Command‑Line Interface (CLI) that provides a compact, scriptable, and developer‑friendly modality to interact with ConnexCS services.

It is aimed at developers, system administrators, and power users who prefer working in terminal environments.

CX-Tools exposes common operational tasks like script management, SQL queries, key‑value store access, deployments, and application management via a single, extensible CLI.

Info

Currently, CX-Tools is primarily targeted at development workflows. The CLI is functionally language-agnostic in how it interacts with ConnexCS services, however it requires the Node.js runtime because the tooling itself is implemented in Node.js.

Click here for more comprehensive documentation, examples and codes.

Who is this for?

  • Developers: To build, edit, test and push multi‑file scripts from a terminal or editor (VS Code) and run remote scripts for quick feedback.
  • System administrators / Operators: To run ad‑hoc SQL queries, fetch CDRs, investigate numbers, and perform routine maintenance using powerful piping and text tools.
  • Power users / SREs: To embed ConnexCS operations into automation pipelines (CI, cron, scripts), and glue ConnexCS to existing UNIX toolchains.

Authentication & Security

Flow (high level)

  1. cx configure — prompts for username & password (or accepts CX_BASE_URL + CX_TOKEN env vars).
  2. Server authenticates and issues a refresh token (longer lifetime) and a short‑lived access token (used for requests).
  3. CX stores only tokens (not plain username/password) in local config (~/.cx/config by default).
  4. For each request, CX exchanges the refresh token for a valid access token (server validates and issues).
  5. Tokens are revocable; admins can revoke tokens at server end.