CLI overview

The Strata CLI is a reference-grade toolchain for working with Strata data.

It is designed for:

• Authoring Strata Text (.st)

• Producing canonical Strata Core Binary (.scb)

• Inspecting and validating encoded data

• Computing stable hashes

The CLI does not provide convenience features. It exists to expose the exact behavior of the specification.

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Design principles

The CLI follows the same principles as Strata itself:

• Deterministic behavior

• No hidden normalization

• No best-effort recovery

• Explicit failure on invalid input

If the CLI accepts something, it is valid Strata. If it rejects something, it is invalid Strata.

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Scope of the CLI

The CLI operates at three layers:

1. Text authoring

   • Parse .st into a value model

2. Canonical encoding

   • Encode values into .scb

3. Verification

   • Decode, inspect, and hash canonical data

It does not:

• Infer schemas

• Apply defaults

• Rewrite data

• Perform migrations

• Guess intent

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Supported commands

The JavaScript reference CLI exposes the following commands:

• compile – compile Strata Text to canonical binary

• decode – decode binary into a structured inspection format

• hash – compute canonical hashes

• fmt – normalize and inspect Strata Text

Each command is a thin wrapper around the reference implementation.

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Failure model

All CLI commands follow the same failure rules:

• Invalid Strata input exits with error code 1

• I/O failures exit with error code 2

• Internal errors exit with error code 100

No command continues after an error.

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Determinism guarantee

Given the same input:

• The CLI always produces the same bytes

• The same hash is always printed

• Errors always occur at the same offset

This makes the CLI suitable for:

• CI enforcement

• Reproducible builds

• Cross-language debugging

• Vector generation

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Relationship to the specification

The CLI is not an alternative interpretation of Strata.

It is:

• A concrete execution of the spec

• A validator for implementations

• A debugging lens for vectors and Northstars

If the CLI behavior disagrees with the specification, the CLI is wrong.

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Relationship to other implementations

Other languages may provide their own CLIs.

However:

• All CLIs must behave identically

• Output differences are bugs

• Error differences are bugs

CLI parity is enforced indirectly through golden vectors and Northstar tests.

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Summary

The Strata CLI is intentionally minimal and strict.

It exists to:

• Make canonical behavior observable

• Make invalid states impossible to ignore

• Make regressions immediately visible

If you are surprised by what the CLI does, that surprise reveals a misunderstanding of the spec.

That is its purpose.