SAP Joule CLI Skill

You are an expert in the SAP Joule CLI (@sap/joule-cli), the command-line tool for building, deploying, testing, and managing SAP Joule digital assistants. Help users construct correct commands, automate multi-step workflows, and troubleshoot issues.

The CLI binary is available as both joule and sapdas (legacy alias). All examples here use joule.

Installation

npm install -g @sap/joule-cli        # install
npm install -g -f @sap/joule-cli     # force update
npm uninstall -g @sap/joule-cli      # uninstall

Requires Node.js v20.12.0 – v24. On Linux, libsecret (or compatible keyring) is needed for secure credential storage.

Global Options

These options apply to every command:

Command Reference

Authentication

joule login

Authenticates with Joule on a global account level. Multiple authentication methods are supported.

Interactive login (recommended for first use):

joule login

The CLI prompts for auth URL interactively and opens a browser for authentication.

SSO login:

joule login --sso

Opens browser for Single Sign-On via Identity Authentication Service (IAS) with PKCE.

Login with explicit URLs:

joule login --authurl https://mytenant.authentication.eu10.hana.ondemand.com

The API URL is auto-determined from the auth URL for production landscapes. To override:

joule login --authurl <AUTH_URL> --apiurl <API_URL>

Service key login (CI/CD):

joule login --authurl <AUTH_URL> --clientid <ID> --clientsecret <SECRET> --username <USER> --password <PASS>

Login via environment variables:

joule login --use-env              # reads from .env in current directory
joule login --use-env path/to/.env # reads from specific file

SSO passcode login:

joule login --sso-passcode <PASSCODE>

Environment variables (for --use-env or CI/CD): JOULE_API_URL, JOULE_AUTH_URL, JOULE_USERNAME, JOULE_PASSWORD, JOULE_CLIENT_ID, JOULE_CLIENT_SECRET, JOULE_DEFAULT_IDP, JOULE_AUTH_SESSION, JOULE_TEST_TIMEOUT.

Auth URL patterns:

• XSUAA: https://<tenant>.authentication.<landscape>.hana.ondemand.com
• IAS: https://<subdomain>.accounts[optional-suffix].<domain>

Session info: Sessions expire; use joule status to check. Credentials are stored securely via OS keychain (keytar) by default, or in a local config file if --unsecure-storage is used.

Config location:

• macOS: ~/Library/Preferences/joule-cli/config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/joule-cli/config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\joule-cli\config.json

joule logout

joule logout

Clears all stored credentials and tokens.

joule status

joule status

Shows current login status (logged in/out), username, API URL, and auth URL.

Building & Deploying

joule compile

Compiles a designtime artifact (DTA) — your local capability source code — into a runtime artifact (DAAR file) that can be deployed.

joule compile                          # compile current directory
joule compile ./my-capability          # compile specific source folder
joule compile ./my-capability ./output # compile to specific target
joule compile --hide-warnings          # suppress warnings
joule compile -b 5                     # compile in batches of 5

The source folder must contain a capability.sapdas.yaml file. The output is a .daar (Digital Assistant Archive) file.

joule link

Links an AI Assistant definition to create a linked archive (.aiaar file).

joule link                              # link current directory
joule link ./my-assistant ./output      # link with explicit paths
joule link --hide-warnings              # suppress warnings

The source must contain an ai_assistant.sapdas.yaml file.

joule deploy

Deploys a digital assistant to the Joule service.

joule deploy                                        # deploy from current dir
joule deploy ./da.sapdas.yaml                       # deploy specific config
joule deploy --compile                              # compile + link + deploy
joule deploy -n my_assistant                        # set assistant name
joule deploy -i ./compiled-daars                    # use pre-compiled DAARs
joule deploy ./da.sapdas.yaml --compile -b 5        # compile in batches, then deploy

Assistant name rules: 3–50 characters, alphanumeric and underscores only, must start and end with alphanumeric (^[a-zA-Z0-9]\w*[a-zA-Z0-9]$).

Deploy timeout: Up to 15 minutes. The CLI polls the job status every 5 seconds.

Managing Deployed Assistants

joule list

Lists all deployed digital assistants in the current tenant.

joule list
joule list --sort name

joule get

Retrieves details of a specific deployed assistant.

joule get my_assistant
joule get my_assistant --capability my_cap

joule launch

Opens the deployed assistant in the Joule Web Client in your default browser.

joule launch my_assistant

joule delete

Deletes a deployed digital assistant.

joule delete my_assistant

joule update

Updates a deployed assistant with new or modified capabilities (requires modular feature flag).

joule update my_assistant --capability-file ./my-cap.daar
joule update my_assistant --capability-file ./capability.sapdas.yaml -b 3
joule update my_assistant --mcp-server-file ./mcp-server.json

joule remove

Removes specific capabilities from a deployed assistant (requires modular feature flag).

joule remove my_assistant --capability com.example:my_capability

Testing & Quality

joule test

Executes BDD (Cucumber) test scenarios against a deployed assistant.

joule test my_assistant                              # run all tests
joule test my_assistant -t "@smoke"                  # filter by tag
joule test my_assistant --min-success 80             # allow up to 20% failures
joule test my_assistant --feature-path "tests/**/*.feature"
joule test my_assistant --use-env                    # auth from .env
joule test my_assistant -i ./my-cap.daar             # include DAAR files
joule test my_assistant --timeout 60000              # 60s timeout
joule test --init                                    # scaffold test setup

Cucumber configuration is searched in this order: cucumber.json, cucumber.yaml, cucumber.yml, cucumber.js, cucumber.cjs, cucumber.mjs.

Test step examples (Gherkin syntax):

Given I am user "testuser@company.com"
  And I log in
  And I start a new conversation
 When I say "Show my leave balance"
 Then first message has type text
  And first message content contains "balance"
  And response has 2 messages

joule lint

Runs static lint checks on capability source files.

joule lint                                         # lint current directory
joule lint ./my-capability                         # lint specific path
joule lint "**/*.yaml"                             # lint with glob
joule lint -f json                                 # JSON output
joule lint --severity-level error                  # only show errors

Exits with code 1 if errors are found. Lint rules check for things like unique scenario descriptions, hardcoded URLs, annotation usage, OData pagination, and more.

joule scenario-testing-to-feature

Converts legacy YAML test scenario files into Gherkin .feature files for the Cucumber test framework.

joule scenario-testing-to-feature
joule scenario-testing-to-feature --input-path "tests/scenarios/**/*.yaml"

Configuration Files

da.sapdas.yaml (Digital Assistant Definition)

This is the main deployment descriptor. It defines which capabilities make up your assistant.

schema_version: "3.4.0"
name: my_assistant
capabilities:
  # Local capability (from source)
  - type: local
    folder: ./capabilities/greeting
  # Local pre-compiled capability
  - type: local
    path: ./compiled/greeting.daar
  # Released capability from registry
  - type: release
    namespace: com.sap.example
    name: greeting
    version: "1.0.0"
  # Milestone (pre-release) capability
  - type: milestone
    namespace: com.sap.example
    name: greeting
    version: "1.0.0-SNAPSHOT"

Name constraints: 3–50 characters, pattern ^[a-zA-Z0-9]\w*[a-zA-Z0-9]$. Namespace pattern: ^(?!\.)[a-zA-Z0-9.]+$ (no dots at start/end). Version pattern: ^([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)(-)?( SNAPSHOT)?$

ai_assistant.sapdas.yaml (AI Assistant Definition)

Used with joule link to define an AI Assistant that orchestrates capabilities.

schema_version: "1.0.0"
metadata:
  namespace: com.example
  name: my_ai_assistant
  version: "1.0.0"
  display_name: "My AI Assistant"
  description: "An assistant that helps with daily tasks"
business_knowledge: "This assistant operates in the HR domain..."
capabilities:
  - namespace: com.example
    name: leave_management
    scenarios:
      - check_balance
      - request_leave

capability.sapdas.yaml

Each capability lives in its own folder and must have this file. It contains scenario definitions, dialog functions, hooks, and agents that define what the capability can do.

Common Workflows

Full development cycle

# 1. Log in
joule login --sso

# 2. Compile your capability
joule compile ./capabilities/my-cap ./output

# 3. Deploy the assistant
joule deploy ./da.sapdas.yaml --compile

# 4. Launch in browser to verify
joule launch my_assistant

# 5. Run automated tests
joule test my_assistant -t "@smoke"

# 6. Iterate — update a single capability
joule update my_assistant --capability-file ./capabilities/my-cap/capability.sapdas.yaml

CI/CD pipeline

# Login via env vars (no interactive prompts)
joule login --use-env

# Lint first
joule lint ./capabilities/ --severity-level error

# Compile + deploy in one step
joule deploy ./da.sapdas.yaml --compile -n my_assistant

# Run tests with a minimum pass threshold
joule test my_assistant --min-success 90 -f json --use-env

Update a single capability without redeploying everything

joule update my_assistant --capability-file ./capabilities/updated-cap.daar

Remove a capability from a deployed assistant

joule remove my_assistant --capability com.example:old_capability

Troubleshooting

Login Issues

Compile/Deploy Issues

Test Issues

General Debugging

• Add -d (debug) to any command for verbose logs — a debug file is written to the current directory
• Run joule status to verify you're logged in and check which API/auth URLs you're targeting
• Use joule get <assistant> to inspect what's actually deployed
• Check Node.js version (node -v) — must be v20.12.0 – v24

Key Concepts