Redmine CLI

A CLI for the Redmine REST API. Use redmine <command> --help for detailed flags and examples — this skill only covers what --help cannot tell you.

Available Commands

Only these top-level commands exist. Do NOT invent subcommands that aren't listed here — run redmine <command> --help to discover subcommands.

Setup

If the redmine command is not found, install it:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aarondpn/redmine-cli/main/install.sh | bash

Then run redmine init for interactive configuration. Use redmine config to verify an existing setup.

Critical Rules

• Always use -o json when you need to parse output programmatically. JSON goes to stdout only; stderr is separate.
• Use --limit 0 to fetch ALL results. The default limit is 100.
• All name-accepting flags (--project, --tracker, --status, --priority, --assignee, --category, --version, --activity) resolve human-readable names automatically. You don't need to look up IDs first.
• --assignee me refers to the current API user.
• --status "*" shows all issues regardless of status (default is open).

Permission Gotcha: Users & Groups

Resolving users and groups by name requires admin privileges. If you get a permission error:

• Do NOT retry with the same name
• Use me for the current user
• To discover user IDs without admin access, extract them from other sources:
  • redmine issues list --project <project> -o json — the assigned_to and author fields contain user IDs and names
  • redmine memberships list --project <project> -o json — lists all project members with their IDs
  • redmine issues get <id> --journals -o json — journal entries contain user references

Workflow: Resolving Ambiguous Values

When a command needs a value from a fixed set (tracker, status, priority, category, version, assignee) and you're not sure of the exact name:

1. Query options first: redmine trackers list -o json, redmine statuses list -o json, etc.
2. Present choices to the user via AskUserQuestion with a formatted list
3. Use the confirmed value in the command

For users/groups, if the list endpoint fails with a permission error, use the workarounds from the section above instead.

Non-Obvious Behaviors

• redmine issues list defaults to --status open. Use --status closed, --status "*", or a specific status name.
• redmine issues get <id> --journals includes comments/history. Also available: --children, --relations.
• redmine issues update only sends flags you explicitly pass — omitted flags are not changed.
• If --project is omitted, the configured default project is used (set via redmine init).
• Version status filters (--open, --closed, --locked) on redmine versions list are applied client-side.