Context

A context is a named connection profile stored locally on disk. Contexts let you switch between multiple Chronicle servers — development, staging, production — without retyping connection strings on every command.

Configuration File

All contexts are stored in ~/.cratis/config.json. The CLI creates this file automatically when you create your first context. You can inspect its location with cratis context path.

Connection Resolution Order

When the CLI resolves which server to connect to, it checks in this order:

1. --server flag on the current command
2. CHRONICLE_CONNECTION_STRING environment variable
3. Active context in ~/.cratis/config.json
4. Default: chronicle://localhost:35000/?disableTls=true

Commands

list

Lists all configured contexts. The active context is marked with an asterisk.

cratis context list

Use --output plain for scripting — it emits tab-separated rows without decorations:

cratis context list -o plain

Example output:

* dev    chronicle://localhost:35000/?disableTls=true
  prod   chronicle://prod.example.com:35000/

---

create

Creates a new named context. The first context you create automatically becomes the active context.

cratis context create <NAME> --server <CONNECTION_STRING>

Options:

Option	Short	Description
--server		Chronicle server connection string
--event-store	-e	Default event store for this context (default: default)
--namespace	-n	Default namespace for this context (default: Default)

Example — local development server with TLS disabled:

cratis context create dev --server chronicle://localhost:35000/?disableTls=true

Example — staging server with a specific event store and namespace:

cratis context create staging \
  --server chronicle://staging.example.com:35000/ \
  --event-store orders \
  --namespace Production

---

set

Switches to a named context, making it the active context for all subsequent commands.

cratis context set <NAME>

The command validates that the named context exists before activating it. If the name does not match any stored context, it reports an error.

Example:

cratis context set prod

---

show

Displays the details of the currently active context: server address, event store, namespace, and credentials status.

cratis context show

Use --output json for machine-readable key-value output:

cratis context show -o json

Example output (plain):

Server:       chronicle://localhost:35000/?disableTls=true
Event store:  default
Namespace:    Default
Client ID:    (not set)

---

delete

Removes a named context from the configuration file.

cratis context delete <NAME>

You cannot delete the active context or the built-in default context. Switch to a different context first, then delete the one you no longer need:

cratis context set dev
cratis context delete staging

---

rename

Renames an existing context. If you rename the active context, the CLI updates the active context reference automatically so you remain connected.

cratis context rename <OLD_NAME> <NEW_NAME>

Example:

cratis context rename dev local

---

path

Prints the absolute path to the configuration file. Useful for inspecting, backing up, or diffing the config:

cratis context path

Example output:

/Users/alice/.cratis/config.json

---

set-value

Sets an individual value on the current context without replacing the entire context.

cratis context set-value <KEY> <VALUE>

Valid keys:

Key	Description
server	Chronicle server connection string
event-store	Default event store name
namespace	Default namespace name
client-id	OAuth client ID for authenticated servers
client-secret	OAuth client secret (masked in output)
management-port	HTTP management port (default: 8080)

Example — update the server URL:

cratis context set-value server chronicle://localhost:35000/?disableTls=true

Example — set credentials for an authenticated server:

cratis context set-value client-id my-app
cratis context set-value client-secret s3cr3t

The client secret is stored in the config file and masked whenever the CLI displays context details.