Skip to content
Documentation
Rite CLI

Rite CLI

rite is a single command with subcommands that follow the ceremony lifecycle: validate a definition, prepare a printed script, execute it, then verify, package and report on the result.

New to rite? The Getting Started guide walks through these commands end to end on a real ceremony. For the full flag list of every command, see the CLI reference.

Environment variables

The --param, --role, and --material inputs accepted by check, run, and script can also be supplied through the environment, which is useful in CI or when a value should not land in shell history:

  • RITE_PARAM_<NAME> sets parameter <NAME>.
  • RITE_ROLE_<ROLE_ID> assigns a person to <ROLE_ID>.
  • RITE_MATERIAL_<NAME> provides material <NAME> (a path or identifier).

A command-line flag takes precedence over the matching environment variable. The name after the prefix is case-insensitive, so RITE_ROLE_CRYPTO_OFFICER and RITE_ROLE_crypto_officer are equivalent.

export RITE_ROLE_CRYPTO_OFFICER="Alice Rivera"
rite run ceremony.rite.yaml

rite check

Validate a ceremony definition file without executing it. It reports diagnostics (missing references, undefined roles, schema errors, unsupported actions), or a summary on success.

Validate a ceremony:

rite check ceremony.rite.yaml

Supply a role and a parameter at validation time:

rite check ceremony.rite.yaml \
  --role crypto_officer="Alice Rivera" \
  --param org="Example Corp"

rite script

Generate a self-contained, printable HTML protocol that participants complete by hand during the ceremony. Run-specific inputs are interpolated into the document.

Write demo.html next to the ceremony:

rite script ceremony.rite.yaml

Brand the document with an organization name, logo, accent color, and output path:

rite script ceremony.rite.yaml \
  --brand-name "Example Corp" \
  --logo ./assets/logo.png \
  --accent "#1f3a5f" \
  -o protocol.html

rite run

Execute a ceremony interactively, recording every action in an append-only transcript. It writes a timestamped output directory with an artifacts/ folder and transcript.jsonl, and prints the transcript fingerprint.

Run interactively (the terminal UI is auto-detected):

rite run ceremony.rite.yaml

Write the output directory to a specific location:

rite run ceremony.rite.yaml -o ./ceremonies

Run non-interactively in CI, auto-answering every prompt:

rite run ceremony.rite.yaml --frontend headless

rite verify

Verify a transcript’s integrity: the append-only hash chain, the re-derived entropy, and, for a run directory or a bundle, the artifact digests. This proves the transcript is internally consistent; compare the printed fingerprint against the one the operators recorded to tie it to the ceremony you witnessed.

Verify a run directory, which also re-hashes the artifacts inside it:

rite verify ./root-signing-key-ceremony-20260101T120000

Verify a standalone transcript file:

rite verify transcript.jsonl

Accept a transcript from an interrupted run that has no terminal fact:

rite verify ./root-signing-key-ceremony-20260101T120000 --allow-truncated

Verify an evidence bundle or a disclosure. This also checks the bundle index, the ceremony definition against its recorded digest, and, for a disclosure, that exactly the facts above its level are withheld:

rite verify ./root-ca-bundle

rite bundle create

Package a run for keeping or for handing to someone else. The bundle holds the transcript, the ceremony definition the run started from, and the artifacts, with a bundle.json index. Each file is checked against the transcript on the way in, and opened content (decrypted data, recovered secrets) is never bundled.

rite bundle create ./root-signing-key-ceremony-20260101T120000 \
  --definition ceremony.rite.yaml \
  -o ./root-ca-bundle

Leave the definition out on purpose:

rite bundle create ./root-signing-key-ceremony-20260101T120000 \
  --without-definition \
  -o ./root-ca-bundle

rite bundle disclose

Derive a disclosure for a wider audience. Every fact is recorded at a confidentiality level: public, restricted or confidential. A disclosure keeps the facts at or below the level you give and withholds the rest. A withheld fact keeps its commitment, so the disclosure verifies to the same fingerprint as the complete bundle. It carries only the artifacts whose facts it discloses, and never the ceremony definition.

rite bundle disclose ./root-ca-bundle --level public -o ./root-ca-public

View the report of a sample public disclosure

rite report

Generate a self-contained, human-readable HTML report from a transcript, suitable for stakeholders and auditors. Unlike verify, it does not re-check integrity.

Write report.html next to the transcript:

rite report ./root-signing-key-ceremony-20260101T120000

Report on a bundle or a disclosure. A disclosure’s report shows only what the disclosure holds, and says which facts are withheld:

rite report ./root-ca-public

Brand the report and choose the output path:

rite report ./root-signing-key-ceremony-20260101T120000 \
  --brand-name "Example Corp" \
  -o report.html