Quick Start Guide

This guide walks you through installing the SemanticFed CLI, authenticating, and running your first commands against the platform.

Environment

All examples target production by default. To switch to local or alpha, set BURDENOFF_ENV=local or BURDENOFF_ENV=alpha before any command. See Environment Selection for details.

Prerequisites

A SemanticFed workspace (sign in at app.semanticfed.com)
Node.js 24.11+ or Bun 1.3.14+
Credentials for at least one data source (database, warehouse, lake, or API)

Step 1: Install the CLI

# From npmjs (public)
npm install -g @semanticfed/cli
# or
bun add -g @semanticfed/cli

Verify:

semanticfed --version

Step 2: Authenticate

semanticfed auth login

This opens a browser for OAuth2 device-code approval. After login:

semanticfed auth status
semanticfed workspace list
semanticfed workspace set <workspace-id>

CLI tokens are stored at ~/.config/semanticfed-cli/auth.json (mode 0600).

Step 3: List connectors and data sources

semanticfed semanticfed connectors list
semanticfed semanticfed datasources list

Step 4: Run your first federated query

semanticfed semanticfed models list
semanticfed semanticfed queries list

Verify everything works

semanticfed auth status
semanticfed health check
semanticfed semanticfed connectors list

What's next

Node SDK — programmatic TypeScript access
Python SDK — programmatic Python access
Browser Extension — Chrome side-panel for models and queries
VS Code Extension — IDE-native SemanticFed views
GraphQL API — the full federated model API

Prerequisites​

Step 1: Install the CLI​

Step 2: Authenticate​

Step 3: List connectors and data sources​

Step 4: Run your first federated query​

Verify everything works​

What's next​