cbor2-cli-1.0.5 is not a library.

cbor2-cli

Inspect, convert and debug CBOR (RFC 8949) from the terminal. This crate installs the cbor command, built on cbor2.

cargo install cbor2-cli   # installs the `cbor` binary

Or install it from the ldclabs Homebrew tap:

brew install ldclabs/tap/cbor2-cli   # installs the `cbor` binary

Usage: cbor [COMMAND] [INPUT]

Commands:
  (none)  Show each CBOR item as one line of diagnostic notation (§8)
  decode  Convert CBOR items to pretty-printed JSON, or to
          pretty-printed diagnostic notation with --diag
  encode  Convert JSON values to CBOR items
  validate
          Validate one or more complete CBOR items

Why cbor2-cli

Need	Command support
Inspect pasted CBOR	Run `cbor <hex-or-base64>` to render RFC 8949 diagnostic notation.
Preserve wire details	Bare `cbor` captures each item as raw bytes, so indefinite lengths, segmented strings, `undefined` and simple values remain visible.
Decode for JSON tools	`cbor decode` pretty-prints CBOR as JSON, one document per item.
Encode fixtures	`cbor encode` turns JSON values into CBOR bytes; `cbor encode --hex` prints copyable lowercase hex for agents and docs.
Work with sequences	Multiple JSON values become a CBOR sequence; CBOR sequences decode item by item.
Validate inputs	`cbor validate <hex-or-file>` checks one or more complete CBOR items and prints `valid` on success.
Script reliably	Data errors exit with status 1, usage errors with status 2.

INPUT is a file path, a hex string (optionally 0x-prefixed), a base64/base64url string, or - for stdin; stdin is the default. An argument containing a path separator is always a file path. Everything streams: multiple JSON values become a CBOR sequence (RFC 8742), and a CBOR sequence becomes one output document or line per item. Data errors exit with status 1, usage errors with status 2.

Agent-friendly usage

For code agents, prefer text-first commands unless a pipeline needs raw bytes:

cbor validate a1616101
echo '{"a":1}' | cbor encode --hex
cbor decode a1616101
cbor decode --diag bf616101ff

Use raw cbor encode only when piping directly into another binary command. Use cbor encode --hex when the result needs to be pasted into a test, a prompt, a review comment or another cbor invocation.

Show: `cbor`

The everyday command. It renders each item as the human-readable text form of RFC 8949 §8 — what CBOR specs and test vectors are written in — and it is exact: every item is captured as its wire bytes, so indefinite-length items keep their _ markers, segmented strings appear as (_ ...), undefined and unassigned simple values appear as themselves, byte strings render as h'...' and bignums print as plain integers, exactly as in RFC 8949 Appendix A.

$ cbor a201020326                  # hex, pasted straight from a spec
{1: 2, 3: -7}

$ cbor 0x8301820203820405          # 0x-prefixed works too
[1, [2, 3], [4, 5]]

$ cbor oWFhAQ                      # base64url, padded or not
{"a": 1}

$ cbor message.cbor                # a file
16([h'a1010a', {5: h'89f52f65a1c580933b5261a78c'}, h'5974e1b9...'])

$ cbor bf61610161629f0203ffff      # wire details survive
{_ "a": 1, "b": [_ 2, 3]}

decode

cbor decode decodes each item into the data model and pretty-prints it as JSON, or — with -d/--diag — as indented diagnostic notation. Unlike the bare cbor, this re-spells the item (indefinite lengths and non-preferred encodings are not preserved).

$ cbor decode a1018202036466697665f5
{
  "1": [
    2,
    3
  ]
}
"five"
true

$ cbor decode --diag a101820203
{
  1: [
    2,
    3
  ]
}

JSON conversion is best-effort where CBOR is richer: byte strings become lowercase hex strings, non-string map keys are JSON-encoded into strings, non-finite floats and undefined become null, integers beyond the 64-bit ranges become strings, and tags are dropped (keeping the inner value).

encode

cbor encode reads JSON text (from a file or stdin) and writes each value as a CBOR item. Add --hex for copyable lowercase hex text:

$ echo '{"name": "example", "ok": true}' | cbor encode | cbor
{"name": "example", "ok": true}

$ echo '{"name": "example", "ok": true}' | cbor encode | xxd -p
a2646e616d65676578616d706c65626f6bf5

$ echo '{"name": "example", "ok": true}' | cbor encode --hex
a2646e616d65676578616d706c65626f6bf5

validate

cbor validate checks that the input contains one or more complete CBOR items. It prints valid on success, exits with status 1 for malformed data and status 2 for usage errors:

$ cbor validate a1616101
valid

License

Licensed under the MIT License.

cbor2-cli 1.0.5