orion-server package
Exports a package (selected channels, their workflows, and every connector those workflows reference) and promotes it between instances. The artifact is one JSON document. The model is described in Promote between environments.
Synopsis
orion-server package <export|lint|plan|apply|diff> [flags]
Description
Every subcommand except lint calls an instance’s admin API, authenticating with the ORION_ADMIN_TOKEN environment variable. A warning is printed when the token would travel over plain http:// to any host but the local machine.
Plugins are the fourth member. export resolves every plugin function a selected workflow calls to the active version and digest serving it on the source; GET /workflows/{id}/dependencies reports them under plugins. It carries each under plugins[]: manifest, digest, tags, and the component when --include-artifacts is set. A plugin the source no longer serves at that digest is recorded under requires.plugins instead, and plan checks the target has it active. apply stages plugins before connectors and activates them before workflows, so a promoted channel never quarantines for a function that arrived in the same package. plugins is omitted from the document and the content hash when a package carries none, so every receipt applied before plugins existed stays valid.
Models are the fifth. export collects every model a selected workflow names by literal model_infer id and carries each active one under models[] as GET /models/export gives it. That is the manifest and the artifact reference (connector, key, digest), never the bytes. The target fetches the object through its own storage connector of that name at admission. Two requirements follow. Each such connector the package does not carry is recorded under requires.storage. Both plan and apply check the target has a storage connector of that name before anything is written. A model import fails at write without it. A model the source does not serve active is recorded under requires.models as {id, version, digest}. The version and digest are what the source holds, or 0 and empty when it holds none. plan checks the target serves it active, at that digest when one is named. apply stages models after connectors and before workflows, then waits for the target to admit each one. Admission is the fetch, the digest check, the parse and the probe, polled on GET /models/{id} with progress on stderr and a 900 s ceiling. Only then is the model activated, ahead of the workflows that name it. The reload at the end therefore never quarantines a channel for a model that arrived in the same package. A model the target refuses at admission stops the apply naming the stage and reason. models is omitted from the document and the hash when a package carries none, like plugins. compile writes the same member from a manifest’s reference and the file beside it.
Subcommands
| Subcommand | Description |
|---|---|
export | Compute the dependency closure from a running instance and write the artifact. |
lint | Validate an artifact offline: entity shapes, closure completeness, content hash, and the cross-reference checks lint <dir> runs. Exits non-zero on errors; warnings and inventory notes print without failing. |
plan | Pre-flight an artifact against a target with zero writes. |
apply | Stage all entities, activate in dependency order, reload once, record the receipt. Idempotent. |
diff | Report drift between an artifact and a running instance. Exits non-zero when anything differs. |
Options
| Flag | Used by | Description |
|---|---|---|
-s, --server <url> | export, plan, apply, diff | Base URL of the source or target instance. |
-f, --file <path> | lint, plan, apply, diff | Path to the artifact file. |
--tag <tag> | export | Select every channel carrying this tag. |
--channels <ids> | export | Select channels by id, comma-separated or repeated. |
--name <name> | export | Package name. |
--version <ver> | export | Package version. Applied versions are immutable; any content change needs a bump. |
-o, --output <path> | export | Write the artifact here instead of stdout. |
--include-artifacts | export | Inline each plugin’s component as base64, so the artifact installs the plugin on a target that has never seen it. Without it a plugin travels as manifest and digest, and plan fails unless the target already holds that digest. |
Examples
orion-server package export -s https://dev.orion.internal --tag payments --name payments --version 1.4.0 --include-artifacts -o pkg.json
Related
- Promote between environments: the promotion model and its guarantees.
- Packages: the versioned unit these verbs move.
orion-server compile: building the same artifact from a directory.orion-cli packages: the receiptsplanandapplywrite.orion-servercommands: everyorion-serversubcommand.
Last verified 14 September 2026