Kandji Agent Command Line Interface

By Emalee Firestein

Learn how to interact with the Kandji Agent Command Line Interface (CLI)

While the Kandji Agent is primarily hands-off after it is installed on a Mac, a few Terminal commands are available for additional control.

Run
Run Daily MDM Inventory Update
Collect Apps
Run Library Items
Print Kandji Logs
Scriptable Option: Reboot
Scriptable Option: Dock
Scriptable Option: Alert
Submit Diagnostics
Version
Help

Run

sudo kandji run

The agent will run and check in immediately. Normally, the agent checks in every 15 minutes. Without an internet connection, the agent will run in offline mode.

sudo kandji run --reset-daily

Adding --reset-daily to the run command will run all Parameters, including those that are run only once per day.

Run Daily MDM Inventory Update

sudo kandji update-mdm

The agent will request the MDM server to initiate its daily MDM commands, such as validating Apps & Books from Apple Business Manager, as well as querying certain device information.

Collect Apps

sudo kandji collect-apps

Collects full application inventory from the Mac.

Run Library Items

sudo kandji library

Checks for library items to execute. Available library command options:

Option	Description
--list	List all of the library items assigned to the computer.
--state	Get the current state of the Kandji Agent library manager.
--item	Run a specific library item by name or library item ID; specify -F to force the execution.
--cancel	Cancel the currently running library item and clears the current queue.

Print Kandji Logs

sudo kandji logs --last <seconds>

Prints log entries for the Kandji Agent subsystem from the unified logging system. The `--last` option is required and specifies the number of previous seconds to print logs from. Replace <seconds> with a number, like 300. (Actual results displayed are limited based on available unified log storage.)

Redirect the output of the command using > to save to an external log file.

Available logs command options:

Option	Description
--no-format	Print log entries without ANSI color formating.
--debug	Includes debug level logs, debug logging must be enabled prior.

Debug logging can be enabled by running:

sudo log config --mode "level:debug" --subsystem io.kandji.KandjiAgent

Debug logging can be disabled by running:

sudo log config --mode "level:default" --subsystem io.kandji.KandjiAgent

Example command usage:

sudo kandji logs --no-format --debug --last 10000 >~/Desktop/kandji.log

Please note that when using the scriptable options below, such as within a Custom Script Library Item, you must use the full path to the binary file:

/usr/local/bin/kandji

Scriptable Option: Reboot

sudo kandji reboot --delaySeconds NumberOfSeconds

This option can be used in scripted workflows to force a reboot leveraging the Kandji Agent and menu bar application. It is visually similar to the reboot forced during FileVault enablement or a Managed OS upgrade.

Initiates a restart by prompting the logged-in user with a countdown timer. If no delay is specified, the default 1800 (30 minutes) will be used. If no user is logged in, the delay will be ignored and the Mac will restart immediately.

Scriptable Option: Dock

sudo kandji dock [--add bundle identifier] [--remove bundle identifier] [--all]

This option can be used in scripted workflows to add items to the end of the macOS Dock or remove items from the macOS Dock of the currently logged-in user.

The application referred to by the bundle identifier must be in the /Applications folder.

Optionally specifying the --all option adds the icon to the end of the Dock for all user accounts.

Scriptable Option: Alert

sudo kandji display-alert [--title text] [--message text] [--icon path_to_image] [--suppression-key string] [--help-url url] [--no-wait]

This command can be used in scripted workflows to present an alert to users. It has several options, outlined below.

Option	Description	Default if not provided
--title	Specifies a custom title for the alert window	"Alert"
--message	Specifies a custom message for the alert window	No default value
--icon	Specifies a custom icon for the alert window	Kandji Agent icon
--suppression-key	If provided, it will show an option to the user: "Do not show this message again" If this suppression key is provided in a future alert, and the user opts not to see it again, the alert will not be shown.	No default value If no suppression key is specified, the "Do not show this message again" option is not displayed.
--help-url	Allows for specifying a custom URL for the alert Help button. Must be an HTTPS URL	No default value If no URL is specified, the Help button is not displayed.
--no-wait	Allows the alert to show but keeps the remainder of the script running without waiting for user interaction on the alert	Alert will show and wait for interaction from the user before the script proceeds.

Below is an example of the underlying command for an alert and the resulting experience in macOS Ventura:

sudo /usr/local/bin/kandji display-alert --title "Low Disk Space" --message "Your Mac computer's Hard Drive is running critically low on space, please contact Accuhive IT as soon as possible." --suppression-key accuhive --help-url https://kandji.io --no-wait

Submit Diagnostics

sudo kandji submit-diagnostics [--comment text]

Submit Diagnostics to Kandji. Equivalent to the action menu (gear) item available in the Kandji Menu.

Option	Description	Default if not provided
--comment	Specifies a comment to be presented in the diagnostics	No default value

Version

sudo kandji version

Displays the installed Kandji Agent version.

Help

sudo kandji help

Displays help text.