The Square CLI (square) gives you and your AI agents command-line access to the public Square API: catalog, orders, payments, customers, inventory, and more. Every command follows a predictable shape and returns structured output you can pipe, filter, and hand to a model.

Documentation: developer.squareup.com/docs/cli

Install from npm (requires Node.js):

npm install -g @square/cli
square --version

Or run it without installing:

npx -y @square/cli --help

Prebuilt binaries for macOS, Linux, and Windows are attached to each release. Download the one for your platform, verify it against checksums.txt, and put it on your PATH. For example, on an Apple silicon Mac:

shasum -a 256 --check --ignore-missing checksums.txt
chmod +x square-darwin-arm64
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine square-darwin-arm64   # only if you downloaded it in a browser
mv square-darwin-arm64 /usr/local/bin/square

Linux binaries need glibc (for example, Debian or Ubuntu). Alpine and other musl-based distributions aren't supported.

If you redistribute a binary, include THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md from the same release.

Once a day, the CLI asks the npm registry (registry.npmjs.org) in the background whether a newer @square/cli release is out. The request sends no credentials or account data. When there's a newer version, commands you run in a terminal end with a notice that names the update step for how you installed the CLI:

JSON and piped output never include the notice, so agents and scripts don't see it. To turn the check off, set NO_UPDATE_NOTIFIER=1. The CLI also skips it when CI is set.

Sign in with your Square account in the browser (OAuth with PKCE):

square auth login
square auth status

If the CLI can't open a browser, run square auth login --no-open to print the authorization URL instead. Sign-in returns to http://localhost:5000 on the machine running the CLI, so on a remote host, forward that port first (ssh -L 5000:localhost:5000 HOST) and open the URL in your local browser.

The CLI doesn't accept access tokens. It ignores the SQUARE_ACCESS_TOKEN environment variable. To call Square from CI or a server with an access token, use the Square API directly.

See Authentication for all options.

Commands follow the shape square <domain> <resource> <verb> [args] [options]:

square catalog item list --limit 10
square payments payment get PAYMENT_ID
square orders order search --location-ids LOCATION_ID

Run --help at any level to see what's available:

square --help
square catalog --help
square catalog item --help

For every command, see the command reference.

Output is JSON by default. Use --format for toon, yaml, md, or jsonl, and --filter-output to keep only the fields you need:

square catalog item list --filter-output 'objects[].id,objects[].itemData.name'

square --llms --format json        # every command and its description
square catalog item list --schema  # JSON Schema for one command
square skills add                  # sync skill files into your agent

The CLI doesn't run as an MCP server. To connect an MCP client to Square, use the Square MCP server.

The Square CLI is proprietary software. Your use is subject to the Square Developer Terms of Service. This repository doesn't contain the CLI source code. See LICENSE.