Apps - Dify Docs

Every app task maps to one command, and all of them accept the global flags.

difyctl get app lists your apps
describe app shows one app’s details and inputs
run app invokes one
resume app continues a workflow that paused for human input
export studio-app / import studio-app exports / imports apps as DSL files

List Your Apps

difyctl get app [app-id] [flags]

For the everyday invocations, see Find Your Apps in Common Tasks.

Arguments

[app-id]: optional. The ID of one app to show. Omit it to list every app in your workspace.

Flags

Flag	Type	Default	Description
`--name <substring>`	string	none	Filter to apps whose name contains this text.
`--mode <mode>`	string	none	Filter by app type, named by its API mode: `chat` (Chatbot), `advanced-chat` (Chatflow), `agent-chat` (Agent), `workflow` (Workflow), `completion` (Text Generator).
`--page <n>`	integer	`1`	Page number.
`--limit <n>`	integer	`20`	Page size, 1 to 200. The flag wins, then `DIFY_LIMIT`.
`-o <format>`	string	none	Output format: `json`, `yaml`, `name`, or `wide`. Omit the flag for the default table.

Examples

List the apps in your workspace:

difyctl get app

Find Workflow apps whose name contains “report”:

difyctl get app --name report --mode workflow

Print app IDs only, one per line, for shell loops:

difyctl get app -o name

Output

Format	What stdout gets
default	An aligned table. The `MODE` column is each app’s API mode name (see `--mode` for the mapping to app types).
`-o wide`	The table plus a `WORKSPACE` column.
`-o json`, `-o yaml`	A `data` array of the apps, plus the paging fields `page` (current page), `limit` (page size), `total` (apps matched), and `has_more` (whether more pages remain).
`-o name`	The app IDs, one per line.

Default table:

NAME          ID                                    MODE      UPDATED
Customer FAQ  0a1b2c3d-4e5f-6789-abcd-ef0123456789  chat      2026-06-08T03:14:27.521839
Daily Report  7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b  workflow  2026-06-05T22:41:09.812016

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
`0`	Success
`1`	Network or server error
`2`	Usage error, such as a `--limit` outside 1 to 200
`4`	Authentication failure
`7`	Rate limited (HTTP 429)

See Output Formats and Exit Codes for the full scheme.

Inspect an App

difyctl describe app <app-id> [flags]

describe app answers the question you have before running an unfamiliar app: what type of app is it, is its API enabled, and what inputs does it expect.

Arguments

<app-id>: required. The ID of the app to inspect.

Flags

Flag	Type	Default	Description
`--refresh`	boolean	`false`	Bypass the local app-info cache and fetch fresh details. Use after an app was republished.
`-o <format>`	string	`text`	Output format: `json`, `yaml`, or `text`.

Examples

Inspect an app before running it:

difyctl describe app 7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b

Extract the input schema for building --inputs programmatically:

difyctl describe app 7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b -o json | jq '.input_schema'

Re-fetch after republishing the app:

difyctl describe app 7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b --refresh

Output

Format	What stdout gets
default (`text`)	An aligned field block, then the app’s parameters (including the user input form).
`-o json`, `-o yaml`	Three top-level keys: `info`, `parameters`, and `input_schema` (detailed below).

Default text view:

Name:        Daily Report
ID:          7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b
Mode:        workflow
Updated:     2026-06-05T22:41:09.812016
Service API: true
Parameters:
  {
    "opening_statement": null,
    "suggested_questions": [],
    "user_input_form": [
      {
        "text-input": {
          "label": "topic",
          "variable": "topic",
          "required": true,
          "default": ""
        }
      }
    ],
    "file_upload": null,
    "system_parameters": {
      "file_size_limit": 15,
      "image_file_size_limit": 10,
      "audio_file_size_limit": 50,
      "video_file_size_limit": 100,
      "workflow_file_upload_limit": 10
    }
  }

A Description: row appears when the app has one, and an Agent: true row when the app is agentic. Under -o json, the three keys are:

info - the metadata fields shown above, from Name to Service API
parameters - the parameters block shown above
input_schema - a normalized list of the app’s inputs, the field the jq '.input_schema' example reads

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
`0`	Success
`1`	Network or server error, including app not found
`2`	Usage error, including a non-UUID `<app-id>`
`4`	Authentication failure
`7`	Rate limited (HTTP 429)

Run an App

difyctl run app <app-id> [message] [flags]

run app is one command for all app types. The CLI reads the app’s type and dispatches to the right endpoint. What changes is how you pass input and the response shape:

Chatbot, Chatflow, Agent: take a positional message, print the reply to stdout, and print a conversation hint to stderr.
Text Generator: takes a positional message and prints the completion to stdout. No conversational state, no hint.
Workflow: takes a JSON object via --inputs and prints its outputs to stdout. A workflow whose output is a single string prints it raw. Anything else prints as compact JSON.

Arguments

<app-id>: required. The ID of the app to run, from get app.
[message]: the user message, for Chatbot, Chatflow, Agent, and Text Generator apps. Workflow apps reject a positional message, so pass their inputs with --inputs.

Flags

Flag	Type	Default	Description
`--inputs <json>`	string	none	Input variables as one JSON object, e.g. `--inputs '{"topic":"Q3"}'`. Required for Workflow apps. Mutually exclusive with `--inputs-file`.
`--inputs-file <path>`	string	none	Read the inputs object from a JSON file instead.
`--file <key=value>`	string, repeatable	none	Named file input. `key=@path` uploads a local file. `key=https://…` passes a remote URL without uploading. The key is the input variable name.
`--conversation <id>`	string	none	Continue an existing conversation. The ID comes from the stderr hint or the JSON response of an earlier run.
`--workflow-id <id>`	string	none	Pin the run to a specific published workflow version. Workflow and Chatflow apps only.
`--stream`	boolean	`false`	Print the output live as it’s generated, instead of all at once at the end.
`--think`	boolean	`false`	Print the model’s thinking to stderr when the model exposes it. Without this flag, `<think>` blocks are stripped silently.
`--retry-on-limit`	boolean	`false`	On a 429 rate limit, wait and retry the run instead of failing with exit `7`. Off by default, since a run isn’t idempotent.
`-o <format>`	string	`text`	Output format: `json`, `yaml`, or `text`.

Examples

Send a message to a Chatbot, Chatflow, Agent, or Text Generator app:

difyctl run app 0a1b2c3d-4e5f-6789-abcd-ef0123456789 "What are your business hours?"

Run a Workflow app with structured inputs:

difyctl run app 7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b --inputs '{"topic":"quarterly report","audience":"executives"}'

Attach a local file to a file-type input variable:

difyctl run app 7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b --inputs '{"topic":"contract review"}' --file document=@./contract.pdf

Continue an earlier conversation:

difyctl run app 0a1b2c3d-4e5f-6789-abcd-ef0123456789 "And on weekends?" --conversation 4f7d8c2a-9b1e-4c6d-8a3f-5e2b7c9d0a1f

Get the raw response as JSON for scripts and agents:

difyctl run app 0a1b2c3d-4e5f-6789-abcd-ef0123456789 "What are your business hours?" -o json | jq -r '.answer'

Output

Format	What stdout gets
default (`text`)	The reply (Chatbot, Chatflow, Agent, Text Generator) or the workflow’s output, as plain text.
`-o json`, `-o yaml`	The full server payload, including `answer` and `conversation_id` for conversational apps, plus the model’s per-node reasoning under `metadata.reasoning` when present.

The response body goes to stdout. Everything else (hints, progress, errors) goes to stderr, so piping and redirection stay clean. After a reply from a Chatbot, Chatflow, or Agent app, stderr carries the conversation hint:

hint: continue this conversation with --conversation 4f7d8c2a-9b1e-4c6d-8a3f-5e2b7c9d0a1f

With --stream, output prints incrementally as the server produces it. If a run fails with HTTP 422 right after an app was republished, the CLI clears its app-metadata cache and hints to run the command again. Errors print to stderr. Under -o json they arrive as a structured JSON object with a stable code field. See Output Formats and Exit Codes for the error shape.

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
`0`	Success, including a workflow that paused for human input
`1`	Network or server error, including app not found
`2`	Usage error: invalid `--inputs` JSON, or a positional message passed to a Workflow app
`4`	Authentication failure
`7`	Rate limited (HTTP 429)

When a Workflow Pauses

Workflow apps can include human-input steps. When a run reaches one, it pauses instead of finishing: the command exits 0 (a pause is not a failure), prints the pause to stdout, and prints a ready-to-run resume command to stderr:

! Workflow paused — input required
  Node:    Review draft
  Message: Approve the report before it is published.
  Actions: [approve] Approve  [reject] Reject
  Inputs:   - comment — Reviewer comment

! workflow paused — resume with:
  difyctl resume app 7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b k3J9mQ2xWv8pL5nR7tY4bA --workflow-run-id 8e1f2a3b-4c5d-6e7f-8a9b-0c1d2e3f4a5b --action approve

With -o json, stdout gets the pause as a JSON object instead:

{
  "status": "paused",
  "app_id": "7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b",
  "task_id": "c4a8e2f6-1b3d-4a5c-9e7f-2d8b6c0a4e1f",
  "workflow_run_id": "8e1f2a3b-4c5d-6e7f-8a9b-0c1d2e3f4a5b",
  "form_id": "5d9c3b7a-2e4f-4c6d-8b0a-1f3e5d7c9b2a",
  "node_id": "1749876543210",
  "node_title": "Review draft",
  "form_token": "k3J9mQ2xWv8pL5nR7tY4bA",
  "form_content": "Approve the report before it is published.",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "output_variable_name": "comment",
      "label": "Reviewer comment",
      "type": "text-input",
      "required": false
    }
  ],
  "actions": [
    { "id": "approve", "title": "Approve" },
    { "id": "reject", "title": "Reject" }
  ],
  "display_in_ui": true,
  "resolved_default_values": {},
  "expiration_time": 1781712000
}

For scripts and agents: a paused run and a completed run both exit 0, so don’t branch on the exit code. Run workflows with -o json and check stdout for "status": "paused". Three fields drive the resume: form_token, workflow_run_id, and (when the form offers more than one action) the action id. Forms expire at expiration_time (Unix epoch seconds). When the workflow delivers its form through email or another external channel, form_token is null and the run can’t be resumed from the CLI.

Resume a Paused Workflow

difyctl resume app <app-id> <form-token> --workflow-run-id <id> [flags]

resume app submits the form a paused workflow is waiting on, then attaches to the run and prints its output exactly like run app.

Arguments

<app-id>: required. The app_id from the pause payload.
<form-token>: required. The form_token from the pause payload. Tokens are single-use, so resuming with an already-consumed token returns an error.

Flags

Flag	Type	Default	Description
`--workflow-run-id <id>`	string	required	The `workflow_run_id` from the pause payload.
`--action <id>`	string	auto-selected	Which form action to take, by `id` from the pause payload’s `actions`. Optional when the form has exactly one action, required when it has several.
`--inputs <json>`	string	none	Values for the form’s inputs as one JSON object, keyed by each input’s `output_variable_name`. Mutually exclusive with `--inputs-file`.
`--inputs-file <path>`	string	none	Read the form values from a JSON file instead.
`--with-history`	boolean	`false`	Replay the output of already-executed nodes before attaching to the live stream.
`--stream`	boolean	`false`	Print the output live as it’s generated, instead of all at once at the end.
`--think`	boolean	`false`	Print the model’s thinking to stderr when the model exposes it. Without this flag, `<think>` blocks are stripped silently.
`-o <format>`	string	`text`	Output format: `json`, `yaml`, or `text`.

Examples

Approve a single-action form, providing its input values:

difyctl resume app 7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b k3J9mQ2xWv8pL5nR7tY4bA --workflow-run-id 8e1f2a3b-4c5d-6e7f-8a9b-0c1d2e3f4a5b --inputs '{"comment":"Looks good"}'

Pick an action when the form offers several:

difyctl resume app 7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b k3J9mQ2xWv8pL5nR7tY4bA --workflow-run-id 8e1f2a3b-4c5d-6e7f-8a9b-0c1d2e3f4a5b --action reject --inputs '{"comment":"Numbers need a re-check"}'

Read the form values from a file:

difyctl resume app 7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b k3J9mQ2xWv8pL5nR7tY4bA --workflow-run-id 8e1f2a3b-4c5d-6e7f-8a9b-0c1d2e3f4a5b --inputs-file form.json

Output

Format	What stdout gets
default (`text`)	The workflow’s output as the run completes. stderr confirms the submission and the finish.
`-o json`, `-o yaml`	The run result as one document, just like `run app` (a pause payload if it pauses again).

In the default text output, stderr confirms the submission, the workflow’s output prints to stdout as the run completes, and stderr confirms the finish:

✓ form submitted
  workflow execution resumed
✓ workflow finished

A resumed workflow can pause again at a later human-input node. You then get a new pause payload and resume again with the new token.

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
`0`	Success, including the run pausing again at a later node
`1`	Error, including a consumed form token, or omitting `--action` on a form with several actions
`2`	Usage error
`4`	Authentication failure
`7`	Rate limited (HTTP 429)

Export an App

difyctl export studio-app <app-id> [flags]

export studio-app writes the app’s full definition as a DSL YAML document, for versioning, backup, or importing elsewhere. For Workflow and Chatflow apps, export returns the current draft, not the published version that run app executes. Use --workflow-id to export a specific published version instead. Chatbot, Agent, and Text Generator apps export the published version.

Arguments

<app-id>: required. The ID of the app to export, from get app.

Flags

Flag	Type	Default	Description
`-o, --output <path>`	string	none	Write the DSL to this file instead of stdout. On this command, `-o` is the output file path, not the output-format selector.
`--include-secret`	boolean	`false`	Include encrypted secret values in the exported DSL.
`--workflow-id <id>`	string	none	Export a specific published workflow version by ID, instead of the default draft. Workflow and Chatflow apps only.

Examples

Print an app’s DSL to stdout:

difyctl export studio-app 7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b

Write it to a file:

difyctl export studio-app 7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b --output ./daily-report.yaml

Export a specific published version:

difyctl export studio-app 7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b --workflow-id c7e4a1b9-3f82-4d6a-9e15-0b8c2d7f4a63

Export with secret values included:

difyctl export studio-app 7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b --include-secret

Output

The DSL YAML document prints to stdout: a kind: app header, a version field, and the full app definition. With --output, the same content is written to the file and stderr confirms it:

DSL written to ./daily-report.yaml

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
`0`	Success
`1`	Network or server error, including app not found
`2`	Usage error, including a missing `<app-id>`
`4`	Authentication failure
`7`	Rate limited (HTTP 429)

Import an App

difyctl import studio-app (--from-file <path> | --from-url <url>) [flags]

import studio-app creates an app from a DSL YAML document, or overwrites an existing one with --app-id. For Workflow and Chatflow apps, it writes the definition to the app’s draft. run app uses the published version, so publish the app in Dify after importing for the change to take effect.

Flags

Flag	Type	Default	Description
`-f, --from-file <path>`	string	none	Import DSL from a local file. Exactly one of `--from-file` or `--from-url` is required.
`--from-url <url>`	string	none	Import DSL from an HTTP(S) URL.
`--name <name>`	string	from DSL	Override the app name.
`--description <text>`	string	from DSL	Override the app description.
`--app-id <id>`	string	none	Overwrite an existing app instead of creating a new one. Workflow and Chatflow apps only.
`--icon-type <type>`	string	from DSL	Override the icon type.
`--icon <icon>`	string	from DSL	Override the icon.
`--icon-background <color>`	string	from DSL	Override the icon background color.

Examples

Import an app from a local DSL file:

difyctl import studio-app --from-file ./daily-report.yaml

Import under a different name:

difyctl import studio-app --from-file ./daily-report.yaml --name "Daily Report (staging)"

Overwrite an existing app with an updated DSL:

difyctl import studio-app --from-file ./daily-report.yaml --app-id 7f3e9a2b-1c4d-4e8f-9a0b-2d5c8e1f4a7b

Import directly from a URL:

difyctl import studio-app --from-url https://example.com/templates/daily-report.yaml

Output

All status lines go to stderr; stdout stays empty. On success, stderr reports the new app’s ID:

Import completed: app 9b4f2c8e-6a1d-4e3f-b7a5-0c8d2e6f4a9b

If the DSL was written for a different DSL version, the CLI confirms it for you and notes both versions on stderr. If the app depends on plugins that aren’t installed in the workspace, stderr lists them under Missing plugin dependencies after the import. Install them before using the app.

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
`0`	Success, including imports with warnings
`1`	Error, including a missing or conflicting `--from-file`/`--from-url`, or a failed import
`2`	Usage error, including a `--from-file` path that doesn’t exist
`4`	Authentication failure
`7`	Rate limited (HTTP 429)

​List Your Apps

​Arguments

​Flags

​Examples

​Output

​Exit Codes

​Inspect an App

​Arguments

​Flags

​Examples

​Output

​Exit Codes

​Run an App

​Arguments

​Flags

​Examples

​Output

​Exit Codes

​When a Workflow Pauses

​Resume a Paused Workflow

​Arguments

​Flags

​Examples

​Output

​Exit Codes

​Export an App

​Arguments

​Flags

​Examples

​Output

​Exit Codes

​Import an App

​Flags

​Examples

​Output

​Exit Codes

List Your Apps

Arguments

Flags

Examples

Output

Exit Codes

Inspect an App

Arguments

Flags

Examples

Output

Exit Codes

Run an App

Arguments

Flags

Examples

Output

Exit Codes

When a Workflow Pauses

Resume a Paused Workflow

Arguments

Flags

Examples

Output

Exit Codes

Export an App

Arguments

Flags

Examples

Output

Exit Codes

Import an App

Flags

Examples

Output

Exit Codes