Upgrading your ReadMe CLI to rdme@10

Overview

This guide explains how to install rdme@10 for use with ReadMe Refactored. In general, we recommend bi-directional syncing for tasks like:

• Syncing Markdown files
• Syncing API definitions (and editing them visually with the API designer)
• Managing project hierarchy (e.g., versions and categories)

However rdme@10 is useful for more targeted workflows—particularly when syncing happens outside of Git, such as:

• A one-directional sync of an API definition (e.g., if it is generated via a build process and/or is not tracked via your bidirectionally synced Git repo)
• A one-directional sync of Markdown files (e.g., if they are updated via a build process and/or are not tracked via your bidirectionally synced Git repo)
• Any non-syncing processing for an API definition (e.g., validating it, reducing it a set of fewer operations)

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rdme@10 only works with ReadMe projects that are using ReadMe Refactored. If you are not yet using ReadMe Refactored, you'll want to use rdme@9.

Upgrading to v10

Step 1(a): Upgrade your CLI version

If you're using the rdme CLI and it is installed globally via npm, update it by running the following command:

npm install -g rdme@10

More installation options can be found in our docs.

Step 1(b): Update GitHub Actions Workflow version

If you're using the rdme GitHub Action, update your GitHub Actions workflow file so your rdme usage uses the v10 reference like so:

- uses: readmeio/rdme@v10
  with:
    rdme: openapi validate petstore.json

Step 2: Address v10 Breaking Changes

1. Enable Bi-Directional Syncing (recommended)

   We recommend setting up bi-directional syncing for managing your Markdown files, API definitions and project hierarchy.

2. Command Replacements
   • Replace: changelogs → changelog upload (see more in step 3 below)
   • Replace: custompages → custompages upload (see more in step 3 below)
   • Replace: docs (and its guides alias) → docs upload (see more in step 3 below)
     • Note: if you previously used this command to upload Markdown to the API reference section, you should use rdme reference upload instead. See more in step 3 below.
   • Replace: openapi → openapi upload (see more in step 4 below)
   • Replace: categories → use Git-based workflow
   • Replace: versions → use Git-based workflow
   • Remove: open

3. Updates to Markdown uploading commands

   If you previously uploaded Markdown files to your ReadMe project via one of the following commands:

   1. rdme docs,
   2. rdme changelogs
   3. rdme custompages (note: this command also supports the uploading of HTML files)

   The commands have been updated to the following:

   1. rdme docs upload (or rdme reference upload if you're uploading Markdown to your API Reference section)
   2. rdme changelog upload
   3. rdme custompages upload (note: this new command still supports the uploading of HTML files)

   The command semantics are largely the same, but with a few small changes:

   • The --dryRun flag has been deprecated in favor of --dry-run.

   • The new git-backed ReadMe backend has a clearer separation between the Guides and API reference sections. This means that:

     • Markdown pages that live in the Guides section should be synced with rdme docs upload
     • Conversely, Markdown pages that live in the API reference should be synced with rdme reference upload.

   • There is no prompt to select your ReadMe project version if you omit the --version flag. It now defaults to stable (i.e., your main ReadMe project version). This flag has also been renamed to --branch.

   • These commands will now automatically validate your frontmatter and flag any issues prior to syncing. This is particularly helpful if you're coming from rdme@9 or earlier, since the shape of certain frontmatter attributes (e.g., category, parent, hidden) have slightly changed. If you run this command in a non-CI environment, any outdated frontmatter will be detected and you'll have the ability to migrate it to the new format automatically.

   Read more in the respective command docs (rdme docs upload, rdme reference upload, rdme changelog upload, rdme custompages upload) and in the ReadMe API migration guide.

4. openapihas been replaced byopenapi upload

   If you previously uploaded API definitions to ReadMe via rdme openapi, the command is now rdme openapi upload. There are now two main updates:

   • Like the Markdown uploading commands above, there is no prompt to select your ReadMe project version if you omit the --version flag. It now defaults to stable (i.e., your main ReadMe project version). This flag has also been renamed to --branch.

   • The flag paradigms have been simplified based on community feedback. With the previous command, the --id flag was a hexadecimal object ID (e.g., 687855c3600c6e14c79a94cb). These IDs lacked readability and required an initial upload to ReadMe to obtain, which made it difficult to upsert API definitions and manage many at scale. With openapi upload and ReadMe Refactored, the--id flag has been removed in favor of --slug. Slugs are now the unique identifier for an API definition resource in ReadMe.

     Unlike the object ID paradigm that was previously used with --id, the --slug flag enables you to define a slug during initial upload. While we encourage you to use this flag and especially encourage slugs that are human-readable and descriptive, --slug is technically optional. When omitted, your API definition's slug is inferred from the file path or URL to your API definition.

     If you've migrated your project from our legacy platform and you'd like to continue syncing any previously uploaded API definitions via rdme, we recommend either 1) looking at the post-migration file name in ReadMe and using the --slug flag to refer to that (recommended!) or 2) passing the legacy object ID reference via the --legacy-id flag (this is a hidden flag and should not be used in new workflows).

   Read more in the rdme openapi upload command docs and in the ReadMe API migration guide.