JSON API

The distant CLI offers a robust API in the form of JSON requests and responses that are sent over stdin and stdout. When programmatically interacting with distant, this API can be a great way to maintain a singular connection to the server whether distant, ssh, or a future offering.

Today, there are two primary message formats that a client wishing to use the JSON API must support:

• Authentication - when a server (or manager) needs to validate the client's access. This can occur when launching or connecting to a server, but is not limited to occurring in those situations. Authentication messages can technically be received at any time, such as when a server has expired access for a client and the client needs to reauthenticate.

• Messages - the core API communicating between a client and a server. Any action the server has available is offered here, and while most communication starts by a client sending a request to the server, the order of messages is not guaranteed and asynchronous messages can be sent to the client by the server at any time.