| Option | Meaning |
|---|---|
--color auto|always|never |
Control ANSI color output. |
--verbose |
Print every Elastic Docs Utils-managed file or directory changed by a mutating command. It prints paths only, never configuration values or secrets. |
Global options can appear before or after the command:
elastic-docs-utils --verbose install --with-vale
elastic-docs-utils install --verbose --with-docs-builder
elastic-docs-utils install --verbose --with-docs-tools| Purpose | Location |
|---|---|
| Preferences | macOS/Linux: OS config directory under elastic/docs-utils/config.json; Windows: %AppData%\elastic\docs-utils\config.json |
| Managed state | macOS/Linux: OS config directory under elastic/docs-utils/state.json; Windows: %AppData%\elastic\docs-utils\state.json |
| Update cache | OS cache directory under elastic/docs-utils/update-status.json |
| Shared skills | ~/.agents/skills/<skill> |
| Claude Code MCP | ~/.claude.json |
| Claude Code session hook | ~/.claude/settings.json |
| Codex MCP | ~/.codex/config.toml |
| Cursor CLI MCP | ~/.cursor/mcp.json |
| OpenCode MCP | macOS/Linux: ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json; Windows: the OS config directory under opencode/opencode.json |
Claude Code and Cursor CLI receive skill discovery links below their respective
~/.claude/skills and ~/.cursor/skills directories. Existing non-Elastic
configuration is retained unless --force is explicitly supplied for a
conflicting Elastic Docs MCP entry.
Before configuring host adapters, install, sync, and update place a
binary started from a checkout or download into /usr/local/bin when writable,
or ~/.local/bin otherwise. On Windows, the location is
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Elastic\DocsUtils. The Claude Code session hook records this
durable absolute path, so it works even when Claude Code starts without the
shell PATH.
install --with-docs-tools is the recommended first-time setup option. It runs
both upstream installers, ensuring Vale is present, installing the Elastic Vale
rules, and installing docs-builder. The narrower --with-vale and
--with-docs-builder options run only the corresponding installer.
Pair any of these options with --force to accept the upstream installers'
replacement prompts. This replaces a non-Elastic Vale configuration and
overwrites docs-builder when it already exists. The upstream Vale installer
keeps an existing Vale executable package-managed; it refreshes the Elastic
rules rather than forcibly replacing the executable.
install --with-vale runs the maintained Elastic Vale Rules platform
installer. It may install the Vale binary and manages the following locations:
| Platform | Vale configuration | Elastic styles |
|---|---|---|
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/vale/.vale.ini |
~/Library/Application Support/vale/styles/Elastic |
| Linux | ~/.config/vale/.vale.ini |
~/.local/share/vale/styles/Elastic (or XDG overrides) |
| Windows | %LOCALAPPDATA%\vale\.vale.ini |
%LOCALAPPDATA%\vale\styles\Elastic |
install --with-docs-builder runs the maintained Docs Builder installer. Its
installation location is chosen by that upstream script and is printed by the
script while it runs.
update refreshes all updateable components by default:
elastic-docs-utils updateSelect specific components with a comma-separated --component value:
elastic-docs-utils update --component skills,vale-rules,docs-builderSupported components are skills, vale, vale-rules, and docs-builder.
The vale and vale-rules selections use the same upstream installer because
it manages both components together. Add --force to accept replacement
prompts from upstream installers.