Setup

Tools for working with Sideways from your terminal and AI assistants.

CLI

Sync documentation from your filesystem. Push, pull, and manage docs from the command line.

Install

Requires Node.js 18+

Option A: Install script

Download the script, inspect it, then run:

 curl -fsSL https://sideways-dev.tail01583b.ts.net/install.sh -o install.sh
less install.sh
sh install.sh https://sideways-dev.tail01583b.ts.net 

View install script

 #!/bin/sh
# Downloads two files to ~/.local/bin/:
#   sideways.cjs     — CLI bundle
#   sideways-mcp.cjs — MCP server bundle
# Creates a 'sideways' wrapper script.
# No system-level changes. No sudo required. 

View full script

Option B: Manual download

Download the files directly and place them on your PATH:

 mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
curl -fsSL https://sideways-dev.tail01583b.ts.net/downloads/sideways.cjs -o ~/.local/bin/sideways.cjs
curl -fsSL https://sideways-dev.tail01583b.ts.net/downloads/sideways-mcp.cjs -o ~/.local/bin/sideways-mcp.cjs

# Create wrapper
printf '#!/bin/sh\nexec node "$(dirname "$0")/sideways.cjs" "$@"\n' > ~/.local/bin/sideways
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/sideways 

Quick start

 # Initialize a project
sideways init my-docs --api https://sideways-dev.tail01583b.ts.net # Pull all docs
sideways pull
# Edit locally, then push
sideways push
# Check what's changed
sideways status 

Commands

sideways init <space>Create .sideways.yml in current directory

sideways pull [file]Pull documents from remote

sideways push [file]Push local changes to remote

sideways statusShow sync status

sideways diff <file>Show diff between local and remote

sideways export <slug> --format pdfExport document as PDF

MCP (AI Integration)

Connect AI assistants to read, write, and comment on documentation via the Model Context Protocol.

Requires an API key — create one from Settings → API Keys.

Claude Desktop

Uses the Streamable HTTP transport. Add to your Claude Desktop config (claude_desktop_config.json):

 {
  "mcpServers": {
    "sideways": {
      "url": "https://sideways-dev.tail01583b.ts.net/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
} 

Claude Code

Uses stdio transport with the downloaded MCP server. Add to .mcp.json in your project:

 {
  "mcpServers": {
    "sideways": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "~/.local/bin/sideways-mcp.cjs"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SIDEWAYS_API_URL": "https://sideways-dev.tail01583b.ts.net",
        "SIDEWAYS_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
} 

Available tools

space_listList all accessible spaces

space_createCreate a new documentation space

doc_listList documents in a space

doc_readRead markdown content with comments

doc_writeCreate or update a document

doc_editSearch-and-replace edits without rewriting

searchFull-text search across documents

doc_renameRename a document's title

doc_moveMove a document to another space or section

doc_duplicateCreate a copy of a document

comment_addAdd a comment, optionally anchored to text

comment_listList comments on a document

comment_resolveResolve or reopen a comment

doc_deleteDelete a document

doc_versionsList version history

API

All features are available via the REST API. Authenticate with a Bearer token (JWT or API key).

Base URL: https://sideways-dev.tail01583b.ts.net/api

GET /api/spacesList spaces

GET /api/documents?space=:slugList documents

GET /api/documents/:space/:section/:pathGet document content

PUT /api/documents/:space/:section/:pathCreate or update document

GET /api/documents/:space/:section/_pdf/:pathExport as PDF

GET /api/comments/:space/:section/:pathList comments

POST /api/comments/:space/:section/:pathAdd comment