CLI¶

Install the CLI extra, then model-ledger --help lists everything:

pip install "model-ledger[cli]"
model-ledger --help

The CLI has two jobs: launch the agent and HTTP surfaces (the bridge to the rest of this documentation), and work with a local inventory from the terminal.

Launch a surface¶

These serve the Ledger over any backend — in-memory, SQLite, JSON, Snowflake, or a remote HTTP service.

MCP (for agents)REST API

model-ledger mcp                                       # in-memory
model-ledger mcp --demo                                # sample inventory
model-ledger mcp --backend sqlite --path ./inv.db      # persistent
model-ledger mcp --backend snowflake --schema DB.MODEL_LEDGER
model-ledger mcp --backend http --path https://model-ledger.internal:8000

model-ledger serve --demo --port 8000
# → OpenAPI docs at http://localhost:8000/docs

--backend accepts memory · sqlite · json · snowflake · http; --path is the file path (sqlite/json) or URL (http); Snowflake reads credentials from the environment (see Choosing a backend).

Work with a local inventory¶

These commands operate on a local file-based inventory (--db, default inventory.db or $MODEL_LEDGER_DB) and render as a table or --format json.

Command	What it does
`model-ledger list`	List registered models
`model-ledger show <name>`	Show one model's details and versions
`model-ledger validate <name> --profile <p>`	Check a model against a compliance profile (`sr_11_7`, `eu_ai_act`, `nist_ai_rmf`)
`model-ledger audit-log <name>`	Print the model's audit trail
`model-ledger export <name> --output <dir>`	Export an audit pack
`model-ledger introspect <artifact> --allow-pickle`	Extract algorithm/features from a fitted model file

model-ledger list --format json
model-ledger validate credit_scorecard --profile sr_11_7
model-ledger audit-log credit_scorecard

Which command for which surface

mcp and serve expose the full event-log Ledger — the one the SDK, agents, and REST API all share. Use them to point Claude or a dashboard at your inventory. The validate profiles map to the frameworks in the Governance guide.