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instance

Shows the identity and versions of this CAT installation, or sets — and removes — the Enterprise license key. Works without sign-in.

Synopsis 

catcli instance --show [-l <level>]
catcli instance --setLicenseKey <key> [-l <level>]
catcli instance --setLicenseKey "" [-l <level>]

Options

Short Long Value Meaning
-s --show Print the instance table. Exactly one of -s / -k is required.
-k --setLicenseKey key Store the license key. An empty value (-k "") removes the stored key.
-l --loggingLevel level None (default), Error, Information, Debug, … — see Logging.
-q --quiet Accepted for uniformity with the other verbs; instance never signs in, so there is nothing to silence.

What it does

Reads or writes %APPDATA%\CAT\.catconfig, the file that identifies this installation and holds the license key. It does not run the sign-in and plan check — that is the point: a key can be installed on a machine that has no portal access and no token, and the installation can always be inspected. Setting a key is how an Enterprise plan is activated; once a valid key is stored, every verb works offline and CAT_PORTAL_TOKEN is no longer read. The same key is shared with the other CAT tools on the machine (CAT Studio, the PowerShell module, the Python module) — it is one installation.

A key is checked before it is stored: a genuine CAT key is stored even when it is expired or not yet valid (what it unlocks is decided at every run, and a future key starts working the day its window opens); anything that is not a CAT key — a typo, a truncated paste — is refused with the reason and the stored key is left unchanged.

Output

--show prints a two-column table:

╭─────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────╮
│ Property            │ Value                                │
├─────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Instance ID         │ 3f0e9a2c-…                           │
│ Installation Date   │ 2026-03-02T09:14:51.0000000+01:00    │
│ License Key         │ (the stored key, or empty)           │
│ Automation Platform │ none (interactive invocation)        │
│ Tool and version    │ CAT CLI v3.0.0                       │
│ Version of CAT Core │ 3.0.0                                │
│ Platform            │ Windows                              │
│ OS Version          │ Microsoft Windows 10.0.22631         │
╰─────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────╯

Automation Platform names the CI/CD platform CAT detected it was started by, or none (interactive invocation) — useful for checking what the interactive-only rule will see.

--setLicenseKey prints The license key was set., The license key was removed., or The license key was not set. followed by the reason.

Exit code

0 when the table was printed or the key was set or removed. 1 when the key was refused or the configuration could not be read or written.

Examples 

# what installation is this, and is a key set?
catcli instance -s

# activate the Enterprise plan on this machine
catcli instance --setLicenseKey "your-license-key"

# go back to no key (sign-in with CAT_PORTAL_TOKEN applies again)
catcli instance -k ""
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