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bkt

Bitbucket CLI for Data Center and Cloud. Use when users need to manage repositories, pull requests, branches, issues, webhooks, or pipelines in Bitbucket. Triggers include "bitbucket", "bkt", "pull request", "PR", "repo list", "branch create", "Bitbucket Data Center", "Bitbucket Cloud", "keyring timeout".

install
source · Clone the upstream repo
git clone https://github.com/avivsinai/bitbucket-cli
Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/
T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/avivsinai/bitbucket-cli "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/bkt" ~/.claude/skills/avivsinai-bitbucket-cli-bkt && rm -rf "$T"
manifest: skills/bkt/SKILL.md
source content

Bitbucket CLI (bkt)

bkt
is a unified CLI for Bitbucket Data Center and Bitbucket Cloud. It mirrors 
gh
ergonomics and provides structured JSON/YAML output for automation.

Before You Start

1. Verify installation — always check before running any 

bkt
command:

bkt --version

If not installed:

PlatformCommand
macOS/Linux
brew install avivsinai/tap/bitbucket-cli
Windows
scoop bucket add avivsinai https://github.com/avivsinai/scoop-bucket && scoop install bitbucket-cli
Go
go install github.com/avivsinai/bitbucket-cli/cmd/bkt@latest
BinaryDownload from GitHub Releases

2. Check authentication — most commands require an active session:

bkt auth status

Bitbucket Cloud Token Requirements:

  • Create an "API token with scopes" (not a general API token)
  • Select Bitbucket as the application
  • Required scope: Account: Read (
    read:user:bitbucket
    )
  • Additional scopes as needed: Repositories, Pull requests, Issues

For config-free use in containers and CI pipelines, see headless authentication.

If not authenticated, log in:

# Data Center (PAT-based)
bkt auth login https://bitbucket.example.com --username alice --token <PAT>

# Bitbucket Cloud — OAuth (recommended; opens browser)
bkt auth login https://bitbucket.org --kind cloud --web

# Bitbucket Cloud — API token (--web-token opens Atlassian's token creation page)
bkt auth login https://bitbucket.org --kind cloud --web-token

For 

go install
builds, set 
BKT_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID
and 
BKT_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET
env vars before running 
--web
.

3. Set up a context — contexts bind a host to a project/workspace and optional default repo, so you don't repeat flags on every command:

# Data Center
bkt context create dc-prod --host bitbucket.example.com --project ABC --set-active

# Cloud
bkt context create cloud-team --host bitbucket.org --workspace myteam --set-active

Platform Awareness

Some commands are Data Center only or Cloud only — check the command reference for 

*(DC)*
and 
*(Cloud)*
badges. Key splits:

FeatureData CenterCloud
Pull requestsyesyes
Repositoriesyesyes
Branches (list)yesyes
Branches (create/delete/protect)yes—
Issues—yes
Pipelines—yes
Permissionsyes—
Webhooksyesyes
Auto-merge, tasks, reactionsyes—
Variables—yes

When a user's context is DC, do not suggest Cloud-only commands (and vice versa). If the platform is unknown, ask or check with 

bkt auth status
.

Common Workflows

Create a PR from the current branch

bkt pr create --title "feat: add caching" --target main

Source branch, title, and target default to sensible values from git state. Add 

--draft
for work-in-progress, 
--reviewer alice
to request review.

Review cycle

bkt pr checks 42 --wait          # Wait for CI to pass
bkt pr approve 42                # Approve
bkt pr merge 42                  # Merge (closes source branch by default)

Checkout a colleague's PR locally

bkt pr checkout 42               # Creates pr/42 branch

Structured output for scripting

All commands support 

--json
, 
--yaml
, 
--jq
, and 
--template
:

bkt pr list --mine --json | jq '.[].title'

Raw API escape hatch

For endpoints without a dedicated command:

bkt api /rest/api/1.0/projects --param limit=100 --json

Global Flags

Every command accepts these inherited flags:

FlagShortPurpose
--context
-c
Use a specific named context
--json
JSON output
--yaml
YAML output
--jq
Apply a jq expression (requires 
--json
)
--template
Render with Go template

References

  • headless / env vars — Config-free CI/container auth (BKT_TOKEN, BKT_HOST) and full env var reference
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  • admin — Administrative operations for Bitbucket (DC)
  • auth — Manage Bitbucket authentication credentials
  • branch — Inspect and manage branches
  • commit — Work with commits
  • context — Manage Bitbucket CLI contexts
  • extension — Manage bkt CLI extensions
  • issue — Work with Bitbucket Cloud issues (Cloud)
  • perms — Manage Bitbucket permissions (DC)
  • pipeline — Run and inspect Bitbucket Cloud pipelines (Cloud)
  • pr — Manage pull requests
  • project — Work with Bitbucket projects (DC)
  • repo — Work with Bitbucket repositories
  • status — Inspect commit and pull request statuses
  • variable — Manage pipeline variables (Cloud)
  • webhook — Manage Bitbucket webhooks
  • other — api
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