Capability parity

Metaseed offers the same work through three surfaces: a command line, an MCP server for agents, and a web interface. A capability that reaches only one of them is a capability most users cannot get at — a script cannot open a browser, and a person at a terminal should not have to.

The rule is therefore: everything the MCP server or the web interface can do, the CLI can do too. This page is the record of that, and tests/test_capability_parity.py is its gate — the table below is read by the test, so a row naming a command, tool or route that does not exist fails the suite, and so does a tool or a state-changing route that no row names.

What the gate checks

1. Every tool the MCP server registers appears in the table with a CLI command.
2. Every CLI command named in the table exists in the Typer application.
3. Every command the Typer application registers appears in the table.
4. Every route that changes state (POST, PUT, DELETE) appears in the table or in the exemptions below.

Read-only GET routes are views of a capability rather than capabilities of their own — a form fragment, a rendered page, a progress poll — so they are not enumerated. The capabilities they display are in the table through their MCP tool or their CLI command.

The table

Capability	CLI	MCP tool	UI
Datasets
List saved datasets	dataset list	list_datasets	GET /api/datasets
Show a dataset's contents	dataset show	load_dataset	GET /dataset/{name}/edit
Show a dataset's profile and counts	dataset info	get_dataset_info	—
Create an empty dataset	dataset create	create_dataset	POST /api/datasets/save
Write entities into a dataset	dataset import	save_dataset	POST /import
Delete a dataset	dataset delete	delete_dataset	DELETE /api/datasets/{name}
Validate a dataset	dataset validate	validate_dataset	GET /api/validate
Check that links between entities are complete	dataset validate-links	validate_relationships	—
Export a dataset (Excel or an adapter format)	dataset export	—	GET /export, GET /export/adapter/{fmt}
Import a public record by accession	dataset import-record	import_from_database	POST /import/source
Entities
List a dataset's entities	entity list	list_entities	—
Show one entity	entity show	get_entity	—
Show the entity tree	entity tree	get_entity_tree	GET /api/graph
Create an entity	entity create	create_entity	POST /entity, POST /table/{parent_entity_type}/{field_name}/row
Update an entity	entity update	update_entity	PUT /entity/{node_id}, POST /nested/{parent_type}/{field_name}/{idx}, POST /table/{parent_entity_type}/{field_name}/row/{idx}/cell
Delete an entity	entity delete	delete_entity	DELETE /entity/{node_id}, DELETE /table/{parent_entity_type}/{field_name}/row/{idx}
Update many entities at once	entity bulk-update	bulk_update_entities	POST /table/{parent_entity_type}/{field_name}/bulk, POST /table/{parent_entity_type}/{field_name}/paste
Create many entities at once	entity batch-create	batch_create	—
Validate one entity	validate	validate_entity	POST /validate
Profiles
List profiles and versions	profiles	list_profiles	—
List a profile's entity types	entities	—	—
Show a profile's schema	profile schema	get_profile_schema	—
Show a profile's hierarchy	profile relationships	get_profile_relationships	—
Show an entity's fields	profile fields	get_entity_fields	—
Show an entity's required fields	profile required	get_required_fields	—
Show one field's specification	profile field	get_field_spec	—
Emit a skeleton for an entity	template	get_entity_template	—
Load an example dataset	example	get_example_dataset	GET /load-example/{profile_name}/{version}
Validate a file against a profile	check	—	—
Convert a file between YAML and JSON	convert	—	—
Compare profiles	compare	spec_compare	POST /explore/compare, GET /explore/report/{format_type}/{profiles:path}
Merge profiles	merge	—	—
Ontology terms
Search for a term	ontology search	search_ontology	GET /api/ontology/search
Look up one term	ontology term	get_ontology_term	—
Suggest a term for a value	ontology suggest	suggest_ontology_term	—
List available ontologies	ontology list	list_ontologies	—
Check a dataset's terms resolve	ontology validate	validate_ontology_terms	—
Extraction from source files
Parse a source file	extract parse	parse_source_file	—
Suggest a field mapping	extract analyze	analyze_mapping	—
Extract entities through a mapping	extract run	extract_entities	—
Validate extracted records	extract validate	validate_extracted	—
Write extracted records to a file	extract export	export_metadata	—
Specification authoring
Start a draft	spec create	spec_create	GET /spec-builder/new
Start a draft from a profile	spec clone	spec_clone	GET /spec-builder/clone/{profile}/{version}
Start a draft from a YAML document	spec import	spec_import_yaml	POST /spec-builder/import, POST /spec-builder/apply-yaml
Summarise a draft	spec status	spec_status	GET /spec-builder
Show a draft as YAML	spec preview	spec_preview_yaml	GET /spec-builder/preview, GET /spec-builder/export
Check a draft	spec validate	spec_validate	—
Save a draft as a profile	spec save	spec_save	POST /spec-builder/save
Delete a saved profile	spec delete	—	DELETE /spec-builder/user-spec/{name}/{version}
Set profile-level metadata	spec set-metadata	spec_set_metadata	POST /spec-builder/profile-metadata
Set the root entity	spec set-root	spec_set_root_entity	—
Add an entity type	spec add-entity	spec_add_entity	POST /spec-builder/entity
Change an entity type	spec update-entity	spec_update_entity	PUT /spec-builder/entity/{name}
Rename an entity type	spec rename-entity	spec_rename_entity	—
Remove an entity type	spec delete-entity	spec_delete_entity	DELETE /spec-builder/entity/{name}
Add a field	spec add-field	spec_add_field	POST /spec-builder/entity/{entity_name}/field
Change a field	spec update-field	spec_update_field	PUT /spec-builder/entity/{entity_name}/field/{idx}
Remove a field	spec delete-field	spec_delete_field	DELETE /spec-builder/entity/{entity_name}/field/{idx}
Move a field	spec move-field	spec_move_field	POST /spec-builder/entity/{entity_name}/field/{idx}/move-up, POST /spec-builder/entity/{entity_name}/field/{idx}/move-down
Add a validation rule	spec add-rule	spec_add_rule	POST /spec-builder/validation-rule
Change a validation rule	spec update-rule	spec_update_rule	PUT /spec-builder/validation-rule/{idx}
Remove a validation rule	spec delete-rule	spec_delete_rule	DELETE /spec-builder/validation-rule/{idx}
Keep notes on a draft	spec notes	—	POST /spec-builder/notes
Catalogue records (DCAT)
Show a dataset's catalogue card	dcat show	—	GET /dcat, GET /api/dcat
Set the catalogue fields	dcat set	—	POST /api/dcat/metadata
FAIRDOM-SEEK
Check the connection	seek check	—	POST /settings/adapters/{key}/check
Preview what would be created	seek preview	—	GET /seek/preview
Create Sample Types and vocabularies	seek provision	—	POST /seek/provision
Push a dataset as ISA content	seek sync	—	POST /seek/sync
Export ISA RDF	seek isa-rdf	—	GET /seek/isa-rdf
Download ISA Templates	seek isa-templates	—	GET /seek/isa-templates
Download the model as Turtle	seek model-ttl	—	GET /seek/model-ttl
Derive a profile from installed templates	seek import-templates, seek-import-templates	—	—
Metaseed Hub
Check the connection	hub check	—	—
List datasets on the hub	hub list	—	GET /hub/datasets/pull
Push a dataset	hub push-dataset	—	GET /hub/datasets/{name}/push, POST /hub/datasets/{name}/push
Pull a dataset	hub pull-dataset	—	POST /hub/datasets/pull/{dataset_id}
List profiles on both sides	hub profiles	—	GET /hub/profiles
Push a profile (private draft, or published on request)	hub push-profile	—	POST /hub/profiles/{name}/{version}/push
Withdraw a published profile to a draft	hub unpublish-profile	—	POST /hub/profiles/{name}/{version}/unpublish
Fetch a published profile	hub pull-profile	—	POST /hub/profiles/{name}/{version}/pull
Plugins
List the adapters	plugin list	—	GET /settings
Enable or disable an adapter	plugin enable, plugin disable	—	POST /settings/adapters/{key}/toggle
Check an adapter's connection	plugin check	—	POST /settings/adapters/{key}/check
Configure an adapter	plugin config	—	POST /settings/adapters/{key}/config
Running metaseed
Print the version	version	—	—
Start the web interface	ui	—	—
Start the MCP server	mcp	—	—
Migrate stored datasets	migrate	—	—
Migrate profile versions	migrate-specs	—	—

Exemptions

Route	Why it has no CLI command
POST /reset	Clears the browser session's in-memory state. The CLI holds no session: each command names the dataset it acts on.
POST /api/datasets/load	Loads a dataset into the browser session, for the same reason. dataset show reads a dataset out without one.
GET /docs, GET /docs/oauth2-redirect, GET /redoc, GET /openapi.json	FastAPI's own API documentation, not a metaseed capability.

An exemption is a decision on the record: to add one, write the reason here, or the gate fails.

Surfaces are thin

A CLI command, an MCP tool and a route for the same capability call the same library function; none of the three holds logic the others lack. That is what makes parity maintainable rather than three implementations kept in step by hand.