- Removed unnecessary static cipher-algorithm, cipher-key-length and cipher-mode flags

- Avoided opening url in browser in json mode

Author: sacOO7

README.md

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ $ npm install -g @ably/cli
 $ ably COMMAND
 running command...
 $ ably (--version)
-@ably/cli/0.17.0 darwin-arm64 node-v24.4.1
+@ably/cli/0.17.0 darwin-arm64 node-v25.3.0
 $ ably --help [COMMAND]
 USAGE
   $ ably COMMAND
@@ -1949,7 +1949,7 @@ _See code: [src/commands/channels/presence/enter.ts](https://github.com/ably/abl
 
 Get all current presence members on a channel
 
-```text
+```
 USAGE
   $ ably channels presence get CHANNEL [-v] [--json | --pretty-json] [--limit <value>]
 
@@ -2077,26 +2077,23 @@ Subscribe to messages published on one or more Ably channels
 ```
 USAGE
   $ ably channels subscribe CHANNELS... [-v] [--json | --pretty-json] [--client-id <value>] [-D <value>] [--rewind
-    <value>] [--cipher-algorithm <value>] [--cipher-key <value>] [--cipher-key-length <value>] [--cipher-mode <value>]
-    [--delta] [--sequence-numbers]
+    <value>] [--cipher <value>] [--delta] [--sequence-numbers]
 
 ARGUMENTS
   CHANNELS...  Channel name(s) to subscribe to
 
 FLAGS
-  -D, --duration=<value>           Automatically exit after N seconds
-  -v, --verbose                    Output verbose logs
-      --cipher-algorithm=<value>   [default: aes] Encryption algorithm to use
-      --cipher-key=<value>         Encryption key for decrypting messages (base64-encoded or hex-encoded)
-      --cipher-key-length=<value>  [default: 256] Length of encryption key in bits
-      --cipher-mode=<value>        [default: cbc] Cipher mode to use
-      --client-id=<value>          Overrides any default client ID when using API authentication. Use "none" to
-                                   explicitly set no client ID. Not applicable when using token authentication.
-      --delta                      Enable delta compression (VCDIFF) to reduce message payload sizes
-      --json                       Output in JSON format
-      --pretty-json                Output in colorized JSON format
-      --rewind=<value>             Number of messages to rewind when subscribing (default: 0)
-      --sequence-numbers           Include sequence numbers in output
+  -D, --duration=<value>   Automatically exit after N seconds
+  -v, --verbose            Output verbose logs
+      --cipher=<value>     Decryption key for encrypted messages (base64-encoded or hex-encoded), uses AES-256-CBC by
+                           default
+      --client-id=<value>  Overrides any default client ID when using API authentication. Use "none" to explicitly set
+                           no client ID. Not applicable when using token authentication.
+      --delta              Enable delta compression (VCDIFF) to reduce message payload sizes
+      --json               Output in JSON format
+      --pretty-json        Output in colorized JSON format
+      --rewind=<value>     Number of messages to rewind when subscribing (default: 0)
+      --sequence-numbers   Include sequence numbers in output
 
 DESCRIPTION
   Subscribe to messages published on one or more Ably channels
@@ -2110,7 +2107,7 @@ EXAMPLES
 
   $ ably channels subscribe --delta my-channel
 
-  $ ably channels subscribe --cipher-key YOUR_CIPHER_KEY my-channel
+  $ ably channels subscribe --cipher YOUR_CIPHER_KEY my-channel
 
   $ ably channels subscribe my-channel --json
 

src/commands/channels/inspect.ts

@@ -54,11 +54,10 @@ export default class ChannelsInspect extends AblyBaseCommand {
     }
     const url = `${dashboardHost}/accounts/${accountId}/apps/${appId}/channels/${encodeURIComponent(args.channel)}`;
 
-    const isJson = this.shouldOutputJson(flags);
-    if (isJson) {
-      this.logJsonResult({ message: `Opening ${url} in your browser` }, flags);
+    if (this.shouldOutputJson(flags)) {
+      this.logJsonResult({ message: `Open ${url} in your browser` }, flags);
+    } else {
+      await openUrl(url, this);
     }
-
-    await openUrl(url, this, isJson);
   }
 }

src/commands/channels/subscribe.ts

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ export default class ChannelsSubscribe extends AblyBaseCommand {
     "$ ably channels subscribe my-channel another-channel",
     "$ ably channels subscribe --rewind 10 my-channel",
     "$ ably channels subscribe --delta my-channel",
-    "$ ably channels subscribe --cipher-key YOUR_CIPHER_KEY my-channel",
+    "$ ably channels subscribe --cipher YOUR_CIPHER_KEY my-channel",
     "$ ably channels subscribe my-channel --json",
     "$ ably channels subscribe my-channel --pretty-json",
     "$ ably channels subscribe my-channel --duration 30",
@@ -47,21 +47,9 @@ export default class ChannelsSubscribe extends AblyBaseCommand {
     ...clientIdFlag,
     ...durationFlag,
     ...rewindFlag,
-    "cipher-algorithm": Flags.string({
-      default: "aes",
-      description: "Encryption algorithm to use",
-    }),
-    "cipher-key": Flags.string({
+    cipher: Flags.string({
       description:
-        "Encryption key for decrypting messages (base64-encoded or hex-encoded)",
-    }),
-    "cipher-key-length": Flags.integer({
-      default: 256,
-      description: "Length of encryption key in bits",
-    }),
-    "cipher-mode": Flags.string({
-      default: "cbc",
-      description: "Cipher mode to use",
+        "Decryption key for encrypted messages (base64-encoded or hex-encoded), uses AES-256-CBC by default",
     }),
     delta: Flags.boolean({
       default: false,
@@ -107,19 +95,16 @@ export default class ChannelsSubscribe extends AblyBaseCommand {
         const channelOptions: Ably.ChannelOptions = {};
 
         // Configure encryption if cipher key is provided
-        if (flags["cipher-key"]) {
+        if (flags.cipher) {
           channelOptions.cipher = {
-            algorithm: flags["cipher-algorithm"],
-            key: flags["cipher-key"],
-            keyLength: flags["cipher-key-length"],
-            mode: flags["cipher-mode"],
+            key: flags.cipher,
           };
           this.logCliEvent(
             flags,
             "subscribe",
             "encryptionEnabled",
             `Encryption enabled for channel ${channelName}`,
-            { algorithm: flags["cipher-algorithm"], channel: channelName },
+            { channel: channelName },
           );
         }
 

src/commands/status.ts

@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ export default class StatusCommand extends AblyBaseCommand {
       }
 
       if (flags.open) {
-        await openUrl("https://status.ably.com", this, isJson);
+        await openUrl("https://status.ably.com", this);
       }
     } catch (error) {
       if (spinner) {

src/utils/open-url.ts

@@ -11,28 +11,16 @@ interface Logger {
 // In web CLI mode it prints "Visit <url>" instead of trying to open a browser.
 // We don't want to open browsers in unit tests, and we can't use mocking to catch the calls because of how
 // oclif loads the commands.
-// When isJsonOutput is true, human-readable messages are suppressed — callers are responsible for emitting
-// proper JSON envelope output via logJsonResult/logJsonEvent before calling openUrl.
-const openUrl = async (
-  url: string,
-  logger: Logger,
-  isJsonOutput = false,
-): Promise<void> => {
+const openUrl = async (url: string, logger: Logger): Promise<void> => {
   if (isWebCliMode()) {
-    if (!isJsonOutput) {
-      logger.log(`${chalk.cyan("Visit")} ${url}`);
-    }
+    logger.log(`${chalk.cyan("Visit")} ${url}`);
     return;
   }
-  if (!isJsonOutput) {
-    logger.log(
-      `${chalk.cyan("Opening")} ${url} ${chalk.cyan("in your browser")}...`,
-    );
-  }
+  logger.log(
+    `${chalk.cyan("Opening")} ${url} ${chalk.cyan("in your browser")}...`,
+  );
   if (isTestMode()) {
-    if (!isJsonOutput) {
-      logger.log(`would open URL in browser: ${url}`);
-    }
+    logger.log(`would open URL in browser: ${url}`);
     return;
   }
   await open(url);

test/unit/commands/channels/subscribe.test.ts

@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ describe("channels:subscribe command", () => {
   standardFlagTests("channels:subscribe", import.meta.url, [
     "--rewind",
     "--delta",
-    "--cipher-key",
+    "--cipher",
     "--json",
   ]);