BCF issue workflow from the command line with bim

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command 'iwr -useb https://bimcli.com/install.ps1 -OutFile $env:TEMP\bim-install.ps1; powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File $env:TEMP\bim-install.ps1'

{% set ctaPosition = "top" %} {% include "install-cta.njk" %}

Build a BCF issue archive from a JSON list, review topics by status, revise a status, and export the open topics for a spreadsheet.

Create a BCF issue archive from JSON

The small fixture has three topics with a title, status, priority, and description. Create an archive from it:

bim bcf create --data tests/fixtures/bcf-export-topics.json --out $env:TEMP\dim-2395-bcf\issues-final.bcfzip --author bim-cli

List only the open topic:

bim bcf topic list $env:TEMP\dim-2395-bcf\issues-final.bcfzip --status Open

The command returns this topic:

{"count":1,"file":"issues-final.bcfzip","topics":[{"assigned_to":"","comment_count":0,"creation_author":"bim-cli","creation_date":"2026-11-10T14:12:05Z","due_date":"","guid":"11111111-1111-4111-8111-111111111111","labels":[],"modified_date":"","priority":"Normal","status":"Open","title":"Check door clearance","type":"","viewpoint_count":0}],"version":"2.1"}

Inspect a topic by its GUID when you need its description or other fields:

bim bcf topic show $env:TEMP\dim-2395-bcf\issues-final.bcfzip --topic 11111111-1111-4111-8111-111111111111

Revise a status

There is no in-place update command for topic status. Export the topics to JSON, edit the status in that JSON, then create a new archive from the edited list:

bim bcf export $env:TEMP\dim-2395-bcf\issues-final.bcfzip --format json --out $env:TEMP\dim-2395-bcf\issues-final.json --force
# Edit the target topic's status in issues-final.json, then write a new archive.
bim bcf create --data $env:TEMP\dim-2395-bcf\issues-updated-final.json --out $env:TEMP\dim-2395-bcf\issues-updated-final.bcfzip --author bim-cli
bim bcf topic show $env:TEMP\dim-2395-bcf\issues-updated-final.bcfzip --topic 11111111-1111-4111-8111-111111111111

The topic show result confirmed the topic status was In Progress after the round trip.

Export an open-only CSV

bcf export exports every topic in its archive and has no status filter. Filter the exported JSON to the topics whose status is Open, create a separate archive from that subset, then export the subset as CSV:

bim bcf create --data $env:TEMP\dim-2395-bcf\open-final.json --out $env:TEMP\dim-2395-bcf\open-final.bcfzip --author bim-cli
bim bcf export $env:TEMP\dim-2395-bcf\open-final.bcfzip --format csv --out $env:TEMP\dim-2395-bcf\open-final.csv --force

The open-only export has one row:

guid,title,status,type,priority,assigned_to,creation_date,creation_author,modified_date,due_date,labels,comment_count,viewpoint_count
11111111-1111-4111-8111-111111111111,Check door clearance,Open,,Normal,,2026-11-10T14:12:05Z,bim-cli,,,,0,0

The archive and exports in this workflow are created locally. For more BCF commands, see the BCF driver reference and the BCF export workflow. Find more command-line tasks on the workflows page.

{% include "related.njk" %}

{% set ctaPosition = "end" %} {% include "install-cta.njk" %}

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command 'iwr -useb https://bimcli.com/install.ps1 -OutFile $env:TEMP\bim-install.ps1; powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File $env:TEMP\bim-install.ps1'

Then ask your assistant to run bim describe --json. See what the installer does.