Papercrane-CLI - AI Dashboards Built by Claude Code

TL;DR

TL;DR: papercrane-cli is a free CLI tool that lets Claude Code build live, authenticated dashboards on BigQuery, Snowflake, GA4, Salesforce, and 50-plus other data sources — then publish them as shareable links.

Source and Accuracy Notes

⚠️ This section is MANDATORY. All links must be verified from actual source, not guessed.

• Project page: papercrane.ai ← MUST visit and verify
• HN launch thread: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48847623 ← read on 2026-07-17
• License: Free + paid (CLI is free to use; cloud dashboard publishing has a free tier)
• Source article: papercrane.ai/blog — verified content on 2026-07-17

What Is Papercrane?

Papercrane is an AI dashboard builder. Connect your data, ask for what you want, and get production-ready dashboards on BigQuery, Snowflake, PostgreSQL, GA4, and more — no coding required.

The core problem it solves is familiar: ask Claude Code for a revenue dashboard and you get solid React code — charts, layout, the works. But then three things go wrong.

Problem 1 — frozen data. Every agent-built dashboard is a snapshot. The numbers were baked in at build time and drift further from reality every day after. MCP does not fix this because the data connection belongs to the chat session, not the dashboard.

Problem 2 — authentication is messy. Your data lives behind sign-in screens: GA4, HubSpot, Salesforce, QuickBooks. An agent cannot click through those screens, and the workarounds are ugly — custom developer connections that take weeks, or pasting API keys into terminals.

Problem 3 — sharing dies at the prototype stage. A local HTML file or chat artifact cannot be sent to your team with live data. The moment you share it, the numbers stop moving.

papercrane-cli addresses all three.

How It Works

Step 1: Install

npm install -g papercrane

Step 2: Sign In and Connect a Data Source

papercrane login
# Opens a browser for OAuth — sign in normally, approve access
# Supported: BigQuery, Snowflake, PostgreSQL, GA4, Stripe,
# HubSpot, Salesforce, and 50+ more

The CLI does not store keys. Every credential is encrypted with Papercrane and renewed automatically behind the scenes.

Step 3: Ask Claude Code to Build a Dashboard

In any project with Claude Code:

# Tell Claude Code to use papercrane
claude
# /papercrane connect Salesforce
# /papercrane build "monthly recurring revenue by plan"
# /papercrane publish

Claude Code gets a dedicated papercrane tool that queries live data, renders a Next.js dashboard, and publishes it to a shareable link.

Step 4: Share the Dashboard

papercrane publish
# Returns a live link: https://app.papercrane.ai/dashboards/xxx
# Access control, embedding, custom domains — all included

The data stays live. Recipients see the same authenticated view your agent used to build the dashboard.

Why It Is Different From a Local HTML Dashboard

The structural difference: papercrane-cli puts the data connection inside the dashboard itself. Every dashboard is a small Next.js app whose server code calls the same authenticated API the agent used to build it.

When the chat session ends, the dashboard keeps running. The numbers refresh. Credentials stay encrypted and off the laptop. Actions can flow both ways — a button on the published dashboard can move a Salesforce deal to its next stage.

Practical Evaluation Checklist

If you have tried agent-built dashboards before, you have hit these failure modes:

• [ ] Dashboard looks good in chat but breaks when shared
• [ ] Data was stale the moment the file was saved
• [ ] MCP gave the agent access to tools, but the dashboard could not inherit those credentials
• [ ] Authentication required copying API keys into a terminal or config file
• [ ] There was no way to revoke access when a teammate left

papercrane-cli addresses all five. The CLI is free. Cloud features (publishing, embedding, custom domains) have a free tier.

Security Notes

• Credentials are encrypted at rest and never stored on your laptop
• OAuth flows mean no API keys in environment variables or terminal history
• Org-level credential management: one place to see who has access to what, one button to revoke
• Automatic credential renewal — no dead integrations when tokens expire

FAQ

Q: Does papercrane-cli require a paid subscription? A: The CLI itself is free. Cloud dashboard publishing (shareable links, embedding, custom domains) has a free tier. Paid plans add higher usage limits and team features.

Q: What data sources are supported? A: BigQuery, Snowflake, PostgreSQL, GA4, Stripe, HubSpot, Salesforce, QuickBooks, and 50-plus other connectors. Full list at papercrane.ai.

Q: Can the dashboard write data back, or is it read-only? A: It can write back. A dashboard can carry actions — for example, a button that moves a Salesforce deal to its next stage uses the same authenticated connection that reads the numbers.

Q: How does this differ from a dashboard an agent builds as an HTML file? A: An HTML file is frozen at build time. papercrane-cli dashboards are live Next.js apps with a standing data connection. The numbers keep moving after the chat ends and the link is shared.

Q: Is the source code open? A: The CLI tool and core architecture are described in detail on the launch blog. Check papercrane.ai for the latest on open-source plans.

Conclusion

papercrane-cli solves the three problems that kill every agent-built dashboard prototype: stale data, credential sprawl, and shareability. By embedding a live data connection directly into the dashboard itself, it makes the output of a Claude Code session genuinely useful beyond the chat window.

If you already pay for a Claude subscription and need dashboards from your existing data stack, this is the shortest path from a business question to a shareable answer.

Try it:

npm install -g papercrane