CLI reference

The CLI is not a lesser surface. It talks to the same daemon as the desktop app, so anything it does is real product behavior, not a debug path. Use it for automation, for scripting a repetitive setup, and for finding out what the app is actually doing when something looks wrong.

Two command families

archductor <verb> ...           # product commands: repo, workspace, session, pr, ...
archductor archcar <verb> ...   # direct daemon RPCs

The archcar namespace is the raw protocol surface. It has far more commands and reaches things the product verbs do not expose yet. When a guide reaches for archductor archcar something, that is why. Both follow the saved remote profile, so every command here works against a server-hosted daemon unchanged.

Environment

archductor doctor                    # environment check
archductor setup                     # provider readiness; --recheck to re-read the environment
archductor status                    # workspaces at a glance (reads the database directly)
archductor remote status             # which daemon this machine talks to
archductor service status            # is the background service installed and running
archductor archcar providers         # every agent this build knows, and how far it drives each
archductor archcar inventory-snapshot  # repositories, workspaces, and active chats in one request

There is no “start the daemon” command, because you never need one: the client spawns archcar itself when it cannot reach a running daemon. Any archcar subcommand therefore doubles as a liveness check — inventory-snapshot is a cheap one. archductor archcar status and archductor archcar ensure are session commands, not daemon ones; they take a session id and a workspace respectively.

Repositories

archductor repo add ./my-app --name my-app --default-branch main
archductor repo list
archductor repo doctor my-app
archductor repo update my-app
archductor repo settings my-app export --output team.toml
archductor repo settings my-app export --local --output my-overrides.toml
archductor repo settings my-app import team.toml

archductor settings export --output app-settings.toml   # app-level, not repository
archductor settings import app-settings.toml

Against a remote daemon use archductor archcar add-repository <path> instead — paths resolve on the daemon’s filesystem.

Workspaces

archductor workspace create my-app --name fix-auth --branch fix/auth --base main
archductor workspace create my-app --from-issue 431
archductor workspace create my-app --from-pr 512
archductor workspace create my-app --from-linear PER-88      # needs LINEAR_API_KEY
archductor workspace create my-app --prompt "Add rate limiting to the public API"

archductor workspace list --active
archductor workspace rename fix-auth auth-expiry
archductor workspace duplicate fix-auth fix-auth-alt --branch fix/auth-alt
archductor workspace archive fix-auth --remove-worktree
archductor workspace restore fix-auth
archductor workspace discard fix-auth                       # throw away the changes
archductor workspace delete fix-auth --remove-worktree --delete-branch
archductor workspace timeline fix-auth --kind pr

archductor workspace branch fix-auth create feature/x
archductor workspace branch fix-auth checkout feature/x
archductor workspace branch fix-auth rename feature/y
archductor workspace branch fix-auth delete feature/x

archductor workspace link-dir frontend backend-api
archductor workspace linked-dirs frontend
archductor workspace unlink-dir frontend backend-api

Sessions

archductor session start fix-auth --kind codex --model gpt-5 --plan-mode
archductor session list fix-auth
archductor session send fix-auth --kind codex "Add a regression test"
archductor session send fix-auth --immediate "wrong file, stop"
archductor session attach fix-auth --print-pty-path
archductor session open fix-auth --kind claude --print-command
archductor session stop fix-auth

archductor archcar chat-threads fix-auth
archductor archcar chat-transcript <thread-id>
archductor archcar create-chat fix-auth
archductor archcar close-chat <thread-id>
archductor archcar fork-chat <thread-id> --through-message-id <id>

archductor archcar queue list <thread-id>
archductor archcar queue remove <queue-id>
archductor archcar interactions list --all
archductor archcar interactions allow <id> --always
archductor archcar plan-mode <thread-id> --on

Running and checking

archductor run fix-auth               # the configured run script
archductor stop fix-auth
archductor logs fix-auth --run
archductor runs fix-auth
archductor archcar processes fix-auth # every process the daemon believes it owns

archductor archcar check-list fix-auth
archductor archcar run-check fix-auth test
archductor archcar check-log fix-auth
archductor checks fix-auth

Reviewing

archductor diff fix-auth                        # unstaged
archductor diff fix-auth --uncommitted          # staged and unstaged, vs HEAD
archductor diff fix-auth --file src/auth.rs
archductor diff fix-auth --name-only
archductor archcar workspace-diff fix-auth      # everything vs the review base
archductor archcar workspace-changes fix-auth --all

archductor conflicts fix-auth                   # sibling workspaces touching the same files
archductor archcar commits fix-auth
archductor archcar commit-diff fix-auth <sha>
archductor archcar commit-draft fix-auth        # suggested commit message
archductor archcar commit fix-auth "fix: token expiry" --stage-all

archductor review add fix-auth src/auth.rs --line 42 needs a test
archductor review list fix-auth
archductor review resolve <id>

archductor todo add fix-auth "handle the 401 path"
archductor todo list fix-auth
archductor todo done <id>
archductor todo sync fix-auth                   # pull todos out of the agent's own list

archductor checkpoint create fix-auth "before the refactor"
archductor checkpoint list fix-auth
archductor checkpoint compare fix-auth <id>
archductor checkpoint restore fix-auth <id>

Pull requests

archductor archcar push-branch fix-auth              # --force after a rebase (push with lease)
archductor pr create fix-auth --title "Fix auth" --draft
archductor pr create fix-auth --from-context         # title and body from the generated draft
archductor pr view fix-auth
archductor pr checks fix-auth
archductor pr summary fix-auth --agent-prompt
archductor pr resolve-thread fix-auth <thread-id>
archductor pr reopen-thread fix-auth <thread-id>
archductor pr merge fix-auth --method squash

archductor archcar pr-draft fix-auth
archductor archcar pr-readiness fix-auth
archductor archcar workflow-runs fix-auth            # GitHub Actions runs for the branch

Layouts

archductor layout presets --repository my-app
archductor layout show wide
archductor layout set-default review --repository my-app
archductor layout delete custom-my-layout

Service and remote

archductor service setup --listen 0.0.0.0:7420
archductor service install
archductor service status
archductor service doctor
archductor service token --rotate
archductor service uninstall

archductor remote connect ssh://you@server --label build
archductor remote list
archductor remote use build
archductor remote status
archductor remote import fix-auth --thread-id 12 --clone-into ~/src/my-app
archductor remote disconnect

MCP and skills

archductor mcp serve --profile session
archductor mcp register --client claude
archductor mcp unregister
archductor mcp status fix-auth
archductor mcp setup

archductor archcar skills
archductor archcar skill-catalog
archductor archcar install-skill <name>
archductor archcar sync-plan
archductor archcar sync

History and import

archductor history list --workspace fix-auth
archductor history show <process-id>
archductor import conductor --source <path>   # migrate from a Conductor setup
archductor open fix-auth --editor cursor      # open in an editor

Scripting notes

Most archcar commands print JSON-shaped responses, so jq works. The product verbs print human text.
Exit codes are meaningful. service setup in particular exits non-zero when the daemon did not come up, so provisioning scripts can trust it.
Set ARCHDUCTOR_ARCHCAR_REMOTE and ARCHDUCTOR_ARCHCAR_TOKEN in a CI job to target a daemon without writing a profile to disk. Environment wins over the saved profile.
archductor archcar stdio-proxy is what an ssh:// client runs on the far side. It is not something to invoke by hand.

Get started

Guides

Reference

Two command families

Environment

Repositories

Workspaces

Sessions

Running and checking

Reviewing

Pull requests

Layouts

Service and remote

MCP and skills

History and import

Scripting notes

​Two command families

​Environment

​Repositories

​Workspaces

​Sessions

​Running and checking

​Reviewing

​Pull requests

​Layouts

​Service and remote

​MCP and skills

​History and import

​Scripting notes

Two command families

Environment

Repositories

Workspaces

Sessions

Running and checking

Reviewing

Pull requests

Layouts

Service and remote

MCP and skills

History and import

Scripting notes