Commands
No. 014The commands of cube 0.1.0. The tables and the help below are what cube itself prints: cube --help lists the commands, and cube <command> --help prints the help of one. Where the help names the plan of a later release, this page says “a later release”.
Commands
Section titled “Commands”| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
cube tools |
List the installed tool binaries |
cube adopt |
Take over an existing KB without changing its content files: write .cube/cube.toml, .cube/cube.lock, the hook shims in .cube/hooks/ and the agent skill in .claude/skills/cube/, and commit them |
cube check |
Run every check: the native checks and the kit’s checks; exit 1 when any finding is an ERROR; –format agent prints the fix brief. Writes nothing but the index cache of an adopted KB |
cube doctor |
Check the environment: git, runtime.python, the hooks, cube.path, safe.directory, the machine-local config.yml in the kit’s machinery folder, the formats and the kit’s tools; exit 3 when an item fails |
cube setup |
Set up the git hooks: write cube.path and the absolute git, gh and python3 paths into the global git config, and merge.ff=false and core.hooksPath=.cube/hooks into the clone |
cube hook |
Run by the installed git hooks: the checks, the ratchet and the trailers |
cube ls |
List every indexed file as the Explorer’s tree knows it: path, kind, app, title, and a spec’s state |
cube show |
Show one file’s preview and facts: title, tl;dr, kind, front matter, and a YAML file’s loaded fields |
cube inbox |
List the agent acts awaiting acknowledgement and the malformed Cube-Act trailers, read-only (acks arrive in a later release) |
cube skill |
Render the agent skill from this cube’s command line, check registry and kit.yml, and install it into the KB |
cube pack |
List, add or remove the layer packs of the KB’s kit; never commits |
cube help |
Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s) |
Exit codes
Section titled “Exit codes”| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | ok |
| 1 | ERROR findings: cube check found one, or a hook refuses the commit |
| 2 | a usage or configuration error |
| 3 | an environment error: a missing tool, an incompatible kit or engine, or a command that is not built yet |
Any other name runs a tool binary, cube-<name>, from the folder of this cube; cube tools list shows the installed ones. The kit names cube graph (cube-graph ^0.1), cube index (cube-index ^0.1); cube <tool> --help shows a tool’s own commands.
Not in this release
Section titled “Not in this release”These names are reserved for commands that later releases bring. In this release, cube <name> refuses with exit 3 and says that the command is not built yet, and cube --help does not list it. No tool program can take one of these names.
| Command | What it will do |
|---|---|
cube init |
Create a new KB from a kit |
cube new |
Create a node from a kit template |
cube set |
Edit one field of a node |
cube transition |
Move a node to another lifecycle state |
cube drift |
Draft an as-built block |
cube accept |
Accept an as-built block |
cube reject |
Reject an as-built block |
cube ship |
Flip a spec to SHIPPED when its work is merged |
cube ack |
Acknowledge agent acts |
cube run |
Run a kit sequence |
cube delete |
Remove a node after an impact check |
cube mv |
Move files or spec folders and rewrite references |
cube status |
Print the dashboard’s data |
cube query |
Run a kit query |
cube branch |
Manage KB variants |
cube diff |
Show a KB-level diff |
cube merge |
Merge KB variants |
cube fork |
Derive a KB with lineage |
cube upstream |
Sync with the parent KB |
cube kit |
Update the kit machinery |
cube session |
Open, resume or close a session |
cube agent |
Launch an agent |
cube app |
Manage apps and their code folders |
cube score |
Print the harness self-score |
cube classify |
Show the classification of a path |
cube prune |
Prune untracked files past retention |
cube log |
Show the lifecycle log of a node |
cube self |
Update or roll back the engine |
cube migrate |
Run content and format migrations |
cube tools update |
Update installed tools |
Help of each command
Section titled “Help of each command”The Cube. `cube <tool> [args]` runs cube-<tool> from the folder of this cube, never from the current folder or PATH.
Usage: cube [OPTIONS] [COMMAND]
Commands: tools List the installed tool binaries adopt Take over an existing KB without changing its content files: write .cube/cube.toml, .cube/cube.lock, the hook shims in .cube/hooks/ and the agent skill in .claude/skills/cube/, and commit them check Run every check: the native checks and the kit's checks; exit 1 when any finding is an ERROR; --format agent prints the fix brief. Writes nothing but the index cache of an adopted KB doctor Check the environment: git, runtime.python, the hooks, cube.path, safe.directory, the machine-local config.yml in the kit's machinery folder, the formats and the kit's tools; exit 3 when an item fails setup Set up the git hooks: write cube.path and the absolute git, gh and python3 paths into the global git config, and merge.ff=false and core.hooksPath=.cube/hooks into the clone hook Run by the installed git hooks: the checks, the ratchet and the trailers ls List every indexed file as the Explorer's tree knows it: path, kind, app, title, and a spec's state show Show one file's preview and facts: title, tl;dr, kind, front matter, and a YAML file's loaded fields inbox List the agent acts awaiting acknowledgement and the malformed Cube-Act trailers, read-only (acks arrive in a later release) skill Render the agent skill from this cube's command line, check registry and kit.yml, and install it into the KB pack List, add or remove the layer packs of the KB's kit; never commits help Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)
Options: --kb-root <PATH> The KB root; else CUBE_KB_ROOT, else the walk up from the working folder -h, --help Print help -V, --version Print versioncube tools
Section titled “cube tools”List the installed tool binaries
Usage: cube tools <COMMAND>
Commands: list Each tool next to cube and each tool the kit requires: version, range, status, path help Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)
Options: -h, --help Print helpcube tools list
Section titled “cube tools list”Each tool next to cube and each tool the kit requires: version, range, status, path
Usage: cube tools list
Options: -h, --help Print helpcube adopt
Section titled “cube adopt”Take over an existing KB without changing its content files: write .cube/cube.toml, .cube/cube.lock, the hook shims in .cube/hooks/ and the agent skill in .claude/skills/cube/, and commit them
Usage: cube adopt [OPTIONS]
Options: --kb-root <PATH> The KB root; else CUBE_KB_ROOT, else the walk up from the working folder -h, --help Print helpcube check
Section titled “cube check”Run every check: the native checks and the kit's checks; exit 1 when any finding is an ERROR; --format agent prints the fix brief. Writes nothing but the index cache of an adopted KB
Usage: cube check [OPTIONS]
Options: --kb-root <PATH> The KB root; else CUBE_KB_ROOT, else the walk up from the working folder --format <FORMAT> text: one line per finding and the counts; json: the cube-findings/v1 document; agent: the fix brief, per ERROR its rule, a real fix, what is not a fix and the act it needs [default: text] [possible values: text, json, agent] --json The same as --format json -h, --help Print helpcube doctor
Section titled “cube doctor”Check the environment: git, runtime.python, the hooks, cube.path, safe.directory, the machine-local config.yml in the kit's machinery folder, the formats and the kit's tools; exit 3 when an item fails
Usage: cube doctor [OPTIONS]
Options: --kb-root <PATH> The KB root; else CUBE_KB_ROOT, else the walk up from the working folder --json Print the cube-doctor/v1 document instead of text -h, --help Print helpcube setup
Section titled “cube setup”Set up the git hooks: write cube.path and the absolute git, gh and python3 paths into the global git config, and merge.ff=false and core.hooksPath=.cube/hooks into the clone
Usage: cube setup [OPTIONS] [what]
Arguments: [what] What to set up: hooks (the default); mergiraf arrives in a later release [default: hooks] [possible values: hooks, mergiraf]
Options: --kb-root <PATH> The KB root; else CUBE_KB_ROOT, else the walk up from the working folder -h, --help Print helpcube hook
Section titled “cube hook”Run by the installed git hooks: the checks, the ratchet and the trailers
Usage: cube hook --kb-root <PATH> <name> [-- [args]...]
Arguments: <name> The git hook [possible values: pre-commit, pre-merge-commit, commit-msg, pre-push] [args]... git's arguments: the message file of commit-msg, the remote and URL of pre-push
Options: --kb-root <PATH> The KB root, the work tree's top level (CUBE_KB_ROOT is never read here) -h, --help Print helpcube ls
Section titled “cube ls”List every indexed file as the Explorer's tree knows it: path, kind, app, title, and a spec's state
Usage: cube ls [OPTIONS]
Options: --kb-root <PATH> The KB root; else CUBE_KB_ROOT, else the walk up from the working folder --json Print the data as JSON -h, --help Print helpcube show
Section titled “cube show”Show one file's preview and facts: title, tl;dr, kind, front matter, and a YAML file's loaded fields
Usage: cube show [OPTIONS] <PATH-OR-ID>
Arguments: <PATH-OR-ID> A KB-relative path, or a graph node ID such as sub_spec:app/m01/001-x
Options: --kb-root <PATH> The KB root; else CUBE_KB_ROOT, else the walk up from the working folder --json Print the data as JSON -h, --help Print helpcube inbox
Section titled “cube inbox”List the agent acts awaiting acknowledgement and the malformed Cube-Act trailers, read-only (acks arrive in a later release)
Usage: cube inbox [OPTIONS]
Options: --kb-root <PATH> The KB root; else CUBE_KB_ROOT, else the walk up from the working folder --json Print the data as JSON -h, --help Print helpcube skill
Section titled “cube skill”Render the agent skill from this cube's command line, check registry and kit.yml, and install it into the KB
Usage: cube skill <COMMAND>
Commands: render Print the agent skill: SKILL.md and references/{commands,findings,acts,workflows}.md, each after a ==> <path> <== line; or write it with --out or --install help Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)
Options: -h, --help Print helpcube skill render
Section titled “cube skill render”Print the agent skill: SKILL.md and references/{commands,findings,acts,workflows}.md, each after a ==> <path> <== line; or write it with --out or --install
Usage: cube skill render [OPTIONS]
Options: --install Write the skill into the KB's .claude/skills/cube/ (an adopted, writable KB only), where cube check compares it (SKILL_STALE); commit it after --out <DIR> Write the files into DIR instead of printing them --target <TARGET> claude: the Claude Code skill (the default); agents-md, the AGENTS.md section, arrives after the alpha [default: claude] [possible values: claude, agents-md] --kb-root <PATH> The KB root; else CUBE_KB_ROOT, else the walk up from the working folder -h, --help Print helpcube pack
Section titled “cube pack”List, add or remove the layer packs of the KB's kit; never commits
Usage: cube pack <COMMAND>
Commands: list The packs kit.yml declares: version, purpose, skills and agents add Install a pack from a local folder into the KB and declare it in kit.yml; refuses links, hooks/, unsafe paths and name clashes, and then writes nothing remove Remove a pack's files and its kit.yml entry (a rule change to commit) help Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)
Options: -h, --help Print helpcube pack list
Section titled “cube pack list”The packs kit.yml declares: version, purpose, skills and agents
Usage: cube pack list [OPTIONS]
Options: --kb-root <PATH> The KB root; else CUBE_KB_ROOT, else the walk up from the working folder -h, --help Print helpcube pack add
Section titled “cube pack add”Install a pack from a local folder into the KB and declare it in kit.yml; refuses links, hooks/, unsafe paths and name clashes, and then writes nothing
Usage: cube pack add [OPTIONS] <dir>
Arguments: <dir> The local folder of the pack
Options: --kb-root <PATH> The KB root; else CUBE_KB_ROOT, else the walk up from the working folder -h, --help Print helpcube pack remove
Section titled “cube pack remove”Remove a pack's files and its kit.yml entry (a rule change to commit)
Usage: cube pack remove [OPTIONS] <name>
Arguments: <name> The pack's name
Options: --kb-root <PATH> The KB root; else CUBE_KB_ROOT, else the walk up from the working folder -h, --help Print help