CLI Reference

Complete command reference for the crosslink CLI.

Global Flags

Flag Description
--json JSON output (supported by list, show, search, session status)
--quiet / -q Minimal output (just IDs, counts), useful for scripting

Issue Management

Command Description
crosslink create <title> Create a new issue
crosslink create <title> -p high Create with priority (low/medium/high/critical)
crosslink create <title> -d "desc" Create with description
crosslink create <title> -t bug Create from template (bug/feature/refactor/research)
crosslink create <title> -w -l bug Create, label, and start working on it
crosslink quick <title> [-p high] [-l label] Shorthand: create + label + set as active work item
crosslink subissue <parent_id> <title> Create a subissue under a parent
crosslink subissue <parent_id> <title> -p high Subissue with priority
crosslink list List open issues
crosslink list -s all List all issues (open + closed)
crosslink list -s closed List closed issues
crosslink list -l bug Filter by label
crosslink list -p high Filter by priority
crosslink search <query> Search issues by text
crosslink show <id> Show issue details
crosslink show <id> --json Show issue details as JSON
crosslink update <id> --title "New" Update title
crosslink update <id> -d "desc" Update description
crosslink update <id> -p critical Update priority
crosslink close <id> Close an issue
crosslink close <id> --no-changelog Close without changelog entry
crosslink close-all Close all open issues
crosslink close-all -l bug Close all with a specific label
crosslink close-all -p low Close all with a specific priority
crosslink close-all --no-changelog Close all without changelog entries
crosslink reopen <id> Reopen a closed issue
crosslink delete <id> Delete an issue (with confirmation)
crosslink delete <id> -f Delete without confirmation

Comments & Labels

Command Description
crosslink comment <id> "text" Add a comment to an issue
crosslink intervene <id> "desc" --trigger <type> Log a driver intervention (tool_rejected/tool_blocked/redirect/context_provided/manual_action/question_answered)
crosslink label <id> <label> Add a label
crosslink unlabel <id> <label> Remove a label

Dependencies

Command Description
crosslink block <id> <blocker_id> Mark issue as blocked by another
crosslink unblock <id> <blocker_id> Remove blocking relationship
crosslink blocked List all blocked issues
crosslink ready List issues ready to work on (no blockers)

Milestones

Command Description
crosslink milestone create <name> Create a milestone
crosslink milestone create <name> -d "desc" Create with description
crosslink milestone list List all milestones
crosslink milestone show <id> Show milestone details and progress
crosslink milestone add <milestone_id> <issue_id> Add issue to milestone
crosslink milestone remove <milestone_id> <issue_id> Remove issue from milestone
crosslink milestone close <id> Close a milestone
crosslink milestone delete <id> Delete a milestone

Archiving

Command Description
crosslink archive add <id> Archive a closed issue
crosslink archive remove <id> Restore an archived issue
crosslink archive list List all archived issues
crosslink archive older <days> Archive issues closed more than N days ago

Export / Import

Command Description
crosslink export Export all issues to JSON (stdout)
crosslink export -o backup.json Export to a file
crosslink export -f markdown Export as markdown
crosslink import backup.json Import issues from JSON
crosslink import backup.json --merge Merge with existing issues

Smart Navigation

Command Description
crosslink next Recommend the next issue to work on
crosslink tree Show issue hierarchy tree
crosslink tree -s open Tree view filtered to open issues

Time Tracking

Command Description
crosslink start <id> Start a timer for an issue
crosslink stop Stop the current timer
crosslink timer Show current timer status
crosslink tested Mark tests as run (resets test reminder)

Session Management

Command Description
crosslink session start Start a session (shows previous handoff)
crosslink session work <id> Set current focus issue
crosslink session action "..." Record a breadcrumb (survives context compression)
crosslink session status Show current session info
crosslink session end End current session
crosslink session end --notes "..." End with handoff notes
crosslink session last-handoff Retrieve previous session’s handoff notes

Multi-Agent Coordination

Command Description
crosslink agent init <id> Register this machine as an agent
crosslink agent init <id> -d "desc" Register with description
crosslink agent status Show agent identity and held locks
crosslink locks list Show all active issue locks
crosslink locks list --json Locks as JSON
crosslink locks check <id> Check if issue is available or locked
crosslink sync Fetch lock state from coordination branch

Trust & Signing

Command Description
crosslink trust add <key-path> Add a trusted public key
crosslink trust list List trusted keys

Daemon

Command Description
crosslink daemon start Start background daemon
crosslink daemon status Check daemon status
crosslink daemon stop Stop daemon

Configuration

Command Description
crosslink config show Show all configuration with default annotations
crosslink config get <key> Get a specific config value
crosslink config set <key> <value> Set a config value
crosslink config list List all available config keys with descriptions
crosslink config reset Reset config to defaults
crosslink config diff Show differences from default config

Knowledge Pages

Command Description
crosslink knowledge add <slug> Create a new knowledge page
crosslink knowledge add <slug> --title "T" --tag t --source url --content "..." Create with metadata
crosslink knowledge add <slug> --from-doc DESIGN.md Import from a design document
crosslink knowledge show <slug> Display a knowledge page
crosslink knowledge list List all knowledge pages
crosslink knowledge list --tag t --contributor id --since DATE --json Filter and format
crosslink knowledge edit <slug> --append "text" Append content to a page
crosslink knowledge edit <slug> --content "text" Replace page content
crosslink knowledge edit <slug> --tag t --source url Add tags or sources
crosslink knowledge remove <slug> Remove a knowledge page
crosslink knowledge sync Manually sync from remote
crosslink knowledge search <query> Full-text search across pages
crosslink knowledge search <query> -C 3 --tag t --since DATE Search with filters
crosslink knowledge import <directory> Bulk import markdown files
crosslink knowledge import <dir> --tag t --overwrite --dry_run Import with options

House Style

Command Description
crosslink style set <url> Set the house style source (a git repo URL)
crosslink style sync Pull latest from the house style source
crosslink style diff Show what’s drifted from house style
crosslink style show Show current house style configuration
crosslink style unset Remove house style association

Workflow

Command Description
crosslink workflow diff Compare deployed policy files against embedded defaults
crosslink workflow trail <id> Show chronological comment trail for an issue

Code Clone Detection

Command Description
crosslink cpitd scan Scan for code clones and create issues
crosslink cpitd status Show open clone issues
crosslink cpitd clear Close all open clone issues

Data Integrity

Command Description
crosslink integrity Run all integrity checks
crosslink integrity counters Check counter consistency
crosslink integrity hydration Verify SQLite matches JSON issue files
crosslink integrity locks Check for stale or orphaned locks
crosslink integrity schema Verify SQLite schema version

Migration

Command Description
crosslink migrate-to-shared Migrate local SQLite issues to shared coordination branch
crosslink migrate-from-shared Import shared issues from coordination branch into local SQLite
crosslink migrate-rename-branch Rename coordination branch from crosslink/locks to crosslink/hub

Kickoff (Autonomous Agents)

Command Description
crosslink kickoff run <description> Launch an agent to implement a feature
crosslink kickoff run <desc> --container docker Launch in a Docker container
crosslink kickoff run <desc> --verify ci Launch with CI verification
crosslink kickoff run <desc> --doc DESIGN.md Launch from a design document
crosslink kickoff run <desc> --timeout 2h --model opus With timeout and model
crosslink kickoff run <desc> --dry_run Print prompt without launching
crosslink kickoff status <agent> Check agent status
crosslink kickoff logs <agent> Tail agent event log
crosslink kickoff logs <agent> -l 50 Show last 50 events
crosslink kickoff stop <agent> Stop a running agent
crosslink kickoff stop <agent> --force Force kill (SIGKILL)
crosslink kickoff plan <doc> Analyze design doc against codebase (read-only)
crosslink kickoff show-plan <agent> Display gap report from a plan analysis
crosslink kickoff report [agent] Show spec validation report
crosslink kickoff report --all Aggregate reports from all agents
crosslink kickoff report <agent> --json Report as JSON
crosslink kickoff report <agent> --markdown Report as PR-ready markdown

Swarm Orchestration

Command Description
crosslink swarm init --doc <PATH> Initialize swarm plan from a design document
crosslink swarm status Show current swarm state and progress
crosslink swarm plan Plan multi-phase build across budget windows
crosslink swarm plan --budget_window 2h Plan with budget constraint
crosslink swarm plan-show Display the current window plan
crosslink swarm launch <phase> Launch all agents for a phase
crosslink swarm launch <phase> --budget_aware Launch with budget check
crosslink swarm gate <phase> Run test suite as phase gate
crosslink swarm checkpoint <phase> --notes "..." Record phase completion
crosslink swarm checkpoint <phase> --force Checkpoint without passing gate
crosslink swarm estimate <phase> Estimate wall-clock cost for a phase
crosslink swarm harvest Update cost history from completed agents
crosslink swarm resume Reconstruct state after interruption
crosslink swarm config --budget_window <DUR> --model <MODEL> Configure budget parameters

Container Execution

Command Description
crosslink container build Build the agent container image
crosslink container build --force --tag v2 Rebuild from scratch with custom tag
crosslink container build --dockerfile PATH Build with custom Dockerfile
crosslink container start <worktree> Start a container for a worktree
crosslink container start <wt> --issue 42 --prompt PATH Start with options
crosslink container ps List running containers
crosslink container logs <name> Stream container logs
crosslink container logs <name> -f --tail 50 Follow logs, last 50 lines
crosslink container stop <name> Gracefully stop a container
crosslink container kill <name> Stop and remove a container
crosslink container rm <name> Remove a stopped container
crosslink container shell <name> Open a shell in a running container
crosslink container snapshot <name> --tag cached Save container state as image

Terminal UI

Command Description
crosslink tui Launch the interactive terminal dashboard

Context Management

Command Description
crosslink context measure Measure context injection sizes and token overhead
crosslink context measure -v Verbose measurement with hook config details
crosslink context check Verify all expected crosslink files are deployed

Project Setup

Command Description
crosslink init Initialize crosslink in current project
crosslink init --force Re-initialize, resetting rules to defaults