---
title: "CLI Reference"
description: "rstack-agents and the dashboard binaries — framework-neutral."
---

## Overview

The `rstack-agents` CLI is framework-neutral and works in any environment. Use
it to set up a project, launch the dashboard, test notifications, inspect
assets, and validate the registry — without needing Pi or any other runtime.

```bash
npm install rstack-agents          # in your project
# or run any command via npx without installing:
npx rstack-agents <command>
# from a local checkout:
node bin/rstack-agents.js <command>
```

## Commands

### `init`

Set up RStack in the current project. Idempotent — never overwrites your files.

```bash
rstack-agents init                       # auto-detect the framework, default profile business-flex
rstack-agents init --framework pi        # pi | claude-code | operator | custom
rstack-agents init --profile lean-mvp    # business-flex | lean-mvp | enterprise-webapp
rstack-agents init --project ./apps/web  # target a different directory
```

Creates `.rstack/`, `.rstack/rstack.config.json`, `.rstack/budget.json`, registers the project with the Business Hub, writes
framework-specific glue, and prints next steps.

---

### `hub`

Ensure the Business Hub is running on :3008 and open it — the universal
session-start entry point for any framework.

```bash
rstack-agents hub
rstack-agents hub --no-browser           # start/register without opening a tab
rstack-agents hub --project ./apps/web
```

---

### `notify`

Inspect configured notification channels, or test them.

```bash
rstack-agents notify                     # list configured channels
rstack-agents notify --test              # send a test message to every channel
```

See [Notifications & Webhooks](/reference/webhooks).

---

### `list`

List packaged assets by type.

```bash
rstack-agents list agents
rstack-agents list skills
rstack-agents list plugins
```

**Example output:**
```
$ rstack-agents list agents

196 agents found:

  core/
    orchestrator        → Team lead, routes lifecycle, manages approval gates
    builder             → Implementation agent with write permissions
    validator           → Read-only review agent

  sdlc/   (15 stages, 00–14)
    00-environment      → Detect tools, produce environment_report.json
    01-transcript       → Parse raw input into transcript.json
    02-requirements     → Extract requirements with acceptance criteria
    …
    14-cost-estimation  → Cloud cost forecast
```

---

### `add plugin`

Copy a packaged domain plugin into your project.

```bash
rstack-agents add plugin backend-development
rstack-agents add plugin cloud-infrastructure
```

---

### `validate`

Validate the packaged agent definitions — frontmatter, duplicate names, broken
references, manifest integrity.

```bash
rstack-agents validate
```

**Example output:**
```
$ rstack-agents validate
[rstack] All 196 agents passed validation.
```

The catalog ships **196 agents, 68 skills, 72 plugins, 36 prompts**.

---

### Pipeline and governance commands

| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
| `pipeline status` | Show pipeline status for a run, with one recommended next action |
| `pipeline run` | Advance the run: skip DONE work, re-enter retryable tasks, stop at human gates |
| `pipeline loop` | Bounded goal loop — advance, evaluate the goal, rerun recommended stages |
| `adopt` | Adopt an existing codebase — harvest evidence into a resumable pipeline run |
| `inventory` | Generate a backend control-plane registry report |
| `decisions` | List, add, resolve, or waive run-level Decision Queue items |
| `dor` | Run the Definition-of-Ready gate for a run and target stage |

Flags and exit codes for the pipeline commands: [Pipeline CLI](/reference/pipeline).
Decision Queue and DoR details: [Decision Readiness](/reference/decision-readiness).

## The dashboard binaries

| Binary | Purpose |
|---|---|
| `rstack-business` | Run the Business Hub server directly: `rstack-business --port 3008 --project .` |
| `rstack-observer` | Compatibility alias that opens the same Business Hub |
| `rstack-bridge` | Generic Node bridge any non-TypeScript adapter (Operator, Tau, custom) shells out to per tool call; `--list` prints the tool registry |
| `rstack-operator-bridge` | Back-compat alias for `rstack-bridge` with the `operator` invocation id |

## npm scripts

```bash
npm test          # run the test suite
npm run validate  # rstack-agents validate
npm run lint      # ESLint src/, bin/, tests/
```