CLI reference

Herdr’s CLI talks to the running server over the same local socket API used by integrations and agents.

Most commands print JSON responses. Use them from scripts when you want deterministic automation.

Launch and status

herdr                         # launch or attach to the default session
herdr --session work          # launch or attach to a named session
herdr --remote workbox        # attach through SSH, using local keybindings
herdr --remote workbox --remote-keybindings server
herdr --remote workbox --handoff
herdr --no-session            # single-process escape hatch
herdr --default-config        # print default config
herdr update                  # download and install from the configured channel
herdr update --handoff        # opt into live handoff for supported running servers
herdr channel show            # print stable or preview
herdr channel set preview     # opt into preview builds
herdr channel set stable      # return Linux/macOS direct installs to stable
herdr --version               # print version

Status commands:

herdr status
herdr status server
herdr status client

Server

herdr server
herdr server stop
herdr server reload-config
herdr server agent-manifests [--json]
herdr server update-agent-manifests [--json]
herdr server reload-agent-manifests

herdr server runs the headless server explicitly. Use it for supervised or service-style setups. reload-config applies reloadable settings without restarting panes. agent-manifests shows the active agent detection manifest sources, cached remote versions, and last remote update results. update-agent-manifests fetches remote manifest updates immediately, reloads them into the running server, and prints the updated manifest status; pass --json for the raw status response. reload-agent-manifests reloads agent detection manifests into the running server after local override edits.

Notifications

herdr notification show <title> [--body TEXT] [--position top-left|top-right|bottom-left|bottom-right] [--sound none|done|request]

notification show uses the configured [ui.toast] delivery. --position only affects in-app Herdr toasts. --sound defaults to none; done and request play the existing finished and needs-attention sounds only when the notification is shown.

Sessions

herdr session list [--json]
herdr session attach <name>
herdr session stop <name> [--json]
herdr session delete <name> [--json]

Use default as the session name when you need to stop the default session explicitly.

Workspaces

herdr workspace list
herdr workspace create [--cwd PATH] [--label TEXT] [--env KEY=VALUE] [--focus] [--no-focus]
herdr workspace get <workspace_id>
herdr workspace focus <workspace_id>
herdr workspace rename <workspace_id> <label>
herdr workspace close <workspace_id>

Create a workspace without stealing focus:

herdr workspace create --cwd ~/project --label api --no-focus

Worktrees

herdr worktree list [--workspace ID | --cwd PATH] [--json]
herdr worktree create [--workspace ID | --cwd PATH] [--branch NAME] [--base REF] [--path PATH] [--label TEXT] [--focus] [--no-focus] [--json]
herdr worktree open [--workspace ID | --cwd PATH] (--path PATH | --branch NAME) [--label TEXT] [--focus] [--no-focus] [--json]
herdr worktree remove --workspace ID [--force] [--json]

Worktrees are normal Herdr workspaces with Git checkout provenance. worktree create creates a Git worktree checkout, opens it as a workspace, and groups it with the parent repo workspace. Without --path, Herdr creates the checkout under <worktrees.directory>/<repo>/<branch-slug>.

workspace close closes Herdr state only. worktree remove is the explicit checkout deletion path; it runs git worktree remove, never deletes the branch, and requires --force when Git refuses a dirty checkout.

Tabs

herdr tab list [--workspace <workspace_id>]
herdr tab create [--workspace <workspace_id>] [--cwd PATH] [--label TEXT] [--env KEY=VALUE] [--focus] [--no-focus]
herdr tab get <tab_id>
herdr tab focus <tab_id>
herdr tab rename <tab_id> <label>
herdr tab close <tab_id>

Panes

herdr pane list [--workspace <workspace_id>]
herdr pane current [--pane ID|--current]
herdr pane get <pane_id>
herdr pane layout [--pane ID|--current]
herdr pane process-info [--pane ID|--current]
herdr pane neighbor --direction left|right|up|down [--pane ID|--current]
herdr pane edges [--pane ID|--current]
herdr pane focus --direction left|right|up|down [--pane ID|--current]
herdr pane resize --direction left|right|up|down [--amount FLOAT] [--pane ID|--current]
herdr pane zoom [<pane_id>|--pane ID|--current] [--toggle|--on|--off]
herdr pane rename <pane_id> <label>|--clear
herdr pane split [<pane_id>|--pane ID|--current] --direction right|down [--ratio FLOAT] [--cwd PATH] [--env KEY=VALUE] [--focus] [--no-focus]
herdr pane swap --direction left|right|up|down [--pane ID|--current]
herdr pane swap --source-pane ID --target-pane ID
herdr pane move <pane_id> --tab <tab_id> --split right|down [--target-pane ID] [--ratio FLOAT] [--focus|--no-focus]
herdr pane move <pane_id> --new-tab [--workspace ID] [--label TEXT] [--focus|--no-focus]
herdr pane move <pane_id> --new-workspace [--label TEXT] [--tab-label TEXT] [--focus|--no-focus]
herdr pane close <pane_id>

Read output:

herdr pane read <pane_id> [--source visible|recent|recent-unwrapped|detection] [--lines N]
herdr pane read <pane_id> --source visible --ansi
herdr pane read <pane_id> --source recent-unwrapped --lines 120

Send input:

herdr pane send-text <pane_id> <text>
herdr pane send-keys <pane_id> <key> [key ...]
herdr pane run <pane_id> <command>

<key> uses Herdr key-combo syntax: plain printable keys such as a, special keys such as enter, tab, esc, backspace, left, right, up, and down, modifier chords such as ctrl+h, control+j, alt+x, and shift+tab, function keys such as f1, and named punctuation such as minus, plus, and backtick. Legacy C-c and c-c are accepted as aliases for ctrl+c.

pane run submits text plus Enter atomically. Prefer it over send-text plus send-keys Enter for commands.

Report agent state from custom hooks:

herdr pane report-agent <pane_id> \
  --source ID \
  --agent LABEL \
  --state idle|working|blocked|unknown \
  [--message TEXT] \
  [--custom-status TEXT] \
  [--seq N] \
  [--agent-session-id ID] \
  [--agent-session-path PATH]

pane get, pane list, agent get, and agent list include a read-only agent_session object when an official integration has reported a native session reference. If no native session reference is stored, the field is omitted.

Those commands include foreground_cwd when Herdr can resolve the cwd of the foreground process controlling the pane. The existing cwd field remains the pane/workspace cwd used for labels and follow-cwd behavior.

Report display-only pane metadata without taking over semantic state:

herdr pane report-metadata <pane_id> \
  --source ID \
  [--agent LABEL] \
  [--applies-to-source ID] \
  [--title TEXT|--clear-title] \
  [--display-agent TEXT|--clear-display-agent] \
  [--custom-status TEXT|--clear-custom-status] \
  [--state-label STATUS=TEXT] \
  [--clear-state-labels] \
  [--seq N] \
  [--ttl-ms N]

STATUS is one of idle, working, blocked, done, or unknown. --agent is a guard for the authoritative agent label. --applies-to-source is a guard for the active lifecycle authority source. Use --display-agent to change the visible name.

Metadata text is normalized before storage. Herdr trims surrounding whitespace, removes control characters, caps --custom-status at 32 characters, and caps --title, --display-agent, and each --state-label value at 80 characters. Empty normalized values are ignored.

--source and --applies-to-source must be 80 characters or fewer and may contain only ASCII letters, digits, colon, dot, underscore, and hyphen. --ttl-ms makes metadata expire automatically and must be between 1 and 86400000 milliseconds. Omit it for metadata that should stay until replaced, cleared, or the pane closes. --seq lets Herdr ignore stale reports from the same --source; stale reports are accepted by the API but ignored by pane state.

Agents

herdr agent list
herdr agent get <target>
herdr agent read <target> [--source visible|recent|recent-unwrapped|detection] [--lines N] [--format text|ansi] [--ansi]
herdr agent send <target> <text>
herdr agent rename <target> <name>|--clear
herdr agent focus <target>
herdr agent wait <target> --status <idle|working|blocked|unknown> [--timeout MS]
herdr agent attach <target> [--takeover]
herdr agent start <name> [--cwd PATH] [--workspace ID] [--tab ID] [--split right|down] [--env KEY=VALUE] [--focus|--no-focus] -- <argv...>
herdr agent explain <target> [--json|--verbose]
herdr agent explain --file PATH --agent LABEL [--json|--verbose]

Agent targets can be terminal IDs, unique agent names, detected or reported agent labels, or legacy pane IDs. Names and labels are agent identities. Terminal IDs and legacy pane IDs are low-level escape hatches.

agent read reads the resolved terminal stream. agent send writes literal text to that stream. agent get, agent focus, agent wait, and agent attach require the resolved terminal to have agent identity. agent rename can assign that identity.

agent explain asks the running server to classify the same bottom-buffer detection snapshot used by screen detection, so live output reflects the server’s active manifest cache. Because this uses the agent.explain socket method, restart or hand off to an updated server after upgrading Herdr before using live explain. Use --file PATH --agent LABEL to explain a saved fixture locally instead. The default output shows the agent, final state, manifest source and version, matched rule with its region evidence, and any fallback, skip, or warning reasons. Add --verbose for visible evidence flags, cached remote version, local override shadowing, remote update status, and the full evaluated-rules list with matcher and region evidence. Add --json for issue reports or tests.

Use pane send-text, pane send-keys, pane run, and terminal attach for ordinary terminals, servers, tests, shells, or low-level terminal control. Use pane run when you want to submit a command with Enter.

Direct terminal attach

herdr terminal attach <terminal_id> [--takeover]
herdr terminal title set <title>
herdr terminal title clear

Detach from direct attach with ctrl+b q. Send literal ctrl+b with ctrl+b ctrl+b. terminal title clear restores Herdr’s default outer terminal window title.

Waits

Wait for output in a pane:

herdr wait output <pane_id> --match <text> [--source visible|recent|recent-unwrapped] [--lines N] [--timeout MS] [--regex] [--raw]

Wait for pane agent state:

herdr wait agent-status <pane_id> --status <idle|working|blocked|done|unknown> [--timeout MS]

Use wait output for normal commands and servers. Use wait agent-status for coding agents.

Integrations

herdr integration install pi
herdr integration install omp
herdr integration install claude
herdr integration install codex
herdr integration install copilot
herdr integration install devin
herdr integration install droid
herdr integration install kimi
herdr integration install opencode
herdr integration install kilo
herdr integration install hermes
herdr integration install qodercli
herdr integration install cursor
herdr integration uninstall pi
herdr integration uninstall omp
herdr integration uninstall claude
herdr integration uninstall codex
herdr integration uninstall copilot
herdr integration uninstall devin
herdr integration uninstall droid
herdr integration uninstall kimi
herdr integration uninstall opencode
herdr integration uninstall kilo
herdr integration uninstall hermes
herdr integration uninstall qodercli
herdr integration uninstall cursor
herdr integration status [--outdated-only]

Plugins

Plugin commands install and run local executable workflow plugins. A plugin is a manifest plus out-of-process commands; Herdr owns the host surface and plugins own their implementation language.

Install, list, and remove plugins:

herdr plugin install <owner>/<repo>[/subdir...] [--ref REF] [--yes]
herdr plugin list [--plugin ID] [--json]
herdr plugin uninstall <plugin_id|owner/repo[/subdir...]>
herdr plugin enable <plugin_id>
herdr plugin disable <plugin_id>

plugin install accepts GitHub shorthand only, such as ogulcancelik/herdr-plugin-examples/worktree-bootstrap. It uses git, shows a trust preview in interactive terminals, runs supported manifest build commands, and stores GitHub installs in a Herdr-managed directory. Use --yes for noninteractive installs. Reinstalling a GitHub-managed plugin replaces that managed checkout. Installing over a locally linked plugin is refused. Plugin manifests must declare min_herdr_version; install and link fail when the plugin requires a newer Herdr binary. plugin list is human-readable by default; pass --json for the raw API response.

Local development:

herdr plugin link <path> [--disabled]
herdr plugin unlink <plugin_id>

plugin link accepts a plugin directory containing herdr-plugin.toml or a direct manifest path. It is still the right command while authoring or testing a plugin from a local checkout. plugin unlink unregisters the plugin and leaves files alone. plugin uninstall unregisters a plugin and also removes Herdr-managed GitHub checkout files. For GitHub installs, uninstall accepts either the plugin id or the same owner/repo[/subdir...] shorthand used by install. Actions, event hooks, panes, and link handlers are declared in the manifest; runtime action registration is not part of v1.

Config directory:

herdr plugin config-dir <plugin_id>

plugin config-dir prints the plugin’s config directory, creating it (and seeding it from legacy plugin config locations when present) if needed. Use it in setup docs and shell scripts to point users at a stable path for .env files and other user-editable config, separate from the managed plugin checkout.

Actions:

herdr plugin action list [--plugin ID]
herdr plugin action invoke <action_id> [--plugin ID]

plugin action invoke starts the manifest command for an installed, enabled, platform-compatible plugin action and prints the started command log record in the JSON response. Use the qualified action id (plugin.id.action) when more than one plugin uses the same action id. Local action ids cannot contain dots, so qualified ids remain unambiguous even when plugin ids contain dots.

Logs:

herdr plugin log list [--plugin ID] [--limit N]

Managed terminal panes:

herdr plugin pane open --plugin ID --entrypoint ID [--placement overlay|split|tab|zoomed] [--workspace ID] [--target-pane PANE] [--direction right|down] [--cwd PATH] [--env KEY=VALUE] [--focus|--no-focus]
herdr plugin pane focus <pane_id>
herdr plugin pane close <pane_id>

plugin pane open requires the plugin to be linked, enabled, and compatible with the current platform. It starts a manifest-declared [[panes]] command as a Herdr-managed terminal pane. The manifest default is overlay, which opens a temporary zoomed overlay over the active pane. It can also open as a split, a new tab, or a zoomed pane. Native non-terminal plugin panes are a later surface.

--env KEY=VALUE can be repeated on process-launching commands. It applies to the newly launched process only. Herdr-managed variables such as HERDR_SOCKET_PATH, HERDR_BIN_PATH, HERDR_ENV, HERDR_WORKSPACE_ID, HERDR_TAB_ID, HERDR_PANE_ID, HERDR_PLUGIN_ID, HERDR_PLUGIN_ROOT, HERDR_PLUGIN_CONFIG_DIR, HERDR_PLUGIN_STATE_DIR, HERDR_PLUGIN_ENTRYPOINT_ID, and HERDR_PLUGIN_CONTEXT_JSON stay authoritative when they conflict with caller-provided env.

Read sources

Source	Meaning
visible	Current rendered screen. Best for UI feedback loops.
recent	Recent scrollback with terminal wrapping.
recent-unwrapped	Recent scrollback without soft wrapping. Best for logs.
detection	Bottom-buffer snapshot used by agent screen detection.

Environment variables

Variable	Purpose
HERDR_CONFIG_PATH	Override the config file path.
HERDR_SESSION	Select a named session for CLI commands.
HERDR_SOCKET_PATH	Low-level socket path override.
HERDR_ENV	Set to 1 inside Herdr-managed pane processes.
HERDR_PANE_ID	Public pane id for the running pane process.
HERDR_TAB_ID	Public tab id for the running pane process.
HERDR_WORKSPACE_ID	Public workspace id for the running pane process.
HERDR_LOG	Set log filter, for example HERDR_LOG=herdr=debug.
HERDR_DISABLE_SOUND	Disable sound playback even when sound notifications are enabled.