CLI reference

All cryochamber binaries and their commands. For tutorials and how-to guides, follow links from Tutorial and the how-to guides.

Operator CLI (`cryo`)

Run these from inside a chamber directory unless noted otherwise.

Command	What it does
`cryo init [--agent <cmd>]`	Initialize the directory: write `cryo.toml`, `plan.md`, `NOTES.md`, and `README.md`. Existing files are kept.
`cryo start [--agent <cmd>]`	Start the daemon. Reads `cryo.toml` and writes overrides to `timer.json`.
`cryo start --max-session-duration 3600`	Override the session timeout for this run.
`cryo status`	Show whether the daemon is running, the current session number, and the next wake time.
`cryo restart`	Stop the running daemon and start a fresh one.
`cryo cancel`	Stop the daemon and remove the runtime state.
`cryo watch [--all]`	Follow the session log in real time.
`cryo log`	Print the full session log.
`cryo send "<message>"`	Send a message to the agent’s inbox.
`cryo receive`	Read messages the agent sent to the outbox.
`cryo wake ["message"]`	Wake the daemon immediately, optionally with a message.
`cryo clean [--force]`	Remove runtime files such as logs, state, and messages.
`cryo ps [--kill-all]`	List, or kill, every running cryo daemon on this machine. Run from anywhere.

Command	What it does
`cryohub start [--host <ip>] [--port <n>]`	Install a service that survives reboot. `--host` and `--port` also update the saved hub config.
`cryohub start --foreground`	Run the hub in the current terminal instead of installing a service.
`cryohub stop`	Uninstall the global hub service.
`cryohub status`	Show the global hub URL, chamber root, config path, log path, and service status. Also lists legacy cwd-scoped hub services from older versions.

These commands are used by the spawned AI agent to communicate with the daemon over a Unix socket. They are not the operator interface.

Command	What it does
`cryo-agent hibernate --summary "..."`	End the session; more work remains.
`cryo-agent hibernate --complete`	End the session; the plan is done.
`cryo-agent hibernate --exit 1`	Report a failed session. The daemon marks consumed TODOs done and adds a fresh numbered retry TODO.
`cryo-agent todo add "text" --at <TIME>`	Schedule the next wake via a TODO.
`cryo-agent todo list`	List all TODO items.
`cryo-agent todo done <id>`	Mark a TODO item as done.
`cryo-agent todo remove <id>`	Remove a TODO item.
`cryo-agent send "message"`	Write a message to the outbox for the human.
`cryo-agent send --question "msg"`	Mark the message as a question awaiting a human reply.
`cryo-agent receive`	Claim the current inbox batch from the human.
`cryo-agent dialog [--last N \| --all]`	Render the full conversation transcript. Also archives any pending inbox batch as a side effect, satisfying the same reply obligation as `receive`.
`cryo-agent time`	Print the current local time in ISO 8601 format.
`cryo-agent time "+30 minutes"`	Compute a relative offset. Units: `minutes`, `hours`, `days`, `weeks`.
`cryo-agent time "2026-04-25T10:00"`	Validate and normalize an ISO 8601 timestamp.

Command	What it does
`cryo-gh init --repo owner/repo`	Create a Discussion and write `gh-sync.json`.
`cryo-gh sync [--interval N]`	Start the background sync daemon. Default interval comes from `cryo.toml` or falls back to 5 seconds.
`cryo-gh unsync`	Stop the sync daemon.
`cryo-gh pull`	One-shot pull.
`cryo-gh push`	One-shot push.
`cryo-gh status`	Show sync configuration.

Command	What it does
`cryo-zulip init --config <zuliprc> --stream <name> [--topic <topic>] [--history]`	Validate credentials, resolve the stream, and write `zulip-sync.json`.
`cryo-zulip sync [--interval N]`	Start the background sync daemon. Default interval comes from `cryo.toml` or falls back to 5 seconds.
`cryo-zulip unsync`	Stop the sync daemon.
`cryo-zulip pull`	One-shot pull.
`cryo-zulip push`	One-shot push.
`cryo-zulip status`	Show sync configuration.