CLI overview
The two Syntax binaries — `syntax` (the application command) and `syntax-cli` (the bundled coding harness) — and what each one is for.
Syntax ships with two distinct binaries:
syntaxis the umbrella command for the Syntax application itself — connecting and disconnecting harnesses, deploying models, managing the catalog, inspecting sessions, running diagnostics.syntax-cliis the bundled coding harness — the interactive TUI agent. It's a sibling of Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode, and Pi from a conceptual standpoint, but it ships with Syntax and is always available without asyntax connectstep.
Anything you can do in the desktop app for application-level
operations, you can do via syntax. The interactive coding experience
lives in syntax-cli (and in the desktop app, which shares the same
agent core).
syntax commands at a glance
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
syntax connect <agent> | Wire a coding assistant to the Bridge. |
syntax disconnect <agent> | Restore a coding assistant's original config. |
syntax doctor | Self-check: hardware, deps, network, deployments. |
syntax deploy | Deploy a model or party from the CLI. |
syntax models | Browse / search the catalog. |
syntax sessions | List / inspect / resume past sessions. |
syntax memory | Inspect or edit Layer 1 / Layer 2 memory. |
syntax --version | Print the running Syntax version. |
syntax --help | Top-level help. |
Subcommand-specific help is available on every command:
syntax connect --help
syntax deploy --helpsyntax-cli commands at a glance
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
syntax-cli | Start an interactive coding session (TUI). |
syntax-cli --resume | Resume a recent session. |
syntax-cli exec | Run a one-shot agent task headlessly (CI / scripting). |
syntax-cli --help | Harness-specific help. |
When to use the CLI
- Interactive coding in a terminal. Run
syntax-clito start a TUI session. - Scripted automation.
syntax-cli execruns a single task headlessly with structured I/O — fits naturally into CI pipelines, cron jobs, and pre-commit hooks. - Setup / teardown.
syntax connect,syntax disconnect,syntax doctor,syntax deployare one-liners that don't need a GUI. - Remote shells. When you're SSH'd into a box and just need a coding agent there.
When the desktop app is better
- Browsing the catalog visually and composing parties.
- Watching multi-deployment fleets at a glance.
- Issuing / revoking exposed-endpoint bearers (the bearer is shown exactly once, and copying from a popup is more reliable than copying from a terminal).
- Configuring hardware / providers / managed remote targets.
Where to go next
syntax-cli— the interactive coding harness.syntax connect— harness wiring.- Flags — the user-visible flags reference.