Command Reference¶

Complete reference for all Cloister CLI commands.

Global Flags¶

These flags apply to all commands:

Flag	Description
`--help`, `-h`	Show help for command
`--version`	Show version information
`--debug`	Enable debug logging
`--silent`	Suppress non-essential output

Cloister Commands¶

cloister start¶

Start or enter a cloister for the current project.

cloister start [--agent <name>]

Must be run from within a git repository. Detects the project automatically and starts a sandboxed container with the project mounted at /work.

Flags:

Flag	Description
`--agent`	Override the default agent (e.g., `claude`, `codex`)

Behavior: - If no cloister exists, creates one and attaches an interactive shell - If a cloister already exists, attaches to it - The guardian proxy auto-starts if not running - Agent selection: CLI flag > config default > "claude"

Examples:

# Start cloister for current directory (uses default agent)
cd ~/projects/my-app
cloister start

# Start with a specific agent
cloister start --agent codex

cloister stop¶

Stop and remove a cloister.

cloister stop [name]

Arguments: - name — Cloister name (optional, defaults to current project)

Examples:

# Stop cloister for current directory
cloister stop

# Stop specific cloister
cloister stop my-app

cloister list¶

List running cloisters.

cloister list

Aliases: ls

Output columns: - NAME — Cloister name - PROJECT — Project name - BRANCH — Git branch - UPTIME — Time since start - STATUS — running/stopped

Example output:

NAME      PROJECT    BRANCH    UPTIME    STATUS
my-app    my-app     main      2h 15m    running

Guardian Commands¶

cloister guardian start¶

Start the guardian daemon.

cloister guardian start

Usually not needed — the guardian auto-starts on first cloister start.

cloister guardian stop¶

Stop the guardian and all cloisters.

cloister guardian stop

Warns if there are running cloister containers that will lose network access.

cloister guardian status¶

Show guardian status.

cloister guardian status

Output:

Status: running
Uptime: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Active tokens: 2
Executor: running (PID 12345)

cloister guardian reload¶

Reload guardian configuration without restarting.

cloister guardian reload

Shutdown¶

cloister shutdown¶

Stop all cloisters and the guardian.

cloister shutdown

Equivalent to cloister guardian stop but reads as a single "shut everything down" operation.

Project Commands¶

cloister project list¶

List registered projects.

cloister project list

Aliases: ls

cloister project show¶

Show project details.

cloister project show <name>

cloister project edit¶

Open project config in $EDITOR.

cloister project edit <name>

cloister project remove¶

Remove project registration.

cloister project remove <name> [--config]

Aliases: rm

Flags:

Flag	Description
`--config`	Also remove the project config file

Does not delete project files, only the Cloister registration. Errors if a cloister is currently running for the project.

Configuration Commands¶

cloister config show¶

Display effective configuration.

cloister config show

cloister config edit¶

Edit global configuration file in $EDITOR.

cloister config edit

cloister config path¶

Show the path to the global configuration file.

cloister config path

cloister config init¶

Create a default configuration file if one doesn't exist.

cloister config init

Setup Commands¶

cloister setup claude¶

Configure Claude Code credentials for use in cloisters.

cloister setup claude

Runs an interactive wizard that offers two authentication methods: 1. Long-lived OAuth token (from claude setup-token) 2. API key (from console.anthropic.com)

cloister setup codex¶

Configure Codex CLI credentials for use in cloisters.

cloister setup codex

Runs an interactive wizard that prompts for: 1. OpenAI API key (from platform.openai.com/api-keys) 2. Full-auto mode preference (default: enabled)

Exit Codes¶

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	General error
2	Invalid arguments

Environment Variables¶

Variable	Description
`EDITOR`	Editor for `config edit` and `project edit` commands

Next Steps¶

Configuration — Config file format
Troubleshooting — Common issues