CLI cheatsheet · Stravica

This page lists rcf commands by core and the five groups, with descriptions from rcf help.

Every verb on this page ships in the installed CLI (rcf-lite at the version shown by rcf version). This page and the tree behind it are checked at build time against rcf help for that installed version, so a slug named here is one you can run. If a verb ever lands on the roadmap before it ships, it will carry a To-do tag on its row until the release lists it.

core

Command	Does
`rcf init`	Scaffold a new RCF project in this directory.
`rcf doctor`	Diagnose and repair init-hygiene drift.
`rcf guidance [topic]`	Print a method document from the installed pack.
`rcf mcp`	Serve the project over MCP (local stdio).
`rcf version [--check]`	Print the installed version; `--check` compares it against the release feed.
`rcf feedback <verb>`	Log a blueprint or core finding locally, then ask once, preview, submit or bundle it. Verbs: `add`, `list`, `status`, `defer`, `discard`, `preview`, `submit`, `opt-out`, `opt-in`, `hook`. In a linked git worktree the store is the main checkout's `.rcf/feedback/`. Exit 1 is a designed outcome: the store was still busy when the wait ran out, a worktree's held queue could not move, or `submit` filed an issue it could not record in time. See How the agent files feedback.
`rcf help [group] [verb]`	Print help for a group or a verb.
`rcf --version`	Print the package version and exit.

discover

Command	Does
`rcf discover intake`	Classify supplied artefacts.
`rcf discover preflight`	Elicit third-party service dependencies.
`rcf discover req-classify <req-id>`	Classify one or every REQ by shape.
`rcf discover req-baseline <verb>`	Sweep and record baseline ACs per REQ.
`rcf discover ui-classify <fbs-id>`	Classify one FBS as UI-bearing or not.
`rcf discover ui-baseline <verb>`	Rule and record the project's UI defaults.
`rcf discover journey <verb>`	Author and inspect the journey record (`rcf/discovery/journey.json`). Verbs: `add --from <path>`, `import --from <path>`, `check`, `declare --ui none

define

Command	Does
`rcf define create <kind>`	Create a new document. `--id <id>` overrides the auto-assigned id and is idempotent by id: replaying an existing id with identical content prints `<id>: unchanged` and exits 0; different content refuses with exit 3 and names the differing fields (use `rcf define update` to patch).
`rcf define read <id>`	Print a document's body.
`rcf define update <id>`	Patch fields on an existing document. `--ac <ac-id> --probe <json>` (or `--probe-file <path>`) sets an acceptance criterion's probe for deterministic verify; a probe with no assertion is refused with exit 3.
`rcf define delete <id>`	Delete a document.
`rcf define link <us-id>`	Link a US to a TAC.
`rcf define unlink <us-id>`	Unlink a US from a TAC.
`rcf define validate`	Walk the tree and report schema and reference issues. Exits 3 on any finding, including these four kinds: an interface kind outside the closed vocabulary, a bracketed AC class prefix outside the five known classes, a `tacIds` naming a non-TAC, and an unresolving `ownerRef` or object-form `deliveredBy`. Flags: `--quiet`, `--json`, `--no-code`.
`rcf define design <fbs-id> <verb>`	Design substage for a UI-bearing FBS.
`rcf define blueprint <verb>`	Compose blueprints onto the project. `add` supports `--answer <id>=<value>` (repeatable), `--answers <file>`, and `--allow-no-auth-yet` for the capability-refusal override.
`rcf define standards <verb>`	Register standards packs against the project.
`rcf define ledger <name> <verb>`	Read and write the four DEFINE sidecar ledgers under `rcf/define/` (`brief`, `decisions`, `concerns`, `probes`); verbs are `add`, `update`, `resolve`, `list`. `add --id <n>` is idempotent by id: an identical replay prints `unchanged` and exits 0; different content at that id exits 3 naming the differing fields.
`rcf define readiness`	Compute the DEFINE stage-gate readiness view (D1 to D8, two levels, per-persona blockers). Flags: `--level intent\|build`, `--persona productOwner\|engineer`, `--check <stage>\|all` (exits 4 on a failing D1, D2, D4, D7 or D8 and on an unacknowledged D3 or D5 bite at the current hash), `--litmus <n>` (requires n distinct litmus readings at the current litmus hash), `--json`.
`rcf define questions`	Print the persona question set for the intent-complete loop: one plain question per failing product-owner item, each carrying its exact write-back. Flags: `--persona`, `--stage`, `--limit`, `--json`.
`rcf define freeze`	Close a change: run readiness, refuse on any failing stage, and write `rcf/define/freeze.json`. Flags: `--ack <gate>` with `--reason <text>` (repeatable; only `define.shapes`, `define.crosscut` and `define.consistency` are ackable), `--litmus <n>`, `--litmus-attested <D3,D6>`, `--note <text>`, `--status`, `--json`.

build

Command	Does
`rcf build queue`	Show the FBS build queue.
`rcf build bundle <fbs-id>`	Spec bundle for one FBS (or `--next`). Flags: `--next` refuses with exit 4 on an unfrozen tree or an all-impacted delta; `--override "<reason>"` writes `freeze.override { reason, by, at }` and proceeds; `--format md\|json`, `--out <path>`, `--strict`. With `rcf/define/backstop.json` present, `--next` also refuses with exit 4 while a merged spec is `complete` and not `verified`; `--allow-unverified "<reason>"` proceeds for one call and records the reason.
`rcf build mark <fbs-id> <status>`	Record a lifecycle transition.
`rcf build backstop adopt --from <fbs-id>`	Open the verified backstop window at that FBS's build order (writes `rcf/define/backstop.json`).
`rcf build finalise <fbs-id>`	Ship gate, run on the PR branch before the merge: ingest the Test-stage verify report committed at HEAD and promote a complete FBS to verified; the merge carries the verified write. Runs no verify itself. Flags: `--ci-run <ref>` (required; the CI run that passed on the PR head the report names, exit 4 without it), `--report <path>` (exit 4 outside the project root or through a symlink), `--max-report-age <days>` (default 7), `--ship-without-verified`, `--ship-without-eval <reason>`, `--quiet`. `--allow-pre-merge` is deprecated and changes nothing; leave it off. `--mode` and `--url` exit 2: verification belongs to `rcf verify run`.
`rcf build review <fbs-id>`	Stage-3-to-Stage-4 audit.
`rcf build fbs <fbs-id> <verb>`	FBS-level operations.
`rcf build test-suite <ts-id> <verb>`	Test-suite operations.

verify

Command	Does
`rcf verify run`	Run adversarial verification; emit a report. Flags: `--repo <path-or-ref>`, `--profile deployed\|ci\|local-dev`, `--url <app-url>`, `--out <file>` (the report's file path; a directory exits 2 before any request reaches the target, and `--out` with `--hand` exits 2), `--fbs <id>` (repeatable; a comma list is accepted; narrows per-AC verdicts, provisioning, the adversarial brief and the deterministic skip ledger to the acceptance criteria bound to the named FBS items), `--hand <hand>` (writes the Test-stage report to `rcf/verify-reports/<fbs-id>/<head12>.json`; needs exactly one `--fbs`), `--verifier-id <id>`, `--engine <name>` and `--served-sha <sha>` (required with `--hand` and a loopback `--url`, exit 2 without them; recorded as `target.engine`, `target.port` and `target.servedSha`; a served sha that is not the committed HEAD exits 4; exit 2 on a non-URL target), `--replace <reason>`, `--artefact <tgz>` and `--package <dir>` (package target mode: run the bound test files against the installed tarball), `--offline` (package target mode only), `--mode agentScreenshotCritique\|deterministic` (agent is the parent-session default, deterministic is the model-free in-process mode a dispatched worker can run), `--parity-env <env>`, `--severity-gate PASS\|COSMETIC\|DEGRADED\|BROKEN`, `--provision <path>`, `--provision-mode run\|skip`, `--persona <name>`.
`rcf verify report <path>`	Re-render a prior report artifact.
`rcf verify provision`	Stand up prerequisite accounts and sandboxes.
`rcf verify cleanup`	Tear down provisioned artefacts.
`rcf verify mcp`	Serve verify over MCP (local stdio).
`rcf verify browser <fbs-id>`	Stage 5 browser-verification gate; runs any Playwright probe pack a blueprint ships. Flags: `--probe-pack <name>`, `--no-browser`, `--no-boot`.

audit

Command	Does
`rcf audit view`	Live HTML tree render (long-running server).
`rcf audit coverage [scope-id]`	Structural coverage over the REQ chain.
`rcf audit eval coverage [scope-id]`	EVAL coverage over nonDeterministic ACs.
`rcf audit trace <id>`	Walk the graph forward, back, or both from a node.
`rcf audit impact <id>`	Change-impact fan-out from a node.
`rcf audit separation`	Hand separation over a pull request's commits: each commit's `Hand:` trailer judged against the paths it touches. Flags: `--base <ref>`, `--head <ref>`, `--require-hand`, `--json`. Exits 4 on a violation.