agent-cli

Agent CLI

Give the app a command line, so an agent can do everything a person can do in the window: tasks items add --title "Call the dentist". The app binary is the CLI. Each command goes to the running app over a private socket, runs there like a button press, and the window updates live.

Claude Code --bash--> tasks items add ...  --socket--> Tasks.app (runs the command, saves, redraws)
Claude Desktop --MCP--> tasks mcp           --socket--> same commands, same app

CLI, MCP, or App Intents

Way in	Who uses it	Ship it
CLI	Claude Code, Codex, scripts, people in Terminal	Always. Agents learn it from --help, and it costs no context until used
MCP (tasks mcp)	Claude Desktop and other clients with no shell	Optional. The same commands, one tool each. One line to register
App Intents	Siri, Spotlight, Shortcuts	Separate work. Agents cannot call them

The CLI talks to the running app, never to the database file. Then there is one writer, the app's checks and side effects run, and the window shows the change at once. If the app is closed, the CLI opens it in the background. Rules and reasons: rules.md.

1. List the commands

Read the user stories (docs/stories/). Write each thing a person does as a command, <noun> <verb>, and mark it:

• read: items list, items show, status. Safe to run any time.
• write: items add, items update, open. Changes data, can be undone.
• destructive: items delete, mail send. Only reports what it would do until --yes is given.

Add status (is it running, what is open, counts) and open <page> (show a page in the window), so an agent can see and steer the app.

Check: every M1 story has its commands, and each command is marked.

2. Add the files

"${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/add-agent-cli.sh" <app-folder> <cli-name>

It copies Sources/<App>/Agent/ (core, socket, CLI, MCP, example commands) and Main.swift, moves @main to Main.swift, starts the socket in the main view's .task, and makes build.sh link ~/.local/bin/<cli-name>. Apps not made from the template: do the same by hand, following the script.

Check: the script printed "added the agent CLI", and swift build passes.

3. Write the commands

Replace the examples in Agent/AgentCommands.swift. Each command has a name, a one-line summary, its params, a full example, its mark (readOnly or destructive), and a run that uses the same model code as the window's buttons. Never copy logic: call the function the button calls.

• Every model an agent touches gets var uuid: UUID = UUID(). Commands show the first 8 characters as id, and accept any unique start of it.
• Results are small JSON objects: the fields an agent needs, not the whole model. Lists take --limit and --offset, and return total and nextOffset.
• Errors throw AgentError with a message that says how to fix it: "no item with id 3f2a. Run tasks items list".

All the rules: rules.md.

Check: <cli-name> help lists every command from step 1, and <cli-name> help <command> shows its params and example.

4. Build and install

./build.sh
<cli-name> help

build.sh installs the app and links ~/.local/bin/<cli-name> to the binary inside it, so the CLI always matches the app. If the shell cannot find it, add ~/.local/bin to PATH in ~/.zshrc.

Check: <cli-name> --version prints the app's version.

5. Test

"${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/check-agent-cli.sh" <cli-name>

It starts a test copy of the app on a temporary database, checks help, JSON output, error codes, every read command, and the MCP tool list, then quits the test copy. Then run each write command once by hand, with APP_STORE=/tmp/<App>-test.store, and look at the window: the change shows without a reload.

Check: the script prints PASS agent CLI.

6. Teach agents

Write .claude/skills/<cli-name>/SKILL.md in the app's repo from teach-agents.md: what the app is, the safety rules, the main commands, and "run <cli-name> help for the rest". To use the app from any folder, also copy it to ~/.claude/skills/<cli-name>/. Add one line to the app's CLAUDE.md: "Drive the app with <cli-name>. See .claude/skills/<cli-name>/SKILL.md."

Check: a fresh claude -p "List my starred items with <cli-name>" finds the CLI and answers from real data.

7. MCP, when the user wants it

For Claude Desktop, or to get one approval prompt per tool:

claude mcp add --scope user <cli-name> -- ~/Applications/<App>.app/Contents/MacOS/<App> mcp
codex mcp add <cli-name> -- ~/Applications/<App>.app/Contents/MacOS/<App> mcp

Claude Desktop: add it to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json under mcpServers, with the full path and "args": ["mcp"]. More in teach-agents.md.

Check: claude mcp list shows the server as connected.

Done when every command from step 1 runs through the CLI against the running app, check-agent-cli.sh prints PASS agent CLI, the app's repo has the agent skill from step 6, and a fresh Claude Code session can do a real task with it.