CLI reference

The complete, information-oriented lookup surface for TOVIO. Every tovio command, every global flag, every configuration file, every TVO-* error code, the public read API, and the developer-facing glossary.

If you want to learn TOVIO, start with the tutorials. If you want to do a task, read the guides. This section is for looking things up.

Pages

Page	What it covers
Command reference	Every command: synopsis, flags, examples, exit codes.
Global flags	--json, -q/--quiet, --format, NO_COLOR, short and git-compat aliases.
Configuration	The .tovio/ directory, config files, and .tovioignore.
Public Forge web API	The read-only /public/v1 routes the explorer reads.
Error reference	The three-part standard, exit-code classes, and the TVO-* catalog.
Glossary	Every term, defined once.

Command index

Commands are grouped by interaction tier, which controls discovery (whether a command shows in default tovio help), never capability — every command is always runnable by name. Tiers are distinct from the cryptographic permission tiers (Solo / Team / Enterprise). See tovio help for how the default help gates by tier.

Phase labels in the command reference identify roadmap ownership, not availability. Every command below is present in the CLI today, with one exception that is marked as such in place. tovio help --all prints the same three groups from the binary itself, so it is the fastest way to confirm the surface your build actually carries.

Everyday — the daily loop

For all developers. These are the commands shown by a bare tovio help — the daily loop, and nothing that is not part of it.

Command	Purpose
init	Create a new repository.
quickstart	Interactive first-run tutorial.
status	Show current repository state — the source of truth.
commit	Finalize the current change; start the next.
sync	Share and receive changes (push + pull in one). (Phase 3)
log	Browse history.
diff	Compare versions.
conflicts	List every open conflict and how to resolve each.
resolve	Resolve a materialized conflict at a path.
mv	Rename or move a tracked file, recorded as one undoable move.
lane	Create, list, and delete lanes.
switch	Move to another lane or change.
land	Land a change onto a lane; auto-rebases the stack.
change	Manage work in progress.
clone	Clone a repository, sparse by default. (Phase 3)
undo	Undo the latest supported local op-log mutation.
health	Diagnose whether the current lane is clean, landable, and how stale.

Team — collaboration & protection

For team leads and senior developers. Invisible in a Simple-Mode repository until reached for. (Phase 1 / Phase 3.)

Command	Purpose
policy	Declare per-path read/write access policies.
access	Diagnose, request, and grant access.
review	Review a change proposal on the Forge.
identity	Manage cryptographic identities and attributes.
key	Back up, recover, and rotate the identity key.
device	Manage the per-device keys of one identity.
agent	Register AI agents and issue capability tokens.
audit	The append-only access log.
forge	Administer a Forge you operate.
issue	Open, browse, and close issues on a Forge.
release	Publish releases and their downloadable assets.
fetch / push / pull	One-direction sync primitives behind sync.
serve	Serve this repository to other machines over TLS.
lock / locks	Locks for unmergeable binary paths (locks is a deprecated alias for lock list).

Advanced — power & maintenance

For security, DevOps, and architects. Gated out of default help.

Command	Purpose
restore	Discard working-copy edits to a file, resetting it to its committed version.
rebase	Re-parent the current change onto another lane, keeping every Change ID.
cherry-pick / revert	Port a change onto another lane; mint a forward change that inverts a landed one.
bisect	Binary-search history for the change that introduced a regression.
change split / change absorb	Recover granularity without a staging index.
redo	Replay an undone operation.
show	Not implemented. Inspect an object with cat or audit show --object instead.
cat / grep	Print or search committed file contents, decrypting where you hold the key.
blame	Attribution by change, not commit.
tag	Create, list, or force-move an immutable tag.
build-check	Verify a target is conflict-free (buildable).
explain	Debug how a subsystem reached its state (merge, op-log, …).
obliterate	Permanently remove an object's payload. Destructive.
behavioral	Version an AI system's behavioral surface.
semantic	Query the optional symbol graph.
git	Git import / export / bridge.
remote	Manage named remotes for push / pull / land.
meta	Cross-repository (meta-) changes.
sparse / materialize	Declare a directory cone; check a commit's tree into the working copy.
fsmonitor / autosync	The filesystem-monitor daemon and the automatic-sync plumbing.
fsck / gc	Integrity check and garbage collection. (tovio --version prints the version.)
config / completions	Your local preferences; a shell completion script.
plugin	Manage sandboxed lifecycle plugins.
ci	Compile config-as-code pipelines and inspect imported CI.
mcp serve	Run the MCP server for agents.
web-bridge / web-session	Sign web-dashboard requests locally; authorize a browser's session key.

Governed surface

TOVIO caps its command surface deliberately: "to add a command, remove or merge one." A new top-level command must justify itself by removing or merging another. This is why the default tovio help stays a short daily loop while the full surface remains one flag away.

Last reviewed September 9, 2026

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