CLI

The frites command (@frites/cli) is the terminal entrypoint. It manages the gateway background service, edits config, tails logs, and runs a one-off agent council against a repository. Run frites help (--help / -h) for the inline usage summary.

Command dispatch

The first argument selects the subcommand. Any invocation that doesn't match a known subcommand is treated as a run task, so frites "implement X" works without a leading run.

Command	Purpose
frites install	Install and start the gateway as a background service (alias: frites start).
frites status	Report whether the service is installed, loaded, and reachable.
frites restart	Restart the service (e.g. after a config change or upgrade).
frites stop	Remove the background service (alias of uninstall).
frites uninstall	Remove the background service.
frites logs	Tail the gateway's detailed log. See Logging.
frites gateway	Run the gateway in the foreground.
frites config <sub>	Read or write configuration. See Configuration.
frites run "<task>"	Run a one-off agent council (also the default when no subcommand matches).
frites service <sub>	Legacy compatibility form for service management.
frites help	Print the top-level usage.

Service management

frites install, start, stop, uninstall, restart, and status are thin front-ends over the service manager. On macOS the service is a launchd user agent (com.frites.gateway); on Linux it is a systemd --user unit (frites-gateway.service). Service install/uninstall/restart/status is only supported on macOS and Linux. On other platforms use frites gateway to run in the foreground.

Command	Flags	Effect
frites install	--port N	Write and load the service (default port 6767), auto-start on login, restart on crash.
frites start	--port N	Alias of install.
frites restart	—	Reload (macOS) or systemctl --user restart (Linux) the service. Errors if not installed.
frites stop	—	Alias of uninstall.
frites uninstall	—	Unload and remove the service files.
frites status	--port N	Show the plist/unit path, launchd/systemd load state, and an HTTP health probe against http://127.0.0.1:<port>/v1/models.

--port defaults to 6767. The health probe in status uses the port you pass (also default 6767), so pass the same --port you installed with.

Run the gateway in the foreground

frites gateway [--port N] [--host addr]

Runs the gateway process directly (no service). --port sets FRITES_GATEWAY_PORT and --host sets FRITES_GATEWAY_HOST in the spawned gateway's environment.

Logs

frites logs [-f|--follow] [-n N|--lines N] [--level debug|info|warn|error]

Tails ~/.frites/gateway.log. See Logging for full detail on the flags, level filtering, and follow behavior.

Configuration

frites config <init|show|get|set|unset|validate|path> [--global] [--repo path] [--force]

Subcommand	Arguments	Effect
init	—	Write a starter config to the target file. Refuses to overwrite an existing file unless --force.
show	—	Print the effective merged config (defaults < global < repo) as JSON; the source files are noted on stderr.
get	<key>	Print one resolved value by dotted path (e.g. oracle.test).
set	<key> <value>	Set a value in the target file (e.g. set defaultN 3); validated before writing.
unset	<key>	Remove a value from the target file; validated before writing.
validate	—	Validate the target config file against the schema.
path	—	Print the global and repo config paths, which exist, and the write target.

Targeting flags:

• --global targets ~/.frites/config.json; without it, the target is .frites/config.json in the repo.

• --repo path chooses the repository directory (default: current working directory).

• --force allows config init to overwrite an existing file.

See Configuration for the full key list and layering rules.

Run a one-off council

frites "<task>" [--repo path] [--n N] [--agents claude,codex] \
  [--accept "<criteria>"] [--base ref] [--apply | --apply-candidate <id>]

The leading run keyword is optional: frites run "<task>" and frites "<task>" are equivalent. The task instructions are every non-flag argument, joined with spaces.

Flag	Meaning
--repo path	Target git repository (default: current working directory).
--n N	Number of child agents to consult.
--agents claude,codex	Comma list of agent kinds. A token starting with codex maps to codex-cli, one starting with claude maps to claude-cli; others are ignored.
--accept "<criteria>"	Acceptance criteria passed to the agents and the oracle.
--base ref	Git ref to branch each worktree from (default HEAD).
--apply	After the run, land the recommended candidate's diff onto a fresh branch.
--apply-candidate <id>	Land a specific candidate's diff (implies --apply).

The run streams progress events to stderr (agents starting/finishing, oracle results, synthesis, reconciliation) and prints the decision, per-candidate summary, synthesis status, and cost note to stdout. A synthesized candidate is marked with a ⚗︎ glyph.

Apply resolution mirrors the MCP frites_apply tool (see MCP tools):

• --apply-candidate <id> wins over the recommendation. If no candidate with that id exists in the run, it fails loudly and lists the available ids.

• A requested candidate that produced no diff (errored, empty, or timed out) fails rather than silently falling back.

• When applied, the diff lands on a new frites/<runId> branch; it is never auto-committed or pushed.

Legacy frites service form

frites service <install|uninstall|restart|status|logs> [--port N]

The longer service form remains supported for compatibility, but the direct commands (frites install, frites status, etc.) are the intended UX. frites service logs forwards to the same log tailer as frites logs.

See also

• Configuration: every config key and the layering rules.

• Logging: the gateway log and frites logs flags.

• MCP tools: the worktree frites_implement / frites_apply tools.