Command Reference — OpenLore Docs

OpenLore implements a bash-like command language over its virtual filesystem. Run help in a session for the command list available on that server.

Interactive SSH sessions support Tab completion for permitted command names, registered lore subcommands, and virtual filesystem paths. The first Tab extends a shared prefix; a second Tab lists matching candidates in columns. Directories retain a trailing /, hidden entries appear only after an explicit ., and candidate layout follows terminal resize events.

Filesystem

Command	Description
`ls`	List directory contents (`-l`, `-a`, `-R`, `-S`, `-t`, `-F`, `-1`, `-h`, `-d`)
`cat`	Display file contents (`-n`, `-A`)
`head`	First N lines or bytes (`-n N`, `-c N`)
`tail`	Last N lines or bytes (`-n N`, `-c N`, `+N`)
`tree`	Directory tree visualization (`-L depth`, `-a`, `-d`, `-f`)
`stat`	File metadata
`wc`	Count lines, words, bytes (`-l`, `-w`, `-c`, `-m`)
`du`	Estimate file space usage (`-a`, `-h`, `-s`, `-c`)
`diff`	Compare two files (`-u`, `-q`)
`cd` / `pwd`	Navigate the virtual filesystem

Search

Command	Description
`grep`	Search patterns (`-i`, `-n`, `-r`, `-v`, `-c`, `-l`, `-o`, `-L`, `-w`, `-x`, `-m`)
`find`	Find files (`-name`, `-type f\|d`)

Text processing

Command	Description
`sort`	Sort lines (`-r`, `-n`, `-u`, `-f`, `-k N`, `-t SEP`)
`uniq`	Filter duplicate lines (`-c`, `-d`, `-i`, `-u`)
`cut`	Select fields or characters (`-d DEL`, `-f FIELDS`, `-c CHARS`, `-s`)
`sed`	Stream editor (`-n`, `-e`, `s/pat/repl/flags`, `-i`); replacement text supports `\n` (newline), `\t` (tab), `\\` (backslash), escaped delimiters, and backslash-newline continuations
`awk`	Pattern scanning (`-F SEP`, `-v VAR=VAL`)
`tr`	Translate characters (`-d`, `-s`, `-c`)
`rev` / `tac`	Reverse characters per line / reverse line order
`nl`	Number lines (`-b`, `-n`, `-w`, `-s`)
`fold`	Wrap lines (`-w N`, `-s`)
`paste`	Merge file lines (`-d DEL`, `-s`)
`column`	Columnate lists (`-t`, `-s SEP`)
`join`	Join sorted files (`-1`, `-2`, `-t`)
`comm`	Compare sorted files (`-1`, `-2`, `-3`)
`expand` / `unexpand`	Convert tabs and spaces (`-t N`, `-a`)

Data and utilities

Command	Description
`jq`	JSON processing (`-r`, `-c`, `-e`, `-s`, `select`, `map`, `sort_by`, `add`, `length`, and more)
`xargs`	Build commands from stdin (`-I REPL`, `-d DEL`, `-n N`, `-0`)
`seq`	Print a number sequence (`-s SEP`, `-w`)
`printf`	Format and print data
`date`	Display date/time (`-u`, `+FORMAT`)
`basename` / `dirname`	Strip directory or filename components
`tee`	Pass stdin through to stdout or a writable file
`base64`	Base64 encode/decode (`-d`)
`md5sum` / `sha1sum` / `sha256sum`	Compute checksums (`-c`)
`expr`	Evaluate arithmetic expressions
`which` / `type`	Locate or identify a command
`time` / `timeout`	Time a command or run with a timeout
`whoami` / `hostname`	Print identity or host information
`true` / `false`	Exit with status 0 / 1
`sleep` / `clear`	Sleep (stub) / clear screen
`command`	Run or locate a command (`-v`)
`version`	Print the OpenLore version

Shell builtins

Command	Description
`echo`	Print text (`-n`, `-e`)
`export` / `unset`	Set or remove variables
`env` / `printenv`	Print the environment
`set`	Set or list shell variables (`--`)
`test` / `[` / `[[`	Conditional tests
`read`	Read stdin (`-p`, `-r`, `-a`, `-d`, `-n`)
`source` / `.`	Execute commands from a VFS file
`eval`	Evaluate a command string
`help`	Show available commands
`skills`	List available skill commands
`exit` / `quit`	Close the session

Writes and publishing

These commands are available only where configuration and identity grants permit them.

Command	Description
`write` / `>` / `>>`	Overwrite or append to a file
`tee`	Write stdin to a file while returning it
`patch`	Apply a unified diff atomically
`sed -i`	Edit a file atomically
`mkdir`	Create a directory (`-p` for parents)
`mv`	Move a file
`rm`	Remove a file or tree (`-r`)
`publish`	Publish stdin into a docset inbox
`approve`	Approve a pending changeset when authorized
`spawn`	Run configured external work asynchronously when explicitly trusted

Introspection

Command	Description
`lore`	Introspection dispatcher
`lore docsets`	List accessible docsets, grants, paths, and attributes
`lore meta [path]`	Emit document frontmatter as NDJSON, scoped to the current directory or path
`lore meta --filter skills [path]`	Discover Agent Skills collections without scanning unrelated docs
`lore package list` / `lore package doc <path>`	List compiled-in rule members or show a member’s parameters and example
`lore validate [dir]`	Run folder rules over a docset or folder: file rules per file, bundle rules (OKF bundle structure, local links, alias portability) once at the root
`lore size baseline <path>`	Show a file’s size-baseline history and current cap under `max: initial` rules
`lore size baseline reset <path> [--note <text>]`	Append a new baseline from the file’s current content; needs a write grant on the path and a `config.edit` role

See Folder rules for the rules model. lore validate refuses to run from a directory above docsets that declare bundle rules (run lore validate per docset); name the docset or folder instead.

Example lore size baseline output:

/docs/backend/decisions/adr-001.md  (size/lines via adr-length @ /docs/backend/.lore/config.yaml, growth 1.1)
  2026-08-30T09:12:04Z  create      agent:claude@acme.com   412 lines  12 KiB  3900 tokens (estimate/v1)
  2026-09-02T14:01:37Z  reset       adil                    812 lines  21 KiB  6400 tokens (estimate/v1)  "ADR grew after review"
current cap: 893 lines

A file with no history prints no baseline recorded. A reset prints the previous and new baseline and the resulting cap, and is also recorded in the server audit log as rules.baseline.reset:

baseline reset: previous 412, new 812, new cap 893 lines

Skills management

These commands require plugins.skills.enabled: true. Mutating commands also require a named rw grant on the destination docset.

Command	Description
`skills status [folder]`	Report collection state and linked remote skills as NDJSON
`skills enable [folder]`	Enable recursive Skills collection behavior
`skills disable [folder]`	Disable collection behavior without deleting skills
`skills validate [scope]`	Validate accessible Skills collections
`skills import <github-spec> [parent-dir]`	Import and link a public GitHub skill
`skills update [skill-folder]`	Force an imported skill to check and apply its remote
`skills remove-remote [skill-folder]`	Keep imported files but stop tracking GitHub

Run bare skills for GitHub spec syntax, automatic branch tracking, pinning, and collection recovery.

Discover installed skills with the skills metadata filter, then read the chosen SKILL.md:

lore meta --filter skills | jq -r 'select((.name + " " + .description) | test("pdf"; "i")) | .path'

Example lore docsets output:

DOCSET    GRANTS      ATTRIBUTES   PATH             TARGET
public    ro          -            /docs/public     -
backend   publish,rw  inbox        /docs/backend    -
home      rw          home         /home/backend    -
home      rw          alias        /backend         /home/backend

GRANTS contains ro, publish, rw, or plugin-defined grants. ATTRIBUTES may include home, inbox, and alias; aliases point to their canonical path in TARGET.

Shell syntax

Feature	Example
Pipes	`grep pattern file \| sort \| head -5`
AND / OR	`test -f x && echo yes \|\| echo no`
Semicolons	`echo a; echo b`
Subshells	`(echo a; echo b)`
For loops	`for x in a b c; do echo $x; done`
If/else	`if test -f x; then cat x; else echo missing; fi`
While/until	`while test $i -lt 5; do echo $i; i=$(expr $i + 1); done`
Variables	`FOO=bar; echo $FOO`
Expansion	`${VAR:-default}`, `${VAR:+alt}`, `${#VAR}`, `$(cmd)`
Quoting	Single quotes are literal; double quotes allow expansion
Globbing	Unquoted `*` and `?` patterns expand; bare relative patterns use the current directory, and absolute and `./` forms are supported. Quote patterns to pass them literally
Negation	`! false` returns 0

Intentionally unsupported

A normal session cannot invoke cp, chmod, wget, curl, bash -c, or exec. The shell is an interpreter, not a real bash process. The write surface is limited to the whole-file operations listed above; there are no streaming, partial, or offset writes.

OpenLore CLI

Usage: openlore [command] [flags] [directory]

Commands:
  version           Print version
  export -o <dir>   Export embedded docs to a directory
  mcp [dir]         Run an MCP server over stdio
  mcpb [-o file]    Package the binary as an MCPB desktop extension
  identity add      Add an identity or public key to lore.json
  identity role     Add or remove an identity's role membership
  role              Manage roles, docset grants, denies, and capabilities
  token mint        Mint an access token for an identity
  token verify      Verify an access token and print its claims

Flags:
  -p, --port           SSH server port (default 2222)
  --http-port          HTTP port (default 8080, 0 to disable)
  --mcp-path           MCP-over-HTTP path (default /mcp)
  --metrics-port       Prometheus metrics port (default 3000, 0 to disable)
  --host-key           Host key path (default .ssh/openlore_ed25519)
  --motd               Inline MOTD
  --motd-file          MOTD file
  --auth               Path to lore.json
  -c, --config         Config path (default ./openlore.yml)
  --allowed            Comma-separated allowed file patterns
  --ignore             Comma-separated ignored patterns
  --tls-cert           HTTP TLS certificate
  --tls-key            HTTP TLS key
  --ca-keys            Trusted CA public keys for SSH certificate auth
  --host-cert          CA-signed SSH host certificate
  --skills-dir         Runtime skills directory
  --readonly           Global write lock (default true; use --readonly=false to enable writes)
  --debug              Enable debug-level server logging

Run openlore --help or a subcommand with --help for its current flags.