st admin

st-admin — Manage settings, API keys, and templates

Settings manager for Cross: API keys, default AI provider, Discourse connection, prompt templates, TTS voice, and editor.

Related: st-new · AI Providers · TTS Audio · FAQ

Quick reference

st-admin                        # interactive menu
st-admin --setup                # first-time wizard
st-admin --show                 # print current config
st-admin --version              # print installed version
st-admin --get-default-ai       # print current default agent
st-admin --set-default-ai NAME  # switch default agent (e.g. gemini, anthropic-opus)
st-admin --list-aliases         # table of every agent → provider · model
st-admin --add-alias NAME=PROVIDER:MODEL    # e.g. anthropic-opus=anthropic:claude-opus-4-5
st-admin --add-alias NAME=PROVIDER          # uses provider's recommended model
st-admin --remove-alias NAME    # remove a custom agent
st-admin --set-tts-voice VOICE  # set TTS voice string (written to TTS_VOICE)
st-admin --set-template NAME    # set default prompt template name
st-admin --set-editor NAME      # set editor (written to EDITOR)
st-admin --init-templates       # seed ~/.cross_templates/ with bundled .prompt files
st-admin --overwrite-templates  # replace existing template files when seeding
st-admin --upgrade              # upgrade cross-st + platform tools
st-admin --cache-info           # cache path, file count, size
st-admin --cache-clear          # delete all cached AI responses
st-admin --cache-cull DAYS      # delete cache entries older than N days
st-admin --discourse            # view / change Discourse posting category
st-admin --discourse-setup      # one-time Discourse account provisioning
st-admin --check-tos            # check T&C version; prompt re-acceptance if stale

Use cases

First-time setup

install  ──▶  st-admin --setup  ──▶  ~/.crossenv written  ──▶  ready

pipx install cross-st
st-admin --setup

The wizard checks your environment, collects API keys for the providers you want, sets DEFAULT_AGENT, configures your editor and optional TTS voice, and offers to join the crossai.dev community. Everything is saved to ~/.crossenv.

Once setup is complete, run any command. A good first test:

st-new my_first_topic        # create a prompt file
st-gen my_first_topic.json   # generate a story
st-ls  my_first_topic.json   # list what's in the container

Adding Discourse after running --setup

If you skipped the community step during setup, run the onboarding independently:

st-admin --discourse-setup
  │
  ├─▶  accept Terms of Service
  ├─▶  open crossai.dev/signup in browser
  ├─▶  enter your Discourse username
  └─▶  provision account  ──▶  API key + private category written to ~/.crossenv

st-admin --discourse-setup

At the end, five keys are written to ~/.crossenv and st-post is ready to use.

Changing the default Discourse posting category

st-admin --discourse
  │
  ├─▶  shows current config (site, username, active category)
  │
  └─▶  Change category?
         1. alice-private  (your private category)
         2. Test (cleared daily)  — cleared nightly, safe for testing
         3. Enter a category ID manually
         q. keep current and exit

st-admin --discourse

Use option 2 (Test category) when you want to verify that st-post works end-to-end without putting posts in your private category. Posts there are deleted automatically at 00:05 UTC every night.

Tip: If st-post fails immediately after --discourse-setup, run st-admin --discourse once. It auto-migrates the flat DISCOURSE_* keys to the DISCOURSE JSON that st-post reads.

Changing your default AI provider

st-admin --set-default-ai gemini     # fastest path

Or use the interactive menu:

st-admin           # choose "Default AI" from the menu

The change is written as DEFAULT_AGENT=gemini to ~/.crossenv and takes effect immediately. You can also edit ~/.crossenv directly.

Per-call overrides are always available with --agent:

st-gen --agent anthropic my_topic.json   # one-off, doesn't change your default

AI providers, models and aliases — what each word means

Three terms come up everywhere in st-admin's AI menu. They are easy to mix up because they overlap by default:

Term	What it is	Example
Provider	The AI company hosting the model.	`anthropic`, `openai`, `xai`, `gemini`, `perplexity`
Model	A specific LLM that provider sells. New ones ship every few months; older ones are eventually retired.	`claude-opus-4-5`, `gpt-4o`, `grok-4-1-fast-reasoning`
Alias	A short nickname you type in `--agent` or that `st` cycles through. Each alias is a fixed `(provider, model)` pair.	`anthropic`, `anthropic-opus`, `gemini-fast`

You always get one alias per provider for free — its name is the provider's name (e.g. anthropic) and it points at that provider's recommended model. These are tagged default in the alias table. You don't have to do anything to use them — they appear the moment you have an API key set up.

You can add custom aliases when you want to pin a specific model, switch providers without changing your scripts, or run two models from the same provider side by side (e.g. anthropic-opus vs anthropic-haiku). Custom aliases are tagged custom in the table and live in ~/.cross_ai_models.json (one JSON file you can also edit by hand).

Looking at what you have

st-admin             # then press 'a' (AI)  →  'M' (View aliases)

  Alias           Provider    Model                                          Type     Env override
  ──────────────  ──────────  ─────────────────────────────────────────────  ───────  ────────────
  xai             xai         grok-4-1-fast-reasoning  (provider default)    default  —
  anthropic       anthropic   claude-opus-4-5  (provider default)            default  —
  openai          openai      gpt-4o  (provider default)                     default  —
  anthropic-opus  anthropic   claude-opus-4-5                                custom   —
  gemini-fast     gemini      gemini-2.5-flash                               custom   —

  Legend:
    Provider  = the AI company (anthropic, openai, xai, gemini, perplexity)
    Model     = a specific LLM that provider hosts (e.g. claude-opus-4-5)
    Alias     = the short name you pass to --agent or that st cycles through;
                each alias is a (provider, model) pair.
    Type      = 'default' means an alias you got for free (one per provider,
                same name as the provider, uses the provider's recommended
                model);  'custom' means an alias you added yourself.

  File: /Users/you/.cross_ai_models.json

Switching the default

st-admin             # then 'a' (AI)  →  'd' (View / set default)

  Current default AI: [openai]  →  openai · gpt-4o  (provider default)

  Available aliases (default = recommended model):
    xai             →  xai         grok-4-1-fast-reasoning  (provider default)
    anthropic       →  anthropic   claude-opus-4-5  (provider default)
    openai          →  openai      gpt-4o  (provider default) ←
    perplexity      →  perplexity  sonar-pro  (provider default)
    gemini          →  gemini      gemini-2.5-flash  (provider default)
    anthropic-opus  →  anthropic   claude-opus-4-5

  Type alias name to switch (blank = keep current):

The arrow ← marks the current default. Type any alias name to switch — the choice is written to DEFAULT_AGENT in ~/.crossenv and takes effect on the next command.

Adding a custom alias

The new-alias wizard does live model discovery against the provider's API, so you always pick from the models your key can actually reach.

st-admin             # then 'a' (AI)  →  'm' (Manage aliases)  →  'a' (Add)

  Add a new AI alias.
  Alias name (e.g. anthropic-opus, blank to cancel): anthropic-haiku
    1. anthropic
    2. openai
    3. xai
    4. gemini
    5. perplexity
  Provider (number, or blank to cancel): 1

  Available models for anthropic:
     1. ★ claude-opus-4-5
     2. ★ claude-sonnet-4-5
     3. ★ claude-3-7-sonnet-latest
     4. ★ claude-3-5-haiku-latest
     5.   claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022
     ... 8 more ...
     0.   <use the provider's recommended default (model = null)>
    Or type any model id directly.
  Choice (blank to cancel): 4

  Confirm: alias 'anthropic-haiku' → anthropic · claude-3-5-haiku-latest
  Save? [Y/n]: y
  ✓  Written to /Users/you/.cross_ai_models.json

★ marks the provider's recommended models (curated quarterly in cross-ai-core). You can also type any model id directly — useful for preview or undocumented model names.

Equivalent non-interactive form:

st-admin --add-alias anthropic-haiku=anthropic:claude-3-5-haiku-latest
st-admin --add-alias anthropic-default=anthropic         # use provider default
st-admin --remove-alias anthropic-haiku
st-admin --list-aliases

Refreshing the model list

Provider model lists are cached for 7 days at ~/.cross_models_cache/. When a new flagship lands and you don't want to wait for the cache to expire:

st-admin             # then 'a' → 'm' → 'R' (Refresh)

This calls every provider's list-models endpoint and rewrites the cache:

  Refreshing model lists from each provider (this may take a few seconds)…
    ✓  xai          15 models (3 recommended)
    ✓  anthropic    13 models (4 recommended)
    ✓  openai       73 models (3 recommended)
    ✓  perplexity    3 models (3 recommended)
    ✓  gemini       38 models (4 recommended)

  Cache: /Users/you/.cross_models_cache/ (7-day TTL)

Per-shell model overrides (advanced)

Two environment variables let you override what a given alias resolves to without editing the JSON file or ~/.crossenv — useful for one-off tests in a single shell:

Variable	Effect
`<ALIAS_UPPER>_MODEL` (e.g. `ANTHROPIC_OPUS_MODEL=claude-opus-future`)	Overrides this one alias only.
`<PROVIDER_UPPER>_MODEL` (e.g. `ANTHROPIC_MODEL=claude-3-5-haiku-latest`)	Overrides every alias that points at this provider unless the alias has its own var.

When either is active, the View-aliases table shows the variable name in the Env override column instead of —.

Understanding the cache — what is it and why do I want it?

st-gen my_topic.json
  │
  ├─ cache miss ──▶  call AI API  ──▶  save to ~/.cross_api_cache/  ──▶  return result
  └─ cache hit  ──▶  return saved result  (instant, free)

Cross saves every AI response to ~/.cross_api_cache/ keyed on the exact prompt + model. A repeated call with the same inputs returns the saved response instantly — no API call, no cost, no wait.

This matters most during iteration: re-running st-fix, adjusting st-prep options, or re-checking scores all hit the cache and cost nothing.

st-admin --cache-info          # see how much space the cache uses
st-admin --cache-cull 30       # remove entries older than 30 days
st-admin --cache-clear         # wipe the whole cache (safe — data is in .json files)

st-gen --no-cache my_topic.json   # force a fresh call for one run

To disable caching globally: add CROSS_NO_CACHE=1 to ~/.crossenv.

Is --upgrade safe? Will I lose my data?

Yes — your data is never touched.

st-admin --upgrade
  │
  ├─▶  upgrades cross-st package (pip or pipx)
  ├─▶  upgrades cross-ai-core
  ├─▶  on macOS: brew upgrade for platform tools
  └─▶  prints version before → after

What --upgrade never touches:

Location	Contains
`~/.crossenv`	API keys, DEFAULT_AGENT, all preferences
`~/.cross_api_cache/`	Cached AI responses
`~/.cross_templates/`	Prompt templates
`~/cross-stones/`	Benchmark domain prompts
Your `.json` story files	Everything you've generated

If you're on an editable (developer) install, the PyPI step is skipped and you're told to git pull instead.

Community onboarding

st-admin --setup will offer to join the crossai.dev community at the end of the wizard. You can also run it independently at any time:

st-admin --discourse-setup

This walks you through:

Displaying and accepting the crossai.dev Terms of Service
Opening crossai.dev/signup (or printing the URL) to create your account
Collecting your Discourse username
Provisioning your account (generates a per-user API key and private category)

The following keys are written to ~/.crossenv on success:

Key	Description
`DISCOURSE_URL`	`https://crossai.dev`
`DISCOURSE_USERNAME`	Your Discourse username
`DISCOURSE_API_KEY`	Your per-user API key (for `st-post`)
`DISCOURSE_CATEGORY_ID`	Your private category ID
`DISCOURSE_PRIVATE_CATEGORY_SLUG`	Your private category slug

To use a different provisioning server (dev/test):

DISCOURSE_PROVISION_URL=http://localhost:5000/api/provision-user st-admin --discourse-setup

Discourse site manager

After completing --discourse-setup, use --discourse at any time to view your current Discourse configuration and switch the default posting category used by st-post:

st-admin --discourse

You can also change the default site and default posting category directly from the interactive st-admin menu — press D to select a site or c to select a category without running the full --discourse manager:

st-admin          # then press D or c

Interactive display (`--discourse`)

  Discourse Site Management
  ────────────────────────────────────────
  Site                          https://crossai.dev
  Username                      alice
  Default posting category      alice-private  [id=42]
  Private category              alice-private  [id=42]

  Change default posting category?
    1.  alice-private  (your private category)
    2.  Test (cleared daily)  — cleared nightly, safe for testing
    3.  📄 Reports  (id=16)  — public portfolio at crossai.dev/u/alice/activity/topics
    ESC.  Keep current and exit

  Choice [esc]: _

Selecting an option immediately updates category_id inside the DISCOURSE JSON in ~/.crossenv. The change takes effect for the next st-post call — no restart required.

Quick-select from the interactive menu

From st-admin (no flags), two new keys are available:

Key Action

D Select default Discourse site (when you have multiple sites configured) c Select default posting category: private, Test (cleared daily), or 📄 Reports

=== st-admin Settings ===
  D: Select default Discourse site
  c: Select default Discourse posting category  (private | test-cleared-daily)
  ...

D writes the chosen slug to DISCOURSE_SITE in ~/.crossenv. c writes the chosen category_id into the active site's DISCOURSE JSON — same effect as using --discourse, but faster for day-to-day category switching.

Test (cleared daily) category

Option 2 targets the shared Test (cleared daily) sandbox on crossai.dev (category id=6):

Public read — anyone can view posts without logging in
Login required to post — you must have a registered account
Cleared nightly — all posts are automatically deleted at 00:05 UTC by a server cron job
The category name includes (cleared daily) so the behaviour is self-documenting

Use this category when you want to verify that st-post is working end-to-end without cluttering your private category.

First-run migration

If you completed --discourse-setup but st-post is still failing, run --discourse once. On first run, if the flat DISCOURSE_* keys exist in ~/.crossenv but the DISCOURSE JSON array (required by st-post) is absent, it is built and written automatically:

  ✓  Discourse configuration initialised from onboarding keys.

This closes the gap between provisioning and posting without requiring you to re-run setup.

Flag / key comparison

Flag / Key	Purpose	When to use
`--discourse-setup`	One-time account provisioning (T&C, API key, private category)	Once per user
`--discourse`	Show full config; switch default posting category (incl. custom ID)	Any time
`D` (interactive menu)	Select default Discourse site	When you have multiple sites
`c` (interactive menu)	Quick-switch posting category: private or test-cleared-daily	Day-to-day use

For developers

Reads and writes ~/.crossenv (global) and .env (repo-local). Model overrides are stored in .ai_models, one provider=model per line. --init-templates seeds ~/.cross_templates/ from the bundled template/ directory.

st admin

st-admin — Manage settings, API keys, and templates

Quick reference

Use cases

First-time setup

Adding Discourse after running --setup

Changing the default Discourse posting category

Changing your default AI provider

AI providers, models and aliases — what each word means

Looking at what you have

Switching the default

Adding a custom alias

Refreshing the model list

Per-shell model overrides (advanced)

Understanding the cache — what is it and why do I want it?

Is --upgrade safe? Will I lose my data?

Community onboarding

Discourse site manager

Interactive display (--discourse)

Quick-select from the interactive menu

Key Action

Test (cleared daily) category

First-run migration

Flag / key comparison

For developers

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Clone this wiki locally

Interactive display (`--discourse`)