user cli

CLI reference

This reference assumes steiner is installed. See Installation for release binaries.

Modes

Interactive mode launches the TUI:

steiner

Single-shot mode runs one request and exits:

steiner --exec "explain the auth package"

Select a raw provider/model reference for a one-shot request:

steiner --model ollama/qwen2.5-coder:14b --exec "explain the auth package"

The same selection can be set for the active orchestrator with STEINER_MODEL:

STEINER_MODEL=ollama/qwen2.5-coder:14b steiner --exec "explain the auth package"

Commands

Command	What it does
version	Print build version; --short prints script-friendly output
config	Print resolved configuration
login codex	Authenticate with OpenAI Codex via OAuth
login codex status	Show current Codex authentication status
model inspect <alias>	Show resolved configuration for a model alias
models refresh	Refresh model discovery caches
models status	Show model discovery cache status
cache refresh	Refresh model metadata and provider model caches
oneshot [task]	Run an autonomous oneshot task; --list, --resume <id>
update / upgrade	Self-update to the latest release
tools	List configured tools and approval status
skills	List discovered skills
worktrees --list	List delegation worktrees
worktrees --prune <id>	Remove one delegation worktree
worktrees --prune-all	Remove all delegation worktrees
--help	Print all flags and usage

Version output

steiner --version and steiner version print build metadata. Use steiner version --short to print only the raw version string for scripts and CI.

Global flags

Common flags; steiner --help lists all of them.

Flag	What it does
--config <path>	Use a specific project config file
--model <ref>	Override the active orchestrator model
--profile <name>	Select a model profile
--exec	Run a single request and exit
--unsafe	Disable sandboxing (bubblewrap) for tool execution
--trust-project-config	Trust this project's config for this run without prompting
--verbose	Enable verbose logging
--log-file <path>	Write full session logs to a file
--dev	Select the dev channel for steiner update

Interactive commands

Type / to open the command and skill list, and press Ctrl+F1 to toggle the help overlay with keybindings.

Use /compact or /compact <focus text> to compact the conversation. Use /model to change the active orchestrator model. For example, enter /model ollama/qwen2.5-coder:14b to select a raw reference. Use /profile <name> to select a profile for future role assignments. Use /mode [plan|build] to switch execution mode. See Execution modes.

A configured alias is an optional alternate for a model with persistent customization, such as --model careful when careful is defined under models.definitions with reasoning or retry settings. Raw references are the normal path when no such customization is needed.

For the full configuration and flag reference, see Configuration. For provider setup, see Provider and model setup.