BB CLI

Use bb for BB state and actions. Inspect context when the target project, host, workspace, or execution selection is not already established.

Start with context

bb status --json

Use JSON when command output controls later work. Use human output for quick inspection.

Run bb --version for the CLI version. Use bb --help or bb help [command] for help. Run bb guide for the system overview. Run bb guide <chapter> for one area. Use bb <group> --help for current flags and defaults, or bb guide commands <group> for every command in a group with its options on one page.

Errors and JSON

• Read the whole error before you run --help. A failed invocation prints the nearest command or option, the usage line, the valid options, and, for a missing project, thread, machine, or environment, the exact flag to add with the current ID filled in.
• With --json, a failure prints {"ok": false, "error": {"code", "message", "hint"}} on stdout and the readable message on stderr, and exits non-zero. Parse stdout only; 2>&1 mixes the message into the JSON.
• Output shapes differ by command: bb thread list --json is a bare array, bb thread show --json nests under .thread, bb terminal list --json wraps in .sessions. bb guide json lists each shape, and the help of the most-parsed commands ends with its JSON shape.
• Pass long or multi-line text from a file: bb thread tell <id> --message-file <path>, bb thread spawn --prompt-file <path>, with - for stdin. Inside double quotes the shell runs backticks and $(...) before bb sees the text, which silently corrupts Markdown and can execute commands.
• Timeouts take seconds or a duration with a unit (90s, 20m, 4h).
• Examples here use POSIX shell syntax. On a Windows machine the agent shell is usually PowerShell: read an environment variable as $env:NAME ("$env:BB_THREAD_ID"), separate commands with ; instead of &&, and continue a line with a backtick instead of a backslash.

A standalone CLI targets http://127.0.0.1:38886. Use BB_SERVER_URL and BB_HOST_DAEMON_PORT only for an intentional non-default target.

Read only the relevant reference

• Read references/command-index.md to find the exact core command path. Use live help for current flags and defaults.
• Read references/configuration.md for settings, agent instructions, skills, remote clients, and environment setup scripts.
• Read references/thread-creation.md before you spawn or fork threads, create projects, select machines, move the server, or create environments.
• Read references/thread-operation.md for messages, queues, interactions, panes, terminals, inspection, and long-running commands.
• Read references/failure-recovery.md when a thread fails, stops, or needs plan or goal recovery.
• Read references/theme-commands.md for palette and favicon commands. Read references/theming.md before you create or edit theme CSS.
• Read references/plugins.md for plugin discovery, install, build, update, configuration, runtime, and contributed commands.
• Read references/app-settings.md for complete app setting keys and effects.

Command habits

• Resolve names and IDs with a list or show command before mutation.

• Pass an explicit project when a command can act across projects.

• Pass an environment or machine selector when the default host is uncertain.

• Spawn onto a plugin-provisioned environment with bb thread spawn --environment-provider <id> (list them with bb environment providers). Read the provider's requires (projectCheckout, gitCheckout, gitRemote, projectless): these facts decide where the provider is offered. A provider whose inputs schema does not accept an empty object needs --environment-inputs <json> matching that JSON Schema; providers that accept {} use it when the flag is omitted (bb environment providers --json prints both facts). --base-branch belongs to --new-environment worktree only.

• Enroll an existing machine with bb machine create --provider manual; run the printed command on the target. --no-wait returns its host ID. Cancel with bb machine remove <host-id>. Removal revokes access; use the original install-machine.sh --uninstall --host-id <host-id> on that box.

• Create a standalone machine with bb machine create --provider <id>; use --inputs <JSON> for non-secret provider inputs and --key for retry identity.

• List plugin-provisioned machine choices with bb machine providers. Create a machine and an explicit environment with bb thread spawn --new-machine <provider-id> --environment-provider <id>; add --machine-inputs <json> when its schema requires inputs. Machine inputs are persisted and non-secret; credentials belong in plugin settings. Composed environments choose their own machine: use --environment-provider modal-sandbox without machine selectors and pass --machine-inputs <json> when configuring the composition's machine provider.

• Use bb machine enroll for a private core-prepared bundle. Local lifecycle is handled by install-machine.sh --start|--stop|--uninstall --host-id <id>; see references/thread-creation.md for ownership checks.

• Moving the bb server to another machine is experimental (the serverMove experiment). Never move a server, abandon a move, or unlock an old copy without the user's explicit confirmation in this conversation: run bb server move --to <machine> --check, show them the checklist, and run the same command without --check only after they confirm. A move stops all running work. bb server export --out <file> backs up a running server. bb server import, unlock, allow-connect, and delete-old-copy act on this computer's data directory without calling a server. An imported server keeps its connect tunnel and bb account off until bb server allow-connect. On the computer a server moved away from, bb server install-machine-service installs the persistent, self-updating machine service (macOS and Linux only; needs Node.js 22.19+ on the PATH).

• Use bb machine suspend|resume <id-or-name> only for providers that expose suspend and resume. Resume waits for pending suspension and is a no-op when already active. Use bb machine retry-cleanup <id-or-name> to retry a failed provider teardown immediately.

• Use bb machine reconnect <id-or-name> when a disconnected machine's server access or host key is rejected but its BB host ID must remain. Run the printed short-lived command on that machine as is; it reuses the machine's recorded data directory, refreshes access, and re-enrolls under the same host ID. Connected machines are refused, and --json returns without waiting.

• bb environment providers lists Project checkout, Worktree, then other installed providers by display name. With --project <id> --machine <id> it also prints that machine's availability (available, setup-required, unavailable, or unknown until the background probe answers). Read or set managedBranchPrefix through bb settings show and bb settings general <key> <value>.

• The server keeps a registry of sidebar layout preferences (organization mode, section order, collapsed rows, navigation entries): bb settings ui list, get, set, and reset.

• Query provider models on the machine that will run the thread.

• Prefer non-interactive commands and machine-readable output for automation.

• Pass --yes for a confirmed destructive command in a non-interactive shell.

• Treat plugin commands as normal top-level commands after installation.

• Inspect real status, logs, API results, or diffs instead of assumptions.

• For launcher startup errors and console output, read logs/server-stdio.log or logs/host-daemon-stdio.log under the selected bb data directory. These append across restarts; bb-app, bb-server, and bb-host-daemon capture service output there instead of forwarding it to their terminal.

• Keep file paths on the machine that owns the selected workspace.

Common checks

bb project list --json
bb machine list --json
bb environment providers --json
bb provider list --environment "$BB_ENVIRONMENT_ID" --json
bb thread show "$BB_THREAD_ID" --json
bb thread context --self --json
bb environment status "$BB_ENVIRONMENT_ID" --json
bb plugin list --json
bb skill list --environment "$BB_ENVIRONMENT_ID" --json

Completion

Confirm the command result and any affected thread, environment, plugin, or remote service. Report the stable ID or URL that the user needs next.

bb environment show <id> reports core-owned lifecycle, retirement deadline and teardown attempts. Archive/delete of the last live thread starts the provider grace; unarchive cancels pending retirement. Once the grace passes and the workspace is destroyed, sends to the thread fail until bb thread restore-environment <id> asks the environment provider to restore it and reattaches it to an unarchived thread, without starting a turn; providers decide what restoring means (a worktree returns on the branch it held), some cannot restore, and uncommitted changes in the removed workspace are gone. Teardown errors remain visible and retry automatically. bb environment delete <id> requests cleanup immediately, including under a never-retire policy; destroyed is recorded after cleanup completes. Removal waits for live or stopping runtimes. Project source deletion remains available during project deletion, including removal of the last source, so providers can finish cleanup.

Plugin configuration

Use bb plugin config <id> to inspect the plugin’s configuration and bb plugin config <id> set <key> <value> to change it. Read the plugin’s own skill for its commands, configuration meanings, and operating constraints. Discover contributed command paths through bb plugin list, the generated plugin-commands skill, or bb plugin run <id> --help.

Keep this skill and its references focused on core BB commands. Plugin-specific behavior belongs in the owning plugin’s skills/ directory, including built-in plugins; do not add plugin command manuals here.

Native mobile builds

For Android mobile builds and distribution, see apps/mobile/README.md. When a thread is asked for a development APK, run pnpm mobile:apk:dev from the source checkout root, wait for success, and link apps/mobile/build-output/bb-dev.apk. Copy it into $BB_THREAD_STORAGE for a durable per-thread artifact. The app is named bb dev, has orange icons, and installs separately as app.getbb.mobile.dev. Append -- x86_64 for an Intel emulator; the default is ARM64. It runs without Metro or production credentials. The command sets BB_MOBILE_VARIANT=dev; direct Expo commands default to production and reject other variant values. GOOGLE_SERVICES_JSON points to the optional Firebase Android config file; local builds fall back to apps/mobile/google-services.json. EAS uses a file environment variable. See bb guide customization for push controls.

Built-in browser control

Use bb browser instances --host <host-id> --json to discover a desktop. Commands tabs, create, acquire, connection, release, reveal, capture, close, and watch require explicit --host, --instance, --generation, and --thread. See bb guide browser and bb browser --help for flags. All tabs, including agent-created ones, share the BB browser profile and its signed-in cookies. Revealing tabs or acquiring control opens the side panel and selects the tab only in the already focused thread, without switching threads or activating the desktop window. Connection credentials are written with connection --output <new-file> and work only on the browser host; keep them out of chat and public port shares. import-sources and import-cookies --from <source> --profile <dir> combine known-browser entries (including Helium and Dia) with schema-detected Chromium/Firefox profiles matched to registered web browsers and copy a selected profile into BB; use the returned source ID, including opaque storage-… IDs, rather than assuming a fixed browser list; they need --host, --instance, and --generation only, and the source browser must be quit first.

bb machine show <id-or-name> --json includes provider-owned inventory and estimates in providerDetails when available. Provider inventory failures are reported; this is not billing/invoice data. Suspension requires idle live threads and no open terminals; empty machines can use an opted-in provider idle policy.

bb thread context reads recorded context usage without sending a model request. A breakdown is optional; absent usage is returned as null. When the provider reports the session's cumulative cost, usage.cost is { amount, currency }.

bb thread commands [id] [--self] [--json] lists the slash commands the thread's agent has advertised for its current session (ACP agents report these live; the list is empty until the agent sends one). bb thread options [id] [--self] [--json] lists the session options the agent reports, such as a mode, with each option's current value and allowed values. --set <option=value> (repeatable) chooses a value that is applied on the thread's next turn; --clear <option> drops a choice that has not been applied yet. Use true or false for an on/off option. To choose before the first message, pass --option <option=value> to bb thread spawn; bb provider models <provider> lists the options a provider's models declare.

bb machine reconcile <id-or-name> [--json] asks core to enforce its recorded suspended state through the provider and waits for completion. It leaves active machines and in-progress lifecycle operations alone. Use machine suspend to request a new pause. Core does not schedule reconciliation polling.

Provider management lives in Settings → Providers. Use bb provider list --all for the global catalog, bb provider disable ID to hide one provider and prevent new turns, and bb provider enable ID to restore it (enabling its plugin if needed). These preserve the CLI and thread history. Individual opt-outs survive plugin off/on. Install provider plugins in Settings → Plugins; configure custom ACP agents in the ACP providers plugin settings.