CLI reference

July 9, 2026 · View on GitHub

Install: npx @cobusgreyling/outerloop@latest or npm install -g @cobusgreyling/outerloop.

Global flag: --project-root <path> (default: current directory) on most commands.

init

Scaffold .outerloop/, harness, policy, taste, and optional integrations.

outerloop init [--name <name>] [--boundary strict|moderate|permissive]
               [--with-cursor] [--with-claude-code] [--with-loop-engineering]
               [--no-coordination]

evidence

Command	Description
`evidence package`	Build and save an EvidencePackage from a run
`evidence list`	List indexed evidence packages

package options:

--run-id <id> — Run identifier (default: latest)
--from <source> — loop-engineering, cursor, claude-code, custom-harness, manual
--test-output <file> — Test log for risk scoring
--output <file> — Write JSON to file instead of saving to .outerloop/
--json — Print JSON to stdout

verdict

Command	Description
`verdict review <evidence-id>`	Interactive TUI review
`verdict issue`	Non-interactive verdict

issue options: --evidence-id, --decision (ship|block|narrow|redirect|reject), --rationale, --owner, --commit.

ledger

Command	Description
`ledger why <id-or-sha>`	Reconstruct answerability chain
`ledger query`	Filter by owner, decision, date

taste

Command	Description
`taste capture`	Extract rules from critique notes
`taste apply`	Activate a profile
`taste list`	List profiles
`taste match`	Test rules against evidence

policy

Command	Description
`policy init`	Write default `backpressure.yaml`
`policy set --file <path>`	Activate policy
`policy show`	Display active policy
`policy evaluate <evidence-id>`	Check backpressure rules

integrate

outerloop integrate <loop-engineering|cursor|claude-code|github>
outerloop cursor setup

dashboard

outerloop dashboard              # text snapshot
outerloop dashboard tui          # Ink TUI
outerloop dashboard serve        # web UI + /api/snapshot

coordination

outerloop coordination init
outerloop coordination list
outerloop coordination register --pattern <name> --owner <user>
outerloop coordination status --pattern <name> --status <state>
outerloop coordination check --pattern <name> --target <id>

Other

Command	Description
`harness init` / `show` / `validate`	Boundary spec
`cognitive check`	Cognitive debt estimate
`attention route`	Pending verdict routing
`brownfield scan`	Legacy codebase introspection
`audit`	Governance health score

Environment

Variable	Purpose
`OUTERLOOP_CLI`	Override CLI binary in integration hooks
`OUTERLOOP_RUN_ID`	Run ID for post-run hooks