Native hollow cli …

June 4, 2026 · View on GitHub

The native CLI subcommand talks directly to the running Hollow host's command socket. It does not need a tty, does not need shell integration sourced, and is the fastest option when a Hollow window is already running.

Running it

hollow.exe cli <command> [...]
hollow.exe cli --help

hollow.exe cli … is the same launcher as the GUI; the cli token is intercepted by src/main.zig:guiMain before the GUI is started.

Global options

Flag	Effect
`--pretty`	Pretty-print JSON output
`--quiet`	Suppress success output
`--envelope`	Print the full reply envelope, not just the payload
`--timeout N`	Seconds to wait for a reply (default 1.5)

get ... commands print JSON payloads. Mutating commands are silent on success; pass --envelope to see the full reply.

Commands

`get`

Query state. All get commands print JSON.

Command	Args
`hollow cli get pane`	`[--id ID]`
`hollow cli get pane-text`	`[--id ID]`
`hollow cli get current-pane`
`hollow cli get tab`	`[--id ID]`
`hollow cli get current-tab`
`hollow cli get tabs`
`hollow cli get panes`	`[--tag TAG]`
`hollow cli get workspace`	`[--id ID\|--index N]`
`hollow cli get current-workspace`
`hollow cli get workspaces`
`hollow cli get domain`
`hollow cli get htp <channel>`	`[params-json]`

`workspace`

Command	Args
`hollow cli workspace new`	`[--cwd PATH] [--domain NAME] [--cmd CMD] [--name NAME]`
`hollow cli workspace close`	`[--id ID\|--index N]`
`hollow cli workspace next`
`hollow cli workspace prev`
`hollow cli workspace select <index>`
`hollow cli workspace rename <name>`	`[--id ID\|--index N]`

`tab`

Command	Args
`hollow cli tab new`	`[--cmd CMD] [--domain NAME]`
`hollow cli tab close`	`[--id ID\|--index N]`
`hollow cli tab next`
`hollow cli tab prev`
`hollow cli tab select <index>`
`hollow cli tab rename <name>`	`[--id ID\|--index N]`

`pane`

Command	Args
`hollow cli pane split vertical\|horizontal`	`[--cmd CMD] [--cwd PATH] [--domain NAME] [--ratio N]`
`hollow cli pane popup <cmd>`	`[--cwd PATH] [--domain NAME] [--x N] [--y N] [--width N] [--height N]`
`hollow cli pane close`	`[--id ID\|--tag TAG]`
`hollow cli pane zoom`	`[--id ID\|--tag TAG]`
`hollow cli pane float`	`[--id ID\|--tag TAG]`
`hollow cli pane tile`	`[--id ID\|--tag TAG]`
`hollow cli pane move <left\|right\|up\|down>`	`[--id ID\|--tag TAG] [--amount N]`
`hollow cli pane resize <left\|right\|up\|down>`	`[--id ID\|--tag TAG] [--amount N]`
`hollow cli pane send-text <text>`	`[--id ID\|--tag TAG]`
`hollow cli pane set-tag <tag>`	`[--id ID\|--tag TAG]`
`hollow cli pane remove-tag <tag>`	`[--id ID\|--tag TAG]`
`hollow cli pane set-tags [tag ...]`	`[--id ID\|--tag TAG]`

`focus`, `scroll`, `config`

Command	Args
`hollow cli focus <left\|right\|up\|down>`
`hollow cli scroll <top\|bottom\|page-up\|page-down>`
`hollow cli config reload`
`hollow cli config theme <name>`

`run`, `send-keys`, `emit`

Command	Args
`hollow cli run <cmd>`	`[--domain NAME]`
`hollow cli send-keys <keys>`	`[--id ID\|--tag TAG]`
`hollow cli emit <channel>`	`[payload-json]`

send-keys decodes a kit/kb-style key sequence; for example {Up}{Enter} sends the Up arrow followed by Enter.

Targeting panes: `--id` vs `--tag`

Many pane commands accept both --id and --tag. When both are omitted, the active pane is targeted. When --tag is given, the command runs on every pane carrying that tag.

# Send text to the pane tagged "editor"
hollow.exe cli pane send-text "hello" --tag editor

# Zoom the pane tagged "build"
hollow.exe cli pane zoom --tag build

Examples

# Open a new workspace in pwsh at C:/code/backend
hollow.exe cli workspace new --cwd "C:/code/backend" --domain pwsh --name backend

# Split vertical, run npm dev in a WSL pane
hollow.exe cli pane split vertical --domain wsl --cmd "npm run dev"

# Send Ctrl-C to the active pane
hollow.exe cli send-keys "{C-c}"

# Reload the config
hollow.exe cli config reload

# Switch to theme "rose-pine"
hollow.exe cli config theme rose-pine

# Custom HTP emit
hollow.exe cli emit notify '{"text":"build done","ttl":2000}'

# Custom HTP query
hollow.exe cli get htp echo '{"value":42}'