prowl-cli

name

prowl-cli

description

Use the Prowl CLI (`prowl`) to inspect or control a running Prowl GUI app and the agent sessions it hosts. Prowl runs several coding agents in parallel, each in its own pane/tab/worktree, so reach for this whenever the user wants to act on a pane other than the current one — check on, coordinate, read from, focus, send text or keys to, open, or close another pane, tab, worktree, split, window, or sibling/neighboring agent. Covers colloquial framings that never say "prowl": "check what the agent in my other window is doing", "are any of my agents running side by side still working or idle?", "tell the agent in my left split to rerun the tests", "send npm run build to the build tab and grab the output", "open ~/proj in a fresh tab", "close that scratch tab I left open". Not for ordinary editing or building inside the Prowl source repo, and not for how-to questions about Prowl's settings, preferences, or keybindings — only when the task is to actually drive panes in the live Prowl app.

Prowl CLI

Use prowl only when the task is to inspect or control the running Prowl GUI app: read panes, check sibling agents, focus a pane, open a repo/path in Prowl, send text, or send keys. Do not use it merely because the current shell is inside the Prowl repo.

Safe Default Workflow

For automation, always resolve a concrete pane UUID before read, send, key, focus, or destructive close commands. Text list and agents output also exposes current-process pN / tN handles for concise same-session handoffs; use them only with explicit --pane / --tab flags.

prowl list --json

Pick the target by pane.id, tab.id, worktree.id, worktree.path, pane.cwd, and pane.focused. Do not trust tab titles: they are free-form and can lag or lie.

When you specifically need active agent status, prefer the agent roster:

prowl agents --json

prowl agents lists detected agent panes only. It is the right starting point for "which agents are blocked/working/done?", while prowl list remains the all-pane inventory, including ordinary shells.

If your session was launched from a Prowl pane, the focused pane is often you. Treat focused pane IDs as something to identify and avoid unless you intentionally want to operate on yourself.

self_pane="$(prowl list --json | jq -r '.data.items[] | select(.pane.focused == true) | .pane.id')"

Use explicit --pane:

prowl read --pane "$pane" --last 80 --wait-stable --json
prowl send --pane "$pane" 'printf "PWD:%s\n" "$PWD"' --capture --timeout 30 --json
prowl focus --pane "$pane" --json
prowl key --pane "$pane" enter --json

Common Recipes

Create a fresh tab for a listed worktree, then verify it is not yourself:

project="/path/to/project"
worktree="$(prowl list --json | jq -r --arg project "$project" '
  .data.items[]
  | select((.worktree.path | rtrimstr("/")) == ($project | rtrimstr("/")))
  | .worktree.id
' | head -n 1)"
pane="$(prowl tab create --worktree "$worktree" --json | jq -r '.data.target.pane.id')"
test "$pane" != "$self_pane"

Prefer a worktree.id or worktree.name returned by prowl list over a hand-typed path; list preserves normalization such as trailing slashes. Use --path only for the new tab's working directory inside the selected worktree.

prowl open /path opens or focuses a matching project/path and may create a tab when needed. It is not guaranteed to create a new pane. Use prowl tab create for deterministic new terminal sessions.

Run a command and capture its result:

prowl send --pane "$pane" 'git status --short' --capture --timeout 30 --json

Deliver input without waiting:

prowl send --pane "$pane" 'long-running command' --no-wait --json

Pre-fill text, then submit it later:

prowl send --pane "$pane" 'echo ready' --no-enter --no-wait --json
prowl key --pane "$pane" enter --json

Use this pattern only for a pane you have positively identified. If $pane is your own pane, key enter submits text into your current session.

Send multiline input from stdin:

printf '%s\n' 'echo first' 'echo second' | prowl send --pane "$pane" --capture --timeout 30 --json

Close a temporary tab/pane when done:

prowl pane close --pane "$pane" --json
prowl tab close --tab "$tab" --json

tab close and pane close require an explicit --tab, --pane, --worktree, or --target; they intentionally do not default to the currently focused pane. For automation-created tabs, prefer the tab.id or pane.id returned by tab create. If the target has protected agent work or a long-running command, Prowl may ask for GUI confirmation. Use --force only after you have positively identified the target:

prowl pane close --pane "$pane" --force --json

Parsing JSON Output

Do not guess field names. Every --json response is { "ok", "command", "schema_version", "data": {...} }, and the terminal text lives at .data.text — not .content, .output, or .stdout. Always parse with jq against the fields below; the authoritative, per-command field reference lives in docs/components/cli.md.

When JSON is stored in a shell variable, use printf '%s\n' "$json" | jq .... Do not use echo "$json" | jq: zsh can interpret JSON escape sequences such as \u001B and turn them back into raw control characters.

# read: rendered terminal text is .data.text
prowl read --pane "$pane" --last 80 --wait-stable --json | jq -r '.data.text'

# send --capture: captured output is .data.capture.text; exit code is .data.wait.exit_code
out="$(prowl send --pane "$pane" 'git status --short' --capture --timeout 30 --json)"
printf '%s\n' "$out" | jq -r '.data.capture.text'
printf '%s\n' "$out" | jq -r '.data.wait.exit_code'

# tab create / open: new pane and tab ids
created="$(prowl tab create --worktree "$worktree" --json)"
printf '%s\n' "$created" | jq -r '.data.target.pane.id'
printf '%s\n' "$created" | jq -r '.data.target.tab.id'

# list / agents: ids and status
prowl list --json   | jq -r '.data.items[].pane.id'
prowl list --json   | jq -r '.data.items[] | select(.pane.focused) | .pane.id'
prowl agents --json | jq -r '.data.agents[] | "\(.status)\t\(.pane.id)"'

# guard before trusting data: bail if ok is not true
prowl list --json | jq -e '.ok == true' >/dev/null || echo "command failed"

Key fields by command (see docs/components/cli.md for the full contract):

• read → .data.text, .data.line_count, .data.truncated, .data.mode (snapshot|last), .data.source (screen|scrollback|mixed), plus .data.stabilized / .data.waited_ms / .data.samples when --wait-stable.
• send → .data.input (source/characters/bytes/trailing_enter_sent); .data.wait.exit_code and .data.wait.duration_ms when waiting; .data.capture.text / .data.capture.line_count / .data.capture.truncated when --capture.
• list / agents → .data.items[] / .data.agents[], each with .pane.id, .tab.id, .worktree.{id,name,path}, .task.status.
• tab create / open → .data.target.{pane,tab,worktree}.

Reading Agent Output

task.status is useful for coordination but is not enough to prove the screen finished rendering. idle can arrive before a TUI has painted its final response.

Prefer read --wait-stable for screen snapshots:

prowl read --pane "$pane" --last 200 --wait-stable --json

Most of the time --wait-stable alone is enough — it blocks until the screen stops changing. Only poll task.status first when you specifically need to wait for an agent to go from working back to idle (status flips before the TUI finishes painting, so still finish with --wait-stable). When polling in zsh, do not name the variable status — it is readonly there:

for i in 1 2 3 4 5 6; do
  task_state="$(prowl list --json | jq -r --arg p "$pane" '.data.items[] | select(.pane.id == $p) | .task.status')"
  [ "$task_state" = idle ] && break
  sleep 1
done
prowl read --pane "$pane" --last 200 --wait-stable --json

When you need complete output from an agent, prefer writing or redirecting to a file over reading rendered TUI output. Screen capture can be truncated or miss folded content.

For non-interactive agent CLIs, redirect stdout from the shell instead of asking the agent's tool layer to write outside its sandbox:

prowl send --pane "$pane" \
  'opencode run "Reply exactly: PROWL_OK" > /tmp/prowl-agent-out.txt' \
  --capture --timeout 120 --json
cat /tmp/prowl-agent-out.txt

Asking opencode or another agent to create /tmp/... itself may trigger permission prompts and fail. Shell redirection is usually simpler and more deterministic.

Targeting Shortcuts

Find by worktree path:

prowl list --json | jq -r '
  .data.items[]
  | select(.worktree.path | rtrimstr("/") | endswith("/Prowl"))
  | .pane.id
'

Find focused pane, usually to exclude it:

prowl list --json | jq -r '.data.items[] | select(.pane.focused == true) | .pane.id'

Human scan:

prowl list --no-color

Find active agents, prioritizing prompts that need attention:

prowl agents --no-color

Get the first blocked agent pane and inspect it:

pane="$(prowl agents --json | jq -r '
  .data.agents[]
  | select(.status == "blocked")
  | .pane.id
' | head -n 1)"
prowl read --pane "$pane" --last 120 --wait-stable --json

When no agent is blocked, use the same pattern with working, done, or idle depending on the task. The JSON payload also includes .project.name, .project.branch, .worktree.path, .tab.title, and .pane.focused, so automation can filter by human project label while still targeting the concrete pane.

-t/--target can auto-resolve pane UUID, tab UUID, or worktree id/name/path, but not short handles. Explicit --pane <uuid> is safer for automation; explicit --pane <pN> is useful for a same-session human or agent handoff.

Argument Rules

send and key positional arguments are count-sensitive:

command	0 args	1 arg	2 args
send	text from stdin	text to focused pane	<target> <text>
key	error	token to focused pane	<target> <token>

Avoid positional targeting in automation. The focused pane changes after open and focus.

Important combinations:

• send --capture waits for completion and sends a trailing Enter. It cannot combine with --no-wait or --no-enter.
• send --no-enter only pre-fills text. Use key enter to submit later.
• key --repeat <1-100> repeats a token, for example prowl key --pane "$pane" down --repeat 10.
• Do not mix stdin input with a positional text argument.

Quoting

Use outer single quotes when variables should expand in the target pane:

prowl send --pane "$pane" 'printf "PWD:%s\n" "$PWD"' --capture --timeout 30 --json

Avoid outer double quotes around payloads containing $PWD, $VAR, backticks, or command substitutions unless local expansion is intended.

Pitfalls

• Never target by tab title alone; use pane.id plus path/cwd.
• Never omit --pane for send, key, read, or focus in automation.
• Use prowl agents --json for detected agent status; use prowl list --json for all panes and worktree-level task.status.
• open /path is a project/path navigation command. It may refocus an existing pane and is not a deterministic create command.
• Use tab create when automation needs a fresh shell, and capture the returned pane.id before sending input.
• Focused pane is not stable; open and focus change it.
• read --wait-stable sees rendered screen only. It cannot recover content folded by a TUI.
• read returning fewer lines than --last requested is normally truncated: false — the pane simply has less history and you already have it all, so do not retry for more. truncated: true flags a possibly-incomplete result (the full scrollback could not be read).
• send --capture captures a screen diff; multiline input may include command echo.
• Do not guess JSON field names. Terminal text is .data.text (read) and .data.capture.text (send --capture); see "Parsing JSON Output" and docs/components/cli.md.
• prowl list --json | jq ... snippets should pass shell values with --arg.
• In zsh, do not name variables status; it is readonly.
• Parser errors are not JSON even if --json is present, because parsing happens before command execution.
• The CLI talks to one socket owner by default. If two Prowl app instances are running, the default prowl command reaches whichever app owns the standard socket. For a manually launched dev instance, start the app and every CLI command with the same PROWL_CLI_SOCKET=/tmp/name.sock.
• Sandboxed agents must be allowed to connect to the Unix socket. PROWL_CLI_SOCKET is a workaround only when both the app and every CLI command use the same sandbox-accessible path.
• A newer CLI command sent to an older app can fail at transport level. If prowl agents returns TRANSPORT_FAILED, confirm the running app instance was built with the command.
• cmd-w can close a temporary tab, but double-check the pane first.

Error Handling

In --json mode, command-level failures look like:

{ "ok": false, "error": { "code": "INVALID_ARGUMENT", "message": "..." } }

Common codes and recovery:

• APP_NOT_RUNNING: Prowl is not reachable, or the socket is missing/stale. Ask before restarting the app.
• SOCKET_PERMISSION_DENIED: the socket exists but the sandbox or filesystem permissions blocked connect(). Report this as a permission/sandbox problem, not as an app-liveness problem.
• TRANSPORT_FAILED: the socket connection broke or the socket path is invalid (for example ENOTSOCK or a too-long PROWL_CLI_SOCKET). Recheck which Prowl instance owns the socket.
• TARGET_NOT_FOUND / TARGET_NOT_UNIQUE: run prowl list --json again and choose an explicit pane UUID, or refresh text prowl list and use its current pN handle.
• EMPTY_INPUT: send got neither argv text nor stdin.
• NO_ACTIVE_PANE: no pane resolved for positional (focused-pane) targeting; pass an explicit --pane.
• INVALID_ARGUMENT: illegal flag or flag combination, such as --capture --no-wait.
• UNSUPPORTED_KEY / INVALID_REPEAT: check prowl key --help.
• CAPTURE_UNSUPPORTED: --capture needs shell integration (OSC 133) on the target pane. Drop --capture and read --wait-stable instead, or redirect the command's output to a file (see "Reading Agent Output").
• WAIT_TIMEOUT: command did not finish in time; retry with --no-wait, or raise --timeout.
• PATH_NOT_FOUND / PATH_NOT_DIRECTORY / PATH_NOT_ALLOWED: fix the path passed to open.

Always check the exit code before piping output into jq; parser-level errors print plaintext usage to stderr.

Handing Off Your Task

prowl handoff to <agent> --brief - hands your task to another agent. Run it from your own pane (the calling pane is the source — no selector needed) and pipe your briefing on stdin:

prowl handoff to codex --brief - <<'EOF'
# Handoff
## Objective
…
## Current State
…
## What Has Been Done
…
## Open Questions
…
## Risks / Watch Out
…
## Next Steps
…
## Suggested Prompt For Next Agent
…
EOF

Write the briefing from your current working knowledge — required sections are ## Objective, ## Current State, and ## Next Steps. The receiver launches in a background tab of the same worktree; your own session stays open. prowl handoff save --brief - writes the same briefing as a checkpoint without launching anyone. Use --no-brief only for an intentional context-only handoff, and an explicit --pane to hand off a pane other than your own. Details: docs/components/handoff.md.

Command Set

Current commands: list, agents, read, send, key, focus, tab create, tab close, pane close, handoff to, handoff save, and open (default). There is no CLI quit; close temporary tabs or panes with explicit tab close / pane close targets.