| name | multica |
| description | Use whenever the user mentions "multica", asks to create/move/comment/assign a board ticket, dispatches an AI coding tool (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini, Copilot, ...) to an issue, manages workspaces/projects/agents/skills/squads/daemon/runtimes/autopilots, sets up the CLI or a PAT, onboards a new machine, or runs a multi-phase coding pipeline on a Multica board. Covers the full `multica` CLI plus onboarding and the explore→work→review→qa→learn workflow. |
multica — CLI, onboarding, and workflow
multica is the local CLI for Multica, the open-source managed-agents platform. It connects your machine to a Multica server, manages the board (workspaces, projects, issues, comments), wires AI coding tools as agents, and runs a daemon that picks up assigned work and dispatches it to those tools.
This single skill is the reference card. Deep detail lives in references/ — load only the file you need:
references/cli-reference.md — every CLI command, by area, with exact flags.references/onboarding.md — first-run setup: install → setup → verify runtime → create agent → first task.references/workflow.md — the explore→work→review→qa→learn pipeline on Multica's fixed states, with rewind logic and copy-paste shell recipes.
Mental model
Workspace ──┐
└── Project ── Issue (MUL-123) ── Comment ── (sub-issues via --parent)
│
├── status: backlog | todo | in_progress | in_review | done | blocked | cancelled (fixed)
├── priority: urgent | high | medium | low | none
├── metadata: key=value (pipeline_status, pr_url, ... — the CLI's first-class side channel)
└── assignee: a person OR an Agent (one AI coding tool + system instructions + skills)
Three rules that drive everything:
- Assignment IS dispatch. Assigning an issue to an agent (or creating it with
--assignee at a non-backlog status) makes the daemon claim it and run the tool automatically. backlog parks the assignee without firing.
@agent-name in a comment triggers a fresh run on that issue.- States are fixed;
metadata is the free channel. There is no label-setting CLI command — encode sub-phases and durable state with multica issue metadata set, query with multica issue list --metadata key=value.
Quick start
multica setup
multica auth status
multica issue list
New machine from scratch → follow references/onboarding.md.
Command index
Run multica <command> --help for full flags. Exact forms are in references/cli-reference.md.
| Area | Commands |
|---|
| Auth & setup | login [--token mul_…] · auth status · auth logout · setup (Cloud) · setup self-host |
| Daemon | daemon start [--foreground] · stop · restart · status · logs |
| Workspaces | workspace list [--full-id] [--output json] · get · member list · switch <id|slug> · update |
| Issues | issue list (filters) · get · create · update · assign --to|--to-id|--unassign · status <id> <state> · search · runs · rerun · run-messages · comment add|list|delete · subscriber · metadata set|get|list|delete · pull-requests |
| Projects | project list|get|create|update|status|delete |
| Agents | agent list|get|create|update|archive|restore|tasks|skills|env get |
| Skills | skill list|get|create|update|delete|import|files |
| Squads | squad list|get|create|update|delete|member|activity |
| Autopilots | autopilot list|get|create|update|delete|runs|trigger|trigger-add|trigger-update|trigger-delete |
| Runtimes | runtime list|usage|activity|update |
| Misc | repo checkout <url> · config show|set · attachment download <id> · version · update |
The workhorse: issues
multica issue list --status in_progress --priority high
multica issue list --metadata pipeline_status=review
multica issue get MUL-142
multica issue create --title "Add CSV export to /reports" --priority high --assignee "Lambda"
multica issue assign MUL-142 --to "Lambda"
multica issue status MUL-142 in_progress
multica issue comment add MUL-142 --content "@reviewer please review the diff"
Assign only a workable agent. multica issue assign should target an agent whose runtime is actually online and claiming work, or the server cancels the task after a short window. Pre-flight: multica runtime list (STATUS online) + multica agent list, and tail multica daemon logs if unsure. Resolve agent/runtime IDs at call time — never hard-code them.
Agents and skills
multica agent list
multica agent create
multica skill import --url https://github.com/cskwork/multica-skill
multica agent skills
Agent optional fields (all changeable later): system instructions, model, custom_env, custom_args, visibility (private default), max_concurrent_tasks (default 6). Details in references/cli-reference.md. Don't put high-value secrets in custom_env (stored plaintext server-side).
Workflow in one breath
Drive a ticket through phases with metadata + status + reassignment, fresh context each phase:
explore ─▶ work ─▶ review ─▶ qa ─▶ learn ─▶ done
▲ │ │
└──── rewind ──────┴────────┘ (review/qa finds an issue → back to work)
Encode the phase as metadata pipeline_status=<phase>, move status across the fixed states, and assign the next agent. Full state diagram, rewind rules (3 consecutive QA fails → blocked + ping a subscriber), and ready-to-run advance/rewind shell snippets are in references/workflow.md.
Troubleshooting (quick)
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|
auth status unauthenticated | multica login (browser) or multica login --token mul_… |
| Agent assigned, no run | multica daemon status → multica daemon start; confirm runtime online |
| Run stalls | multica daemon logs; check max_concurrent_tasks (agent) and daemon cap (default 20) |
skill import fails | repo needs a discoverable SKILL.md; default --on-conflict fail — use overwrite|rename|skip |
| Slow network timeouts | MULTICA_HTTP_TIMEOUT=60s multica … (default 30s) |
See also
