tars-ops

name	tars-ops
description	Operates and maintains a Tars installation through supported CLI commands.

Tars operations

Use supported tars commands for configuration, secrets, backup, and maintenance. Do not start the compiled supervisor directly or use npm run start to control an installed instance.

Inspect before changing

tars status
tars logs
tars quota

status reports the PM2 process and active session. Use logs for heartbeat, cron, extension, and task diagnostics.

Secrets

Ask the operator to run secret entry in their own interactive shell. Do not request the value in chat or execute secret entry through a model-visible tool call.

read -rs TARS_SECRET_VALUE
printf '%s' "$TARS_SECRET_VALUE" | tars secret set KEY
unset TARS_SECRET_VALUE
tars secret list
tars secret remove KEY

Secrets live in ~/.tars/.env with restricted permissions. The list command prints names only. Common provider keys include OPENAI_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, and TARS_API_KEY; Discord uses DISCORD_TOKEN. Never place a secret value in a command argument, prompt, memory, or log. Ask the operator to restart after a secret change.

Memory

tars memory search relevant terms
tars memory sync

Memory sync indexes durable facts, skills, and eligible chat history. Prefer the native manage_facts and manage_notes tools when they are available in the current agent session.

Backup and refresh

tars export --output ./tars-backup.tar.gz
tars import ./tars-backup.tar.gz
tars refresh

Exports filter known credential paths and recognized JSON keys on a best-effort basis; always treat the archive as sensitive. Import and refresh stage, validate, and atomically swap data with rollback. Do not manually extract an untrusted archive into ~/.tars/.

Restart boundary

An assistant running inside the supervisor must not stop or restart its own process. Explain the reason and ask the operator to run:

tars restart

Stop the daemon before using tars chat --no-discord for foreground troubleshooting. The CLI refuses to start a second engine against an active Tars home.

Safety rules

• Treat ~/.tars/extensions/ as trusted executable code and maintain an explicit enablement file.
• Do not recursively delete Tars directories. Use the guarded tars uninstall flow when removal is requested and confirm backup expectations first.
• Do not log or echo secret values.
• Do not claim the heartbeat performs autonomous monitoring; it performs maintenance, while the cron service runs explicit scheduled tasks.
• Use the tool names actually present in the session. Built-ins are consolidated as manage_tasks, manage_facts, and manage_notes.