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TalkOps Framework

CLI & Slash Command Reference

TalkOps provides two complementary command surfaces defined in src/talkops/cli/ and src/talkops/ui/command_registry.py:

  1. Terminal CLI Subcommands (talkops <subcommand>) for launching interactive TUI sessions, running headless CI/CD checks, starting the Central Server and webhook listener (talkops serve), authenticating (talkops auth), managing remote/local threads (talkops threads), and administering MCP servers, plugins, and skills.
  2. Interactive Slash Commands (/<command>) for controlling the live session, switching Jev Smart Mode and model pools, inspecting cloud context, running /review or /goal loops, and managing subagents without leaving the TUI.

Root CLI Invocation & Flags​

talkops / ops (Root Command & Alias)​

Launches the interactive Textual terminal UI by default, or executes a non-interactive headless run when -p / --prompt is passed. You can invoke the CLI using either talkops or the ops shorthand alias.

talkops [FLAGS]          # or: ops [FLAGS]
talkops -p "<prompt>"    # or: ops -p "<prompt>"

Execution & Approval Mode Flags​

FlagShortDefaultDescription
--prompt <text>-pNoneExecute <text> in headless non-interactive mode and print the response to stdout (src/talkops/cli/main.py).
--smart-sFalseEnable Jev Smart Mode: <70ms 3-tier dynamic model/reasoning routing + <100ms System One tool safety classification.
--auto-approve-yFalseEnable Auto Mode: auto-approve routine tools while still blocking catastrophic shell destructors (rm -rf /, mkfs).
--yolo—FalseEnable YOLO Mode: bypass all tool approval prompts (use strictly inside disposable sandboxes).
--max-turns <int>—UnlimitedMaximum number of agentic turns allowed in a headless (-p) or /goal run.
--criteria <text>—NoneSuccess rubric evaluated after each turn in headless (-p) mode; the agent iterates until the criteria are met or --max-turns is reached.

Model & Sandbox Flags​

FlagShortDefaultDescription
--model <spec>-M, --modelsActive defaultPrimary model or comma-separated model pool (e.g., claude-sonnet-4-6 or claude-haiku-4-5,claude-sonnet-4-6,claude-opus-4-6).
--agent <name>-atalkopsNamed agent configuration or subagent profile to launch.
--sandbox <type>-SnoneExecution sandbox backend (none, local, docker, k8s).
--sandbox-id <id>—AutoAttach to an existing Docker container ID or Kubernetes pod name.
--sandbox-setup <path>—NonePath to a setup script executed inside the sandbox before the session starts.
--shell-allow-list <list>—Default safe listComma-separated list of allowed shell executables (or recommended).
--no-Verify-ssl—FalseDisable TLS certificate verification for corporate proxy environments.

Central Server & Multi-Client Connection Flags​

FlagShortEnvironment VariableDescription
--server-url <url>—TALKOPS_SERVER_URLConnect the TUI or headless CLI as a remote client to a running talkops serve instance (e.g., http://talkops.internal:2024).
--api-key <key>—TALKOPS_API_KEYLong-lived API key (oc_live_..., exchanged automatically for a short-lived JWT) or static server token.
--user-id <id>—TALKOPS_USER_IDExplicit user identity (X-TalkOps-User-Id) for multi-tenant thread and memory isolation.
--resume [thread_id]-r—Resume the most recent thread (when no ID is given) or attach to a specific local/remote thread_id.
--initial-skill <name>——Pre-load a specific SKILL.md runbook into the session context at startup.

MCP & Utility Flags​

FlagShortDescription
--mcp-config <path>—Load an additional .mcp.json configuration file for this session.
--no-mcp—Disable all external Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers for this run.
--trust-project-mcp—Automatically trust project-scoped .mcp.json stdio commands without prompting.
--interactive-iForce interactive TUI mode even if initial prompt arguments are supplied.
--acp—Run the Agent Client Protocol (ACP) stdio server for IDE integrations.
--version-vPrint the installed TalkOps version and exit.
--help-hShow root CLI help and exit.

CLI Subcommands (Individual Mini-Sections)​

talkops serve (Aliases: talkops webhooks, talkops webhook)​

Starts the LangGraph-backed Central Server and inbound webhook ingestion listener (src/talkops/cli/commands/serve.py), or lists all registered webhook provider adapters.

talkops serve [start|list] [FLAGS]
talkops webhooks [start|list] [FLAGS]
  • Sub-actions:
    • talkops serve / talkops serve start: Launches the ASGI server hosting /api/v1/*, LangGraph /threads & /runs, OIDC /.well-known/*, and /webhooks/{provider}.
    • talkops serve list / talkops webhooks list: Prints all 9 registered webhook provider adapters (sns, pagerduty, alertmanager, cloudevents, jenkins, github, datadog, servicenow, generic) and their aliases.
  • Flags:
    • --host <addr>: Bind address (default 0.0.0.0, env TALKOPS_WEBHOOK_HOST).
    • --port <int>: Primary server port (default 2024, env TALKOPS_WEBHOOK_PORT).
    • --webhook-port <int>: Optional separate port dedicated exclusively to /webhooks/* traffic.
    • --webhook-host <addr>: Bind address for the dedicated webhook listener when --webhook-port is used.
    • --webhook-secret <secret>: Default shared secret or bearer token for inbound webhooks (TALKOPS_WEBHOOK_SECRET).
    • --postgres-uri <uri>: PostgreSQL connection URI for multi-user checkpointing (TalkOpsPostgresCheckpointer) and store persistence (TALKOPS_POSTGRES_URI).
    • --auth-mode {noop,token}: Client authentication enforcement mode (TALKOPS_AUTH_MODE).
    • --approval-mode {smart,auto,yolo,manual}: Tool execution policy for unattended webhook/server runs (default smart).
    • --workspaces-dir <dir>: Base workspace directory for server execution (TALKOPS_WORKSPACES_DIR).
    • --model <name>: Override the default orchestrator model.
# Launch production central server with PostgreSQL and dedicated webhook port
talkops serve --host 0.0.0.0 --port 2024 --webhook-port 8080 \
  --postgres-uri postgresql://ops:secret@db:5432/talkops \
  --auth-mode token --approval-mode smart

talkops auth​

Manages Central Server JWT sessions, encrypted provider API keys in ~/.talkops/.state/config.db, and AWS profile defaults (src/talkops/cli/commands/auth.py).

talkops auth <subcommand> [ARGS]
  • talkops auth status (default): Displays your active Control Plane / Central Server session, JWT expiration countdown, offline grace status, and configured LLM/cloud credentials.
  • talkops auth login: Exchanges a long-lived API key (oc_live_...) at POST /api/v1/auth/token for a short-lived signed JWT (eyJ...) and caches it in ~/.talkops/.state/auth.json.
    • Flags: --server-url <url>, --api-key <key>, --user-id <id>, --control-plane-url <url>.
  • talkops auth logout: Clears cached JWTs and revokes the local Central Server session.
  • talkops auth token [--refresh]: Prints the active bearer JWT for scripting (curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $(talkops auth token)") or forces an immediate token refresh (--refresh).
  • talkops auth list: Lists all LLM, Jev, and cloud credentials stored in config.db or environment variables with redacted previews.
  • talkops auth set <provider> <key>: Encrypts and saves a provider API key (anthropic, openai, google, typesafe, openrouter, deepseek, mistral, groq, together, fireworks, cohere, perplexity, xai, cerebras, sambanova, langsmith).
  • talkops auth remove <provider> (alias: delete): Removes a stored credential from config.db.
  • talkops auth aws --profile <name> [--region <region>]: Persists the default AWS CLI profile and region used by AWS tools and subagents.

talkops threads​

Lists and deletes persistent conversation threads stored either in the local SQLite database (~/.talkops/sessions.db) or on a remote Central Server (src/talkops/cli/main.py).

talkops threads list [-n <limit>] [--agent <name>] [--server-url <url>] [--api-key <key>] [--user-id <id>]
talkops threads delete <thread_id> [--server-url <url>] [--api-key <key>] [--user-id <id>]
# List the 20 most recent threads on a remote Central Server
talkops threads list -n 20 --server-url http://talkops.internal:2024 --user-id alice

# Delete a specific thread
talkops threads delete 8f3a9c12-4b2e-4d1a-9e5b-123456789abc

talkops mcp​

Lists, validates, and live-probes external Model Context Protocol (MCP) tool servers (src/talkops/cli/commands/mcp.py).

talkops mcp <list|status|probe> [FLAGS]
  • talkops mcp list (alias: ls): Lists all configured MCP servers merged from user, project (.mcp.json), and plugin scopes.
  • talkops mcp status: Performs static validation of server configurations, checking that local stdio binaries exist on PATH and remote sse/http URLs are well-formed.
  • talkops mcp probe [--server <name>] [--timeout <sec>]: Spawns or connects to each MCP server, completes the JSON-RPC initialization handshake, and lists every discovered tool schema.

talkops plugin (Alias: talkops plugins)​

Searches, installs, enables, disables, and manages multi-component DevOps plugins (src/talkops/plugins/commands_cli.py).

talkops plugin <subcommand> [ARGS]
  • talkops plugin list: Lists installed plugins, versions, enabled state, and contributed skills/agents/MCP servers.
  • talkops plugin search <query>: Searches registered plugin marketplaces by keyword or tag.
  • talkops plugin install <spec>: Installs a plugin by marketplace name, GitHub owner/repo, Git URL, or local directory path.
  • talkops plugin uninstall <name>: Removes an installed plugin.
  • talkops plugin enable <name> / talkops plugin disable <name>: Toggles a plugin on or off without deleting its files.
  • talkops plugin refresh: Refreshes cached marketplace manifests.
  • talkops plugin marketplace <list|add|remove>: Manages custom Git/HTTP plugin marketplace registries.

talkops skills (Alias: talkops skill)​

Creates, inspects, trusts, and deletes reusable SKILL.md operational runbooks (src/talkops/skills/commands.py).

talkops skills <list|create|info|delete|trust> [ARGS] [--project]
  • talkops skills list [--project]: Lists all discovered skills across ~/.talkops/skills/, .talkops/skills/, and active plugins.
  • talkops skills create <name> [--project]: Scaffolds a new skill directory with a template SKILL.md and scripts/ folder.
  • talkops skills info <name>: Displays the skill's YAML frontmatter, description, companion scripts, and SHA-256 trust status.
  • talkops skills trust <name>: Computes and records a cryptographic trust signature for executable scripts bundled inside a project skill.
  • talkops skills delete <name> [--project]: Deletes a skill directory.

talkops doctor​

Runs a comprehensive 9-point diagnostic check (src/talkops/cli/commands/doctor.py) verifying Python runtime, LLM provider keys, TypeSafe AI Jev connectivity (TYPESAFE_API_KEY), AWS/Azure/GCP/Kubernetes CLI availability, sandbox runtime (docker/kubectl), MCP server health, and SQLite/PostgreSQL state database permissions.

talkops doctor

talkops help​

Displays detailed CLI usage and subcommand syntax.

talkops help [subcommand]

Interactive Slash Commands (Individual Mini-Sections)​

Inside the interactive TUI (and in remote --server-url sessions), type / to invoke any of the built-in slash commands registered in src/talkops/ui/command_registry.py. Each command below is grouped by operational workflow with its exact syntax, aliases, and behavior.

Approval & Safety Mode Commands​

/smart​

  • Syntax: /smart (Keyboard shortcut: Shift+Tab)
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Activates Jev Smart Mode, enabling both <70ms 3-tier dynamic model and reasoning routing (fast with effort="off", standard with effort="medium", powerful with effort="max") and <100ms System One tool safety classification (is_mutating, blast_radius, intent_alignment).

/auto​

  • Syntax: /auto
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Switches the session to Auto-Approve Mode, executing routine tool calls automatically while blocking hardcoded catastrophic shell patterns. Restores your baseline model if switching out of /smart.

/manual​

  • Syntax: /manual
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Switches the session to Manual Approval Mode (every mutating tool call or shell execution requires explicit [y/n/e] human confirmation) and automatically restores your pre-Smart baseline model.

/permissions​

  • Syntax: /permissions
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Opens the interactive permission policy inspector showing active allow/ask/deny rules from permissions.json and session overrides.

Model, Smart Pool & Reasoning Commands​

/model​

  • Syntax: /model [provider:model]
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Opens the interactive model selector modal (or switches immediately when [provider:model] is passed, e.g., /model anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-6).

/pool (Alias: /agent-pool)​

  • Syntax: /pool [fast,standard,powerful]
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Configures or inspects the 3-tier Dynamic Model Pool (Tier 0 Fast, Tier 1 Standard, Tier 2 Powerful) used by Jev Smart Mode routing, and displays per-tier routing telemetry and cost savings.

/effort​

  • Syntax: /effort [off|low|medium|high|xhigh|max]
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Sets or inspects the thinking/reasoning token budget for reasoning-capable models (claude-opus-4-6, claude-sonnet-4-6, o3, gpt-5.4, gemini-3.1-pro). Note: In Smart Mode, Jev dynamically overrides effort per turn (off on Tier 0, medium/low on Tier 1, max/xhigh on Tier 2).

/fast​

  • Syntax: /fast
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Toggles low-latency Fast Mode, pinning the session to your configured Tier 0 fast model with reasoning disabled (effort="off") for rapid interactive lookups.

Cloud, DevOps, Code Review & Goal Commands​

/cloud (Alias: /aws)​

  • Syntax: /cloud [profile] [region]
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Opens the multi-cloud context switcher or directly updates the active AWS profile/region, Azure subscription, GCP project, and Kubernetes context displayed in the TUI status bar.

/review (Alias: /code-review)​

  • Syntax: /review [target]
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Dispatches the code-reviewer specialist to perform a structured security, reliability, and IaC/code quality review on uncommitted git diff changes, a specific branch, or a file path.

/goal​

  • Syntax: /goal [objective]
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Launches an autonomous multi-turn goal-verification loop. The agent plans, executes tools, and evaluates its own output against your active /rubric until all acceptance criteria pass.

/rubric (Alias: /criteria)​

  • Syntax: /rubric [criteria]
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Defines or inspects the acceptance rubric used by /goal to determine when an operational objective is complete.

/trace​

  • Syntax: /trace [count]
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Displays execution trace spans, tool latencies, Jev classification timings, and LangSmith trace URLs for the most recent [count] turns.

/doctor​

  • Syntax: /doctor
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Runs the 9-point environment health check directly inside the TUI and renders a diagnostic report card.

Session, Thread & Context Management Commands​

/threads (Aliases: /resume, /continue)​

  • Syntax: /threads
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Opens the interactive thread browser to search, resume, rename, or delete local SQLite threads or remote Central Server threads (including webhook-created incident threads).

/fork (Alias: /branch)​

  • Syntax: /fork [new-title]
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Clones the current conversation checkpoint into a brand-new thread ID (POST /api/v1/threads/{id}/fork in remote mode) so you can explore an alternative debugging path without mutating the original thread.

/compact (Alias: /offload)​

  • Syntax: /compact [focus instructions]
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Summarizes older conversation turns into a dense operational handoff summary, frees up context window tokens, and prunes superseded checkpoints.

/context​

  • Syntax: /context
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Renders a visual breakdown of your current context window usage across system prompts, AGENTS.md, tool schemas, MCP servers, and message history.

/cost (Alias: /tokens)​

  • Syntax: /cost
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Displays cumulative input/output/reasoning token counts, prompt cache hit rates, Jev Smart Mode tier distribution, and estimated USD cost for the session.

/btw (Alias: /aside)​

  • Syntax: /btw <question>
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Asks a quick epistemic side-question in an ephemeral overlay without polluting the main thread's message history or interrupting an ongoing plan.

/clear & /force-clear​

  • Syntax: /clear or /force-clear
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Clears the visible terminal viewport and starts a fresh conversation thread (/force-clear resets immediately even if a background turn is winding down).

/copy​

  • Syntax: /copy
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Copies the latest assistant response (or selected code block) to your system clipboard.

/tasks​

  • Syntax: /tasks
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Opens the background task manager showing running shell daemons, subagent runs, and scheduled loops.

/loop​

  • Syntax: /loop <interval> <prompt>
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Schedules a recurring prompt inside the session (e.g., /loop 5m Check rollout status of payment-api in prod-eks and alert if error rate > 1%).

/exit (Aliases: /quit, /q)​

  • Syntax: /exit (Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+D)
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Cleanly saves the session checkpoint and exits the TalkOps TUI.

Subagents, Skills, Plugins, MCP & Memory Commands​

/agent (Aliases: /agents, /agent:<name>)​

  • Syntax: /agent or /agent:<name> [task]
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Opens the subagent catalog showing all discovered plugin subagents, custom .talkops/agents/*.md definitions, and [async_subagents], or directly dispatches <name> (e.g., /agent:eks-cluster-operator Check failing pods in kube-system).

/skills (Aliases: /tools, /skill:<name>)​

  • Syntax: /skills or /skill:<name> [args]
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Lists all available SKILL.md operational runbooks and active tools, or directly loads and executes a specific skill (e.g., /skill:eks-upgrade).

/skill-creator​

  • Syntax: /skill-creator [description]
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Launches an interactive workflow that distills your recent troubleshooting commands or operational instructions into a reusable, validated SKILL.md file.

/plugins​

  • Syntax: /plugins
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Opens the interactive plugin manager to browse, install, enable, or disable plugins from the marketplace.

/mcp​

  • Syntax: /mcp
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Displays connected Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, connection latency, and discovered external tools, with options to reconnect or probe servers.

/memory & /remember​

  • Syntax: /memory or /remember <fact or preference>
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: /memory opens the persistent memory viewer (AGENTS.md and long-term store items); /remember <fact> immediately persists a new architectural rule or operational preference to long-term memory.

Configuration, Authentication & UI Commands​

/config​

  • Syntax: /config [group|key] [value]
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Opens the interactive settings editor or directly reads/updates any canonical configuration key in ~/.talkops/.state/config.db (e.g., /config aws.region us-west-2).

/login (Aliases: /auth, /connect) & /logout​

  • Syntax: /login or /logout
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Opens the interactive credential & Central Server authentication modal to add provider API keys or exchange a Central Server token, or logs out of the active remote server session.

/reload & /restart​

  • Syntax: /reload (Local & Remote) / /restart (Local TUI)
  • What it does: /reload hot-reloads config.toml, AGENTS.md, skills, plugins, and MCP servers without dropping your thread; /restart performs a full process re-exec of the local TUI.

/install, /update, & /auto-update​

  • Syntax: /install, /update (Local TUI), /auto-update (Local & Remote)
  • What it does: Checks for and installs new TalkOps releases, or toggles background automatic updates.

/theme, /notifications, /timestamps, & /scrollbar​

  • Syntax: /theme [name], /notifications, /timestamps, /scrollbar
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Customizes TUI appearance—switching color themes (dark, light, dracula, nord, monokai), desktop completion notifications, message timestamps, and scrollbar visibility.

/version, /bug (Alias: /feedback), & /help​

  • Syntax: /version, /bug, /help
  • Supported Modes: Local TUI & Remote Server Client
  • What it does: Prints version/build metadata, submits diagnostics or bug feedback, or opens the interactive keyboard shortcut and command reference modal.
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