Commands
This reference is generated by anb skill. Command descriptions come from the CLI definitions; examples run against a scratch notebook. CI checks the committed copy for drift.
Global flags on every command: --json (compact JSON instead of text), --notebook <PATH> (where the notebook lives, outranking ANB_NOTEBOOK), --global (the user’s notebook in the home directory; refused beside --notebook).
anb add
Section titled “anb add”Create a record: add task|decision|note|question "<title>". The notebook appears on first write
Arguments: <RECORD_TYPE> <TITLE>
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
--id <ID> |
Explicit id; omitted, one is minted from the title |
--from <FROM> |
Origin: the record this record was born from |
--tag <TAG> |
A tag; repeatable |
--link <LINK> |
<kind> <target>, e.g. pr https://…; repeatable |
--body <BODY> |
The prose under the envelope; omitted, the record opens empty |
--by <BY> |
The accountable identity; omitted, git identity fills it |
--via <VIA> |
The acting agent tool |
--priority <PRIORITY> |
A task’s urgency, 0 to 4, 0 the most urgent |
--kind <KIND> |
A decision’s rule, shape, or drift; a note’s fact, term, or guide |
--supersedes <SUPERSEDES> |
The Decision or Note this one replaces; it flips in the same move |
anb start
Section titled “anb start”open | review → active: take the Task into work, or back into it
Arguments: <ID>
anb submit
Section titled “anb submit”active → review: hand the work to a human for acceptance
Arguments: <ID>
anb close
Section titled “anb close”active | review → closed, carrying its proof; –reason ends a Task or a Question without work, from open too; –resolved-by closes a Question into the record that settled it
Arguments: <ID>
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
--note <NOTE> |
Proof, the default route: the report file, ingested as a Note the notebook carries, so a reader reaches it through the notebook alone |
--pr <PR> |
Proof: the pull request that shipped the work |
--sha <SHA> |
Proof: the commit that shipped the work |
--report <REPORT> |
Proof: a file left where it lies, right for a living document, which a Note would freeze into a second source of truth |
--no-proof |
The explicit waiver: close stating there is no proof |
--reason <WHY> |
End a Task or a Question without work, stating why; the reason lands in the envelope and no proof is written |
--resolved-by <ID> |
The Decision or Task that settled the Question |
anb reopen
Section titled “anb reopen”closed → open, explicitly
Arguments: <ID>
anb hold
Section titled “anb hold”Pause a Task deliberately; the reason is mandatory
Arguments: <ID>
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
--reason <REASON> |
Why the Task waits; an unreasoned hold is where work rots |
--until <DATE> |
Calendar hold: the date to resume on |
anb unhold
Section titled “anb unhold”Resume a held Task
Arguments: <ID>
anb block
Section titled “anb block”Write a dependency edge: this Task waits on another
Arguments: <ID> <ON>
anb unblock
Section titled “anb unblock”Erase a dependency edge
Arguments: <ID> <ON>
anb comment
Section titled “anb comment”Append one entry to a Task’s log, where the next session resumes
Arguments: <ID> <TEXT>
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
--via <VIA> |
The acting agent tool writing the entry |
anb retire
Section titled “anb retire”active → retired: end a Decision or Note that has no successor
Arguments: <ID>
anb ready
Section titled “anb ready”The dispatch queue: open, unblocked, unheld Tasks, most urgent first
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
--for <ID> |
Only work this record’s scope reaches: an epic’s own queue |
--all |
Every row; the listing is bounded by default |
anb list
Section titled “anb list”Every live record
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
--for <ID> |
Only records this one’s scope reaches: an epic and its work |
--all |
Every row; the listing is bounded by default |
anb show
Section titled “anb show”One record: envelope, body, and its mention blocks
Arguments: <ID>
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
--all |
Every line and every mention; a long body and a crowded block print bounded by default |
anb status
Section titled “anb status”The session Status: one quiet line, or the budgeted composite
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
--budget <BUDGET> |
Token ceiling for this call, outranking the config key; 0 = no ceiling |
--hook |
The session-start payload for an agent hook; fails soft |
anb check
Section titled “anb check”Verify every file: each finding names where it is, why, and what repairs it
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
--all |
Every row; the listing is bounded by default |
anb archive
Section titled “anb archive”Move a settled record into the archive; history moves with it
Arguments: <ID>
anb restore
Section titled “anb restore”Move an archived record back into the working set: same filename, same bytes
Arguments: <ID>
anb delete
Section titled “anb delete”Delete a record born by mistake; refuses while anything cites it
Arguments: <ID>
anb edit
Section titled “anb edit”Correct a live record’s own fields; state stays a command’s move
Arguments: <ID>
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
--title <TITLE> |
The whole title, replaced |
--body <BODY> |
The whole body, replaced; empty clears it |
--tag <TAG> |
Add a tag; repeatable |
--untag <TAG> |
Remove a tag; repeatable |
--from <FROM> |
Origin: the record this record was born from |
--priority <PRIORITY> |
0 to 4, 0 the most urgent |
--review-by <DATE> |
The explicit resurfacing date |
--clear <FIELD> |
The optional field to erase: from, priority, or review-by; repeatable |
anb search
Section titled “anb search”Find records by substring, the archive included
Arguments: <QUERY>
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
--all |
Every row; the listing is bounded by default |
anb graph
Section titled “anb graph”The notebook as records and the edges between them
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
--for <ID> |
Only the work this record’s scope reaches: one epic’s branch |
--type <TYPE> |
Only records of these types. Every type by default, including one whose own type field no notebook word matches |
--ready |
Only what can be started now: the ready lens |
--focus <ID> |
Only this record and the graph around it |
--depth <N> |
How many edges out from --focus the graph reaches; 1 by default |
--archive |
The archive too; by default only the work still in play |
--full |
Each record’s envelope and body as well |
--all |
Every row the plain text bounds. JSON is never bounded: a graph missing edges is not a smaller graph, it is a wrong one |
anb overview
Section titled “anb overview”The whole notebook as one page, grouped by type
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
--all |
Every row; each section is bounded by default |
anb setup
Section titled “anb setup”Wire the agents to the notebook, in this directory: the one-line snippet in AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md, the SessionStart hook for Claude Code and Codex, and the anb skills where each agent looks for skills. Re-running patches in place
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
--remove |
Take out what setup put in, and nothing else |
anb skill
Section titled “anb skill”The skill an agent learns the tool from, rendered from the binary: printed, written into a directory, or checked against one
Arguments: [DIR]
| Flag | Meaning |
|---|---|
--check |
Compare the directory with the rendering instead of writing it; a difference is a failing exit, for CI |