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cli

A cli is a standalone program with a process entry point. An agent discovers, registers, publishes, installs, and invokes it as a process.

A cli answers the question: which shared executable can be run?

It does not answer "which checkable operation can be called by name?" (command). A slash command is a named invocation inside a harness. A cli is a process. It is also not the ai-stp control-plane executable itself — that lives under CLI.

Everyday authoring is the author intent. Do not type component scaffold plan.

ai-stp task start --intent author --idempotency-key author-session-01 --json

Kind cli is not a slash command

Object Where it lives Lives in a setup?
Kind cli (this page) one shared executable artifact yes
Kind command harness slash/prompt surface yes
ai-stp … CLI groups CLI map no

Do not copy the same binary into seven harness layouts. The scaffold is portable. Harness integration is process execution, not seven native copies.

Neighbours

Kind The main difference
command a command is invoked by name inside a harness; a cli is a process
hook a hook starts on a lifecycle event; a cli starts when executed
mcp MCP speaks a protocol; a cli is an ordinary program
skill a skill is a procedure the harness attaches; a cli is an executable
plugin a plugin extends the harness itself; a cli is a shared tool
setting a setting holds parameters; a cli holds a program

Choose cli when the object is a standalone executable. Choose command when a person or an agent should start the work by a slash name.

cli is executable. --language is one of python, typescript, javascript, rust, go, or dart-flutter. --harness is portable.

review-kit/                        # component-scaffold/6
├── .ai-stp-template.json
├── .gitignore
├── README.md
├── component-passport.json
├── eval-profile.json
└── source/
    └── src/main.py

Red flags

  • Scaffolding --type command for a process that is not a slash command.
  • Passing a concrete harness variant so the same binary is copied seven times.
  • Treating ai-stp itself as a catalog cli component.