Reference

CLI Reference

Complete reference for every Conductor CLI command, flag, and environment variable.

Global Flags

These flags work with every command.

Flag	Description
`--help, -h`	Show help for any command
`--version, -v`	Print the installed Conductor version
`--config-dir <path>`	Override the default ~/.conductor config directory
`--quiet, -q`	Suppress non-error output (useful for scripting)
`--log-level <level>`	Set log verbosity: error \| warn \| info \| debug

conductor init

First-run wizard. Creates ~/.conductor/config.json and ~/.conductor/conductor.db, prompts for AI provider credentials, lets you select plugins, and optionally auto-configures Claude Desktop or Cursor.

Command	Description
`conductor init`	Run the interactive setup wizard
`conductor init --yes`	Accept all defaults, skip prompts
`conductor init --provider anthropic`	Pre-select AI provider and skip that prompt

example

# What conductor init does:
# 1. Checks for Node.js 18+ and npm
# 2. Creates ~/.conductor/ directory structure
# 3. Prompts: instance name, AI provider, API key
# 4. Interactive plugin picker (space to select, enter to confirm)
# 5. Optional: auto-write AI client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor)
# 6. Generates ~/.conductor/.key (machine-bound AES-256-GCM key)

conductor mcp

Start and manage the MCP server. The server exposes all enabled plugin tools to any MCP-compatible AI client. stdio transport is used by AI clients; HTTP/SSE transport is used for the dashboard.

Command	Description
`conductor mcp start`	Start MCP server on stdio transport (default)
`conductor mcp start --transport http`	Start on HTTP/SSE transport (for dashboard)
`conductor mcp start --port 3000`	Set the HTTP port (default: 3000)
`conductor mcp start --plugins calculator,weather`	Load only a subset of plugins
`conductor mcp start --log-level debug`	Enable verbose logging to stderr
`conductor mcp setup`	Auto-configure Claude Desktop and Cursor config files
`conductor mcp setup --client cursor`	Configure a specific client only
`conductor mcp status`	Show server status, tool count, and active plugins

example

# conductor mcp setup writes to:
# macOS Claude Desktop: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
# Windows Claude Desktop: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
# Cursor (global):        ~/.cursor/mcp.json
# Cursor (project):       .cursor/mcp.json (if run from a project directory)

conductor plugins

Manage the plugin registry. Enable, disable, configure, and install plugins. Changes take effect immediately without restarting the server.

Command	Description
`conductor plugins list`	List all plugins with status, tool count, and config state
`conductor plugins list --json`	Output plugin list as JSON
`conductor plugins enable <name>`	Enable a plugin
`conductor plugins enable github slack linear`	Enable multiple plugins at once
`conductor plugins disable <name>`	Disable a plugin immediately
`conductor plugins setup <name>`	Interactive credential setup using the plugin's configSchema
`conductor plugins setup <name> --key <k> --value <v>`	Set a single config value non-interactively
`conductor plugins install <name>`	Install a plugin from the marketplace (npm)
`conductor plugins install <name>@1.2.3`	Install a specific version
`conductor plugins uninstall <name>`	Remove a marketplace plugin
`conductor plugins onboard`	Launch the interactive TUI plugin picker
`conductor plugins info <name>`	Show plugin details, tools, and config schema

example

# conductor plugins list output example:
# NAME             STATUS          TOOLS   ZERO-CONFIG
# calculator       ready           3       ✓
# weather          ready           3       ✓
# github           ready           20      partial
# slack            not_configured  0       ✗
# linear           disabled        —       ✗

conductor config

Read and write Conductor configuration. Non-secret values are stored in ~/.conductor/config.json. Secret values (API keys) are stored in the encrypted local credential store (AES-256-GCM) and never appear in config.json.

Command	Description
`conductor config get <key>`	Print a config value
`conductor config set <key> <value>`	Set a non-secret config value
`conductor config list`	Print all config values (secrets redacted)
`conductor config setup <plugin>`	Run guided setup for a specific plugin
`conductor config reset`	Reset config to defaults (preserves secrets in credential store)
`conductor config export`	Export non-secret config to stdout as JSON

conductor ai

Configure and test AI provider connections. Conductor supports Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, Google Gemini, and Ollama.

Command	Description
`conductor ai setup`	Interactive AI provider configuration wizard
`conductor ai test`	Send a test prompt to verify the current provider is working
`conductor ai list`	List configured providers and current default
`conductor ai use <provider>`	Switch the active AI provider

example

# Supported providers:
# anthropic    Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude 3 Opus, Haiku
# openai       GPT-4o, GPT-4 Turbo, GPT-3.5 Turbo
# gemini       Gemini 1.5 Pro, Gemini Flash
# ollama       Any local Ollama model (llama3, mistral, codestral, etc.)

conductor audit

Interact with the append-only SHA-256 chained audit log at ~/.conductor/audit.log. Every tool call, input, and output is recorded with a chain of hashes to detect tampering.

Command	Description
`conductor audit tail`	Stream the live audit log in real time
`conductor audit tail --plugin github`	Filter stream by plugin name
`conductor audit verify`	Verify SHA-256 chain integrity (detect tampering)
`conductor audit export`	Export full audit log to stdout as JSONL
`conductor audit export --format json`	Export as a JSON array
`conductor audit export --since 24h`	Export entries from the last 24 hours
`conductor audit stats`	Show call counts, top tools, and error rates

example

# Audit log entry structure (JSONL):
{
  "seq": 1042,
  "timestamp": "2026-04-04T10:23:45.123Z",
  "tool": "github_issues",
  "plugin": "github",
  "input": { "owner": "myorg", "repo": "api", "state": "open" },
  "output": { "count": 14 },
  "latency_ms": 312,
  "hash": "sha256:a3f4...",
  "prev_hash": "sha256:9b2c..."
}

conductor webhooks

Manage outgoing webhooks. Conductor pushes signed events to your endpoints when tools are called, plugins change state, or the circuit breaker opens.

Command	Description
`conductor webhooks list`	List all registered webhooks
`conductor webhooks add --url <url>`	Register a new webhook endpoint
`conductor webhooks add --url <url> --events tool.called,tool.failed`	Subscribe to specific events only
`conductor webhooks add --url <url> --secret <s>`	Add HMAC signing secret for verification
`conductor webhooks remove <id>`	Remove a webhook by ID
`conductor webhooks test <id>`	Send a test payload to a webhook endpoint

conductor doctor

Diagnose your Conductor installation. Checks Node.js version, config file validity, plugin states, AI provider connectivity, database integrity, and credential store access.

Command	Description
`conductor doctor`	Run all health checks and print a report
`conductor doctor --fix`	Attempt to auto-fix common issues (reinstall deps, reset DB)
`conductor doctor --json`	Output results as JSON for scripting

example

# conductor doctor checks:
# ✓ Node.js 18+ installed
# ✓ ~/.conductor/config.json valid
# ✓ ~/.conductor/conductor.db accessible
# ✓ Encrypted credential store accessible
# ✓ All enabled plugins: ready
# ✓ AI provider: connected (claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022)
# ✓ Audit log: 1042 entries, chain intact
# ⚠ slack: not_configured — run: conductor plugins setup slack

conductor dashboard

Start the web dashboard. The dashboard provides a real-time view of tool calls, plugin health, audit logs, and metrics. Runs on HTTP transport.

Command	Description
`conductor dashboard start`	Start dashboard on http://localhost:4040
`conductor dashboard start --port 8080`	Use a custom port
`conductor dashboard open`	Open the dashboard in your default browser

conductor plugin-create

Scaffold a new plugin with the correct directory structure, package.json, TypeScript config, and entry point. Generates a working plugin you can publish to the marketplace.

Command	Description
`conductor plugin-create <name>`	Scaffold a new plugin in the current directory
`conductor plugin-create <name> --typescript`	Use TypeScript template (default: JS)
`conductor plugin-create <name> --publish`	Include npm publish scripts

example

# Generated structure:
# my-plugin/
#   package.json          (name: @conductor-plugins/my-plugin)
#   src/index.ts          (Plugin class with configSchema and getTools())
#   tsconfig.json
#   README.md
#   tests/index.test.ts

Environment Variables

Environment variables override config file values. Useful for CI/CD, Docker, and team deployments where you want to configure Conductor without running the wizard.

Variable	Description
`CONDUCTOR_CONFIG_DIR`	Override config directory (default: ~/.conductor)
`CONDUCTOR_LOG_LEVEL`	Log verbosity: error \| warn \| info \| debug
`CONDUCTOR_TRANSPORT`	MCP transport: stdio \| http
`CONDUCTOR_PORT`	HTTP transport port (default: 3000)
`CONDUCTOR_PLUGINS`	Comma-separated list of plugins to activate
`CONDUCTOR_NO_KEYCHAIN`	Disable OS keychain, use encrypted file fallback
`CONDUCTOR_DISABLE_AUDIT`	Disable audit logging (not recommended for production)
`NO_COLOR`	Disable ANSI color output (standard env var)

environment usage example

# Start HTTP server on port 8080 with only github and linear plugins
CONDUCTOR_TRANSPORT=http \
CONDUCTOR_PORT=8080 \
CONDUCTOR_PLUGINS=github,linear \
conductor mcp start

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
`0`	Success
`1`	General error (invalid args, config issue)
`2`	Plugin init failure
`3`	AI provider connection failure
`4`	Database error
`127`	Command not found (conductor not installed)

Plugin System Webhooks