The CLI

This reference lists every rb command, grouped as rb --help groups them, with each command’s help exactly as rb prints it.

Generated from the --help of rabbit-brain 0.8.0.

Every command accepts --json and then prints exactly one JSON object on standard output, the envelope: ok, rb_version, command, data, errors, next and rb_delta. rb schema envelope prints its shape.

Exit code	What it means
0	ok
1	a check that ran and failed: a gate of rb status --fail-on, a setting that did not verify, a problem rb doctor found, a file rb fmt --check would rewrite, a file rb show read that is not a valid record, or the command rb journal run wrapped. The JSON has ok: true, because the result is data.
2	rb could not do what was asked, and says why
3	a fault in rb itself

Group	Commands
The record	init, project, question, experiment, variant, note, metric, spec, criterion, run, analysis, resource
Calls	freeze, decide, confirm, retract
Reading it	open, ui, status, show, compare, log, context, page
Carrying it	export, clone, env
For agents	mcp, skill, journal, reconcile, compile
Upkeep	doctor, fmt, telemetry, config
Leaving	remove
Reference	tour, docs, schema, version, feedback
rabbitbrain.ai	login, logout, sync

rb --help

usage: rb <command> [...]

The record of the experiments your coding agents run, as Rabbit Brain YAML files in your repo: questions, experiments with their hypothesis, variants and criteria, runs with receipts, and the resources they used. Agents record; rb checks and computes findings; you decide. Documentation: rb docs. New here? Run rb tour.

The record:
  init         start the record (.rb/) here
  project      title: the project's title
  question     add|move|reword: what the work is trying to find out, as a tree experiments are filed under
  experiment   add|file|relate|gate: what is tested: its purpose, hypothesis, variants and settings; where it is filed; how it stands to others; the decision it gates
  variant      add: an arm of an experiment: baseline, candidate, control, ablation
  note         add: words about an experiment or the project: an assumption, a caveat, context; a note changes no finding
  metric       add: the catalogue: a metric's unit, which way is better, its other names
  spec         set|verify|vary: an experiment's settings, where each value comes from, and whether rb has checked it
  criterion    add|file|relate: a rule over one comparison, declared before the evidence it reads
  run          add: what ran: its results, per-run settings, inputs and outputs, with a receipt
  analysis     add: a computation over saved outputs, and the comparisons it produced with their intervals
  resource     add|locate|expose: a dataset, checkpoint, code or artifact: what it is, where its bytes are, how to get it again, who has looked at it

Calls:
  freeze       lock an experiment's spec and criteria before the evidence, recorded with who locked it
  decide       a call on a criterion, an experiment, a question or a setting: accept, reject, investigate; continue, park, stop, pivot, ship. Recorded with who made it and why; in an agent session it is proposed until the user confirms it
  confirm      make a call proposed, or a past call mentioned, in an agent session yours, or an experiment's design one wrote: run in your own terminal; with no id, list what waits
  retract      take anything back: it stays on record, stops counting, and rb says what rested on it

Reading it:
  open         the catalogue in your browser, live and read-only, on 127.0.0.1 only
  ui           open this project in your terminal: your call, the cards, the tree (bare rb does this too)
  status       each criterion on its axes, and what is open, with who usually acts
  show         one record: a criterion with its finding, an experiment with its spec, a run with its receipt, e1/lr with its history; or a .yaml record file as canonical JSON
  compare      an experiment's own table: variants by metrics, with changes against the baseline
  log          every write, newest last: who, how, what
  context      the record as one Markdown briefing a fresh agent session reads first
  page         write the project as one self-contained, read-only HTML file you can send anywhere

Carrying it:
  export       write the project's page with a hashed manifest, readable without rb; with --with-record, the record too, as a portable bundle
  clone        start your own line of work from an exported bundle: the structure arrives inherited, and nothing counts until reproduced here
  env          the environment: check this machine against the record's runs and any env.* settings

For agents:
  mcp          serve the record to an agent over MCP (stdio); every call is recorded as the agent's
  skill        print the agent skill; `rb skill add` installs it for your coding agent
  journal      what rb observed in the repository: files that appeared, git moves, wrapped commands
  reconcile    compile the repository against the record: each results folder with a report as an experiment, what its files say (verbatim), its checks, how to reproduce it; --apply keeps it
  compile      list what existing reports and results files the record can place, and what it cannot; writes nothing

Upkeep:
  doctor       check the record: who you are recorded as, edits made outside rb, merge leftovers, sources outside the repository
  fmt          write Rabbit Brain YAML files in their canonical form, comments kept (default: every record file under .rb/)
  telemetry    optional usage analytics: off until you enable it; never sends research content
  config       rb's own settings on this machine: whether rb keeps itself up to date

Leaving:
  remove       take rb out of this checkout: only what checks out as rb's (the record, its instructions for agents, its pages and exports, its refs and folders in git), after showing the plan

Reference:
  tour         a one-minute walkthrough: builds a small real project in ./rb-tour and runs the whole loop
  docs         print AGENTS.md (--start: how to start the record in a project already under way; --errors: the error table)
  schema       print a JSON Schema: `rb schema all` is Rabbit Brain formats 1 and 2 (rb-v2.schema.json), `rb schema <kind>` one record's shape
  version      print the version
  feedback     a link to send feedback on rb: the page shows what it would send before you send it; rb sends nothing

rabbitbrain.ai:
  login        rabbitbrain.ai, optional: sign this machine in with a short code, approved on any device where you are signed in
  logout       revoke this machine's hub credential and remove it from the credentials file
  sync         rabbitbrain.ai, optional: a private copy of this record's page in your account, for your own eyes from anywhere

rb <command> --help for its arguments. Start: rb init "<the work's theme>", then rb question add for each question the work asks, and rb context.