version: "1.0.1" name: openrig-user description: Use when operating OpenRig with the rig CLI and you need the shipped command surface for identity, inventory, communication, lifecycle, specs, recovery, or agent-facing JSON output.

OpenRig User

This is an as-built guide to the shipped rig CLI. Use current code and rig ... --help as ground truth if anything here ever conflicts with older planning docs.

This is not the config-layer or builder guide. Use the substrate control-plane guidance for rigx and experimental overlays. Use the OpenRig builder guidance when changing OpenRig behavior, doctrine, or release posture.

Coordination primitives — when to use which

Three coordination surfaces, used together for forward-momentum work. Internalize this on first read — it shapes every turn you take in a rig.

rig send <seat> "<text>" — intra-pod direct messaging / nudges

Use when you need to ask a quick question or give a teammate context that does not carry handoff semantics. NOT for durable work. NOT for state that must survive across turns. The message lands in the target's pane; there is no durable queue record. The CLI prints Sent to ... (and Verified: yes/no with --verify); read the receipt and move on.

Example:

rig send velocity-guard@openrig-velocity "Heads up — filing per-commit handoff on slice-22 Bug 1 BONUS at tip 6b8673b6." --verify

rig queue create --source <X> --destination <Y> --tags <...> --body "<...>" — durable work item

Use for any substantive work that must not fall through chat — slice handoffs, guard verdicts, QA results, full-tip reviews, multi-item batches. Survives agent restarts. Tracked in the daemon SQLite schema. Surfaces in Project / queue views

• in the destination seat's inbox. Tag with mission / slice / gate / checkpoint

so future-you (and any peer) can find it.

Body discipline: substantive bodies go through a temp-file pattern, not inline --body with raw backticks — rig queue create body parsing breaks on unescaped backticks and rejects flag-like tokens.

Example:

rig queue create \
  --source redo-driver-2@openrig-velocity \
  --destination redo-guard-2@openrig-velocity \
  --tags "mission:release-0.3.2,slice:22-rig-up-paper-cut-fix-round,gate:guard,handoff:per-commit,checkpoint:bug-1-bonus" \
  --body "$(cat /tmp/per-commit-body.txt)"

rig queue handoff <qitem-id> --to <next> ... — hot-potato handoff

Use when you have completed your turn on a qitem and the work moves to the next owner. This is forward momentum. The ball passes to the destination seat; chain-of-record (the prior qitem id) is preserved so the verdict trail is intact; tags carry the phase boundary forward (e.g. gate:guard → gate:qa).

Example:

rig queue handoff qitem-20260601012431-d78aa805 \
  --to velocity-qa@openrig-velocity \
  --tags "mission:release-0.3.2,slice:22-rig-up-paper-cut-fix-round,gate:qa,handoff:adversarial-dogfood"

§1b doctrine — turn ends by passing the ball

A turn ends by passing the ball, never by going idle holding the slice waiting on a confirmation the process does not include. If the work was authorized, the per-commit guard + adversarial QA + orch heavy-verify are the guardrails — not an operator pre-commit gate. Do the authorized work and pass the ball.

Valid pauses are only:

• A genuine blocker — file a blocked-state qitem against the blocking peer or

surface explicitly to orch.

• A scope-or-architecture question that requires owner input and changes the

plan — surface to orch with the specific decision needed.

Implementing already-authorized work is neither of these. Proceed without phantom-gating on an imagined "next prompt" or "operator confirmation" that the process does not require.

Anti-patterns

• Using rig send for durable work → use rig queue create instead. Sends do

not survive restarts and do not show up in queue/project views.

• Idle-holding a slice for an imagined "next prompt" or "operator confirmation"

that the process does not require → pass the ball via rig queue handoff and proceed to the next slice or stand by for the inbound verdict. See the §1b doctrine above.

• Hand-coding rigx queue for new work → rig queue is the daemon-backed

canonical surface since the 2026-05-11 host-CLI fix. rigx queue is a recovery-only fallback; qitems written via rigx queue are invisible to daemon-backed reads and break fleet-wide routing discipline.

• Inlining a multi-line / backtick-heavy body into rig queue create --body

→ write the body to /tmp/<descriptive-name>.txt first, then --body "$(cat /tmp/<file>.txt)". The body parser does not tolerate raw backticks or flag-like tokens inline.

Runtime-Gated Coordination Primitives

OpenRig v0.3.1 is published publicly as @openrig/cli@0.3.1 and GitHub Release v0.3.1. It includes the bundled PL-004 Coordination Primitive System: Phase A rig stream / rig queue, Phase B rig project / rig view, Phase C rig watchdog, and Phase D rig workflow / workflow-keepalive.

These are shipped product surfaces in v0.3.x, but they require a compatible v0.3.x daemon and matching SQLite schema at runtime — the installed package version is not automatically the version of the daemon serving you. If a coordination command behaves unexpectedly, confirm the running daemon with rig whoami --json and daemon status before assuming a product bug.

Default posture:

• Treat daemon rig queue, rig stream, rig project, rig view, rig watchdog, and

rig workflow as the product coordination surfaces when the active daemon is v0.2.0 or newer.

• CANONICAL SURFACE NOTE (2026-05-11): rig queue (daemon-backed SQLite) became

the canonical queue-routing surface when the 2026-05-11 host-CLI fix landed. The coordination model is now load-bearing at the top of this skill — see "Coordination primitives — when to use which" above for the send / queue / queue-handoff usage model and the §1b doctrine. Auxiliary queue verbs: rig queue update / show / list complement rig queue create / handoff for in-flight inspection and state mutation.

• Use temporary substrate overlays such as rigx queue, rigx stream, rigx project, and

rigx view-proto only where the current OpenRig workstream explicitly says that legacy/control layer is still in use. For queue specifically, rigx queue is recovery-only fallback; qitems written via rigx queue are invisible to daemon-backed reads and break fleet-wide routing discipline.

• If a daemon-backed coordination command fails, debug the command/runtime/schema edge directly;

do not assume the right workaround is to drop back to a config-layer primitive.

• Do not perform daemon stop/start, production DB copy/mutation, release, publish, or other

consequence-boundary actions unless the operator/workstream has granted that specific gate.

First-user workspace setup

When booting into a rig on a host where the workspace is unset, gap-ridden, or points at a stale layout, address that before substantive project work. The shipped surface is small + bounded — reach for the canonical commands rather than improvising.

Detect workspace state at boot

Agent-actionable when the daemon is reachable.

rig workspace validate --json
rig workspace validate <path> --kind <user|project|knowledge|lab|delivery> --json

rig workspace validate walks the workspace root and emits a structured frontmatter-gap report against the v0 contract. Exit code is non-zero when gaps exist (operators chain into hygiene fix loops). Default root is the current directory; pass a positional path to validate elsewhere. --kind scopes the contract to a specific workspace kind; omit for a kind-agnostic structural check.

If rig workspace validate reports a non-zero gapCount OR the workspace root is unset / unwritable, the workspace needs instantiation — see the next section.

Instantiate the canonical workspace scaffold

Agent-actionable. Idempotent on existing dirs without --force.

rig config init-workspace
rig config init-workspace --root <path>
rig config init-workspace --dry-run --json

rig config init-workspace scaffolds the canonical workspace layout at the configured workspace.root (default ~/.openrig/workspace):

• missions/ — release missions + slices
• artifacts/ — work artifacts produced inside the workspace
• evidence/ — non-dogfood evidence (release evidence, proof packets, etc.)
• progress/ — progress index + per-mission rails
• field-notes/ — operator + agent observations
• specs/ — spec library (rig + agent + workflow YAML lives here)
• dogfood-evidence/ — dogfood proof packets + run artifacts

The scaffold seeds one example mission (getting-started) with multiple slices, and drops a workspace README.md + STEERING.md so a fresh install has browsable Project content. --root <path> targets a non-default root for this call; --dry-run reports what would be created without writing. --force overwrites existing FILES but never deletes directories — operator content is safe.

Redirect the workspace root

Operator-gated when persistent. Agent-actionable when one-shot via env-var.

For a single command:

OPENRIG_WORKSPACE_ROOT=<path> rig <command> ...

For a persistent host-level redirect, the operator changes the config file or runs the setter:

rig config set workspace.root <path>

ConfigStore precedence: OPENRIG_WORKSPACE_ROOT env > config-file workspace.root > built-in default ~/.openrig/workspace. The same precedence governs OPENRIG_WORKSPACE_SPECS_ROOT → workspace.specs_root (default <workspace_root>/specs).

Prefer the env-var form for one-shot redirects (transparent to operators); reserve rig config set for changes the operator owns.

Build a workspace from scratch

Agent-actionable. Same surface as the canonical scaffold above; the workspace.root cascade handles non-existent host paths.

rig config init-workspace --root /path/to/new/workspace

The command creates the root dir if missing (idempotent: existing root + populated subdirs is a no-op). Run rig workspace validate /path/to/new/workspace --json after to confirm the contract holds.

Create a workflow inside an existing workspace

Authoring is operator-or-agent; validation + instantiation are agent-actionable.

Workflow spec files live at:

<workspace_root>/specs/workflows/<name>.yaml

<workspace_root> resolves via the ConfigStore precedence named above. There is no rig workflow create verb in v0.3.x — the spec YAML is authored directly. Template by hand from the documented schema, or copy a built-in starter from <openrig install>/dist/builtins/workflow-specs/ and adapt. Once written:

rig workflow validate <workspace_root>/specs/workflows/<name>.yaml --json
 
rig workflow instantiate <workspace_root>/specs/workflows/<name>.yaml \
  --root-objective "<one-line objective for the run>" \
  --created-by <your-session>@<your-rig> \
  --json

Both --root-objective <text> and --created-by <session> are REQUIRED on instantiate — omitting either yields a Commander required-option error before the daemon is contacted. --entry-owner <session> is an optional override for the entry-step owner; default routing is per the workflow spec.

validate returns a structured ok/error report; instantiate creates a workflow instance + entry-step qitem. Inspect existing surface state with:

rig workflow specs --json   # list registered specs (built-in + operator-authored)
rig workflow list --json    # list active workflow instances
rig workflow show <instanceId> --json

v0.3.x Starter, Workspace, And Plugin Surfaces

OpenRig v0.3.0 adds rig agent-image, rig context-pack, rig workspace, and rig config init-workspace. It also shifts fresh-user starter guidance toward product-team for human-directed work and conveyor for workflow-oriented work. Treat demo as legacy/test content unless a task specifically asks for the old demo spec.

OpenRig v0.3.1 adds public package/source surfaces for Plugin Primitive v0, Claude Auto-Compaction Policy, migration 040_workflow_specs_diagnostic, Library Explorer finishing, Settings Destination Explorer, Dashboard/For You vellum refresh, storytelling adapter, and action outcome + inline error UX.

rig plugin is read-only at v0:

rig plugin list
rig plugin show <id>
rig plugin used-by <id>
rig plugin validate <path>

There is no rig plugin install verb in v0.3.1. Plugin installation remains explicit operator copy/symlink to $OPENRIG_HOME/plugins/<plugin-id>/.

Claude auto-compaction policy is opt-in default-off. The v0.3.1 package and this host's active daemon ship policies.claude_compaction.* ConfigStore keys, but no behavior changes unless the operator enables the policy.

Known v0.3.0/v0.3.1 caveats:

• rig down <name> --delete still returns 404 in the known D1 path; use

rig ps to find the rig ID and then rig down <rigId> --delete.

• rig queue / rig view JSON and limit compatibility drift is an open

follow-up from host-adoption proof; treat it as a compatibility caveat, not a daemon-health failure.

• Queue/view JSON/limit drift is now refined as a wrapper-layer routing issue,

not a daemon-layer issue; use human-readable output for affected wrapper commands until v0.3.2.

• First v0.3.1 daemon start hit a plugin-vendor fallback health-probe timeout;

controlled retry succeeded. Manual retry is the current workaround.

• Topology mobile drawer restoration and plugin source-label taxonomy are

v0.3.2 carry-forwards.

Core Loop

Most work in OpenRig reduces to this loop:

• recover identity: rig whoami --json
• inspect inventory: rig ps --nodes --json
• read context: rig transcript ..., rig ask ..., rig chatroom history ...
• act: rig send, rig capture, rig broadcast, lifecycle commands

Agent-Managed Apps

An agent-managed app is a deployable OpenRig unit made of:

• the software or service
• one specialist agent dedicated to that software

Treat the specialist as the domain delegate for that app. The current canonical example is:

• rig: secrets-manager
• pod: vault
• member: specialist
• logical ID: vault.specialist
• session: vault-specialist@secrets-manager

Typical operator loop:

rig up secrets-manager --cwd /path/to/project
rig ps --nodes --json
rig send vault-specialist@secrets-manager "Check Vault health and report back." --verify
rig env status secrets-manager
rig env logs secrets-manager

Cross-rig communication is valid when the target session resolves uniquely. Example:

rig send vault-specialist@secrets-manager "Read secret/data/dogfood and report the value." --verify

Use the specialist instead of teaching every peer the same app-specific toolchain. For Vault, ask vault.specialist to do secrets-domain work rather than improvising curl or Vault CLI usage in unrelated agents.

Identity and Recovery

Start here after launch, compaction, or confusion:

rig whoami --json

What it gives you today:

• identity: rig, logical ID, pod/member, session name, runtime
• peers and directional edges
• transcript info
• contextUsage when available

Flags:

rig whoami --session <name>
rig whoami --node-id <id>

If the daemon is unreachable but identity can still be inferred, --json may return a partial result instead of crashing.

Inventory and Monitoring

rig ps
rig ps --json
rig ps --nodes
rig ps --nodes --json

Use rig ps --nodes --json for the current node inventory across rigs. It is the best machine-readable operator surface for:

• session name
• runtime
• session/startup status
• restore outcome
• attach/resume commands
• latest error

Other health surfaces:

rig status
rig daemon status
rig config
rig preflight
rig doctor
rig env status <rig>
rig env logs <rig>
rig env down <rig>

Transcript and Communication

Transcript access

rig transcript <session> --tail 100
rig transcript <session> --grep "pattern"
rig transcript <session> --json

Send to one session

rig send <session> "message"
rig send <session> "message" --verify
rig send <session> "message" --force
rig send <session> "message" --json

Use --verify when you want delivery evidence. Use --force only when you intentionally want to bypass activity-risk checks.

Observed operator nuance for --verify:

• Sent to ... + Verified: yes = strong positive delivery evidence.
• Sent to ... + Verified: no = ambiguous delivery, not automatic failure. The message may still land; treat this as verification drift until disproven.
• no Sent to ... line or a hard error = send failure.

When you get Verified: no, do not immediately retry blindly. First check one of:

• a direct reply from the target
• rig capture <session>
• transcript evidence
• queue/outbox state if the message asked for a durable handoff

Capture terminal output

rig capture <session>
rig capture <session> --lines 50
rig capture --rig <name>
rig capture --pod <name> --rig <name>
rig capture --rig <name> --json

Broadcast

rig broadcast --rig <name> "message"
rig broadcast --pod <name> "message"
rig broadcast "message"
rig broadcast --rig <name> "message" --json

Without --rig or --pod, broadcast targets all running sessions.

Chatroom

rig chatroom send <rig> <message> [--sender <name>]
rig chatroom history <rig> [--topic <name>] [--after <id>] [--since <ts>] [--sender <name>] [--limit <n>] [--json]
rig chatroom wait <rig> [--after <id>] [--topic <name>] [--sender <name>] [--timeout <seconds>] [--json]
rig chatroom clear <rig>
rig chatroom topic <rig> <topic-name> [--body <text>] [--sender <name>]
rig chatroom watch <rig> [--tmux]

Key commands:

• send — post a message
• history — retrieve with composable filters (sender, since, after, topic)
• wait — block until new matching messages arrive (polls history, times out honestly)
• clear — delete all messages for the rig (destructive, rig-scoped)
• topic — set a topic marker
• watch — SSE or tmux-based live stream

Roundtable protocol:

1. Inspect old room: rig chatroom history my-rig --limit 5
2. Save if needed: rig chatroom history my-rig --json > /tmp/old-room.json
3. Clear if needed: rig chatroom clear my-rig
4. Set topic: rig chatroom topic my-rig "ROUND START"
5. Post: rig chatroom send my-rig "position..." --sender <session>
6. Monitor: rig chatroom wait my-rig --timeout 120
7. Close: rig chatroom topic my-rig "ROUND CLOSED"

See docs/planning/roadmaps/chatroom-roundtable-protocol.md for the full protocol.

rig ask

rig ask <rig> "question"
rig ask <rig> "question" --json

Current shipped behavior:

• queries the daemon for evidence
• returns rig summary
• returns transcript excerpts
• may return chat excerpts
• returns insufficiency state and optional guidance

This is an evidence/context command. It is not a hidden second-LLM call.

Lifecycle

Bring a rig up

rig up <source>
rig up <source> --plan
rig up <source> --yes
rig up <source> --cwd /path/to/project
rig up <source> --json

<source> can be:

• a rig spec path
• a .rigbundle path
• a bare name

Bare names are special:

• if they match a library spec, rig up launches from the spec library
• if they do not match a library spec, rig up treats the name as an existing-rig restore/power-on target
• if both exist, rig up fails loudly on ambiguity

Current behavior notes:

• --target <root> is only for .rigbundle / package installation. It does not change agent cwd.
• rig up --cwd is shipped. rig up --cwd <path> sends a per-run cwd override for all members in that launch.
• local: agent_ref values resolve relative to the rig spec directory, not your shell cwd.
• if you copy a built-in spec elsewhere, keep its agents/ tree beside the YAML or rewrite those refs to path:/absolute/path
• rig specs add <directory> installs a full spec tree when the directory contains rig.yaml or agent.yaml.

Legacy/spec-specific surfaces still ship too:

rig bootstrap <spec> [--plan] [--yes] [--json]
rig requirements <spec> [--json]

Tear a rig down

rig down <rigId>
rig down <rigId> --snapshot
rig down <rigId> --delete
rig down <rigId> --force
rig down <rigId> --json

If --snapshot succeeds, human output includes the restore hint.

Environment services

rig env status <rig>
rig env logs <rig> [service]
rig env down <rig>

Use these for service-backed rigs and agent-managed apps. For secrets-manager, these are the fastest CLI surfaces for:

• confirming whether Vault is healthy
• reading Vault container logs
• stopping the Vault env without tearing down the specialist session first

Release management without killing live claimed sessions

rig release <rigId>
rig release <rigId> --delete
rig release <rigId> --json

Use rig release for adopted/claimed-session rigs when you want OpenRig to stop managing the rig but leave the tmux sessions alive. This is the safe recovery/reset surface for the "sessions still exist, management is broken or stale" case. If the rig contains OpenRig-launched nodes, rig release refuses loudly instead of pretending the mixed rig is safe to detach.

Snapshots and restore

rig snapshot <rigId>
rig snapshot list <rigId>
rig restore <snapshotId> --rig <rigId>

rig restore requires --rig <rigId>.

Claude Code autonomy note:

• unattended rig whoami on boot may require the local permission allow list to include Bash(rig:*)

Import/export and bundles

rig export <rigId> -o rig.yaml
rig import <path> [--instantiate] [--materialize-only] [--preflight] [--target-rig <rigId>] [--rig-root <root>]
rig bundle create <spec> -o out.rigbundle
rig bundle inspect <bundle>
rig bundle install <bundle> [--plan] [--yes] [--target <root>] [--json]

Legacy package surface

This still ships, but is explicitly marked legacy:

rig package validate <path>
rig package plan <path> [--target <dir>] [--runtime <runtime>] [--role <name>]
rig package install <path> [--target <dir>] [--runtime <runtime>] [--role <name>] [--allow-merge]
rig package list
rig package rollback <installId>

Discovery and Topology Mutation

Discover unmanaged tmux sessions

rig discover
rig discover --json
rig discover --draft

Bind a discovered session

rig bind <discoveredId> --rig <rigId> --node <logicalId>
rig bind <discoveredId> --rig <rigId> --pod <namespace> --member <name>

There is no shipped top-level rig claim command. The current adoption surface is discover, bind, adopt, and unclaim.

Self-attach the current shell or agent

rig attach --self --rig <rigId> --node <logicalId>
rig attach --self --rig <rigId> --node <logicalId> --print-env
rig attach --self --rig <rigId> --pod <namespace> --member <name> --runtime <runtime>

Use rig attach --self when the current agent should attach itself directly instead of going through discover + bind.

Current proven behavior:

• inside tmux: attaches as a normal tmux-backed node, preserving inbound rig send / rig capture
• outside tmux: attaches as external_cli
• --print-env prints the OPENRIG_NODE_ID and OPENRIG_SESSION_NAME exports for the current shell

Recommended flow:

rig attach --self --rig <rigId> --node <logicalId> --print-env > /tmp/openrig-self-attach.env
. /tmp/openrig-self-attach.env
rig whoami --json

Notes:

• for tmux-backed self-attach, rig whoami --json is the right verification
• for raw/external self-attach, rig ps --nodes --json is currently the more reliable verification surface
• if the current shell is outside tmux, pass --display-name <name> when you want a stable human session label recorded

Adopt a topology and bind live sessions

rig adopt <path> --bind <logicalId=tmuxSessionOrDiscoveryId>
rig adopt <path> --bind <logicalId=...> --bind <logicalId=...> --json
rig adopt <path> --bindings-file <bindings.yaml>
rig adopt <path> --bind <logicalId=...> --target-rig <rigId> --rig-root <root>

Use rig adopt when the sessions already exist and you want OpenRig to start managing them.

A bindings file is the durable map from authored logical IDs to live sessions. Shape:

bindings:
  dev1.impl2: dev1.impl2@rigged-buildout
  dev1.qa: dev1.qa@rigged-buildout

Spec + bindings is the proven recovery pair for adopted rigs. Spec gives OpenRig the intended topology. Bindings tells OpenRig which discovered live session belongs in each logical node.

Proven adopted-rig recovery workflow

This workflow is proven for the case where the external tmux sessions are still alive:

rig release <rigId> --delete
rig discover --json
rig adopt <spec.yaml> --bindings-file <bindings.yaml>

What this does:

• removes OpenRig management without killing the sessions
• re-discovers those same sessions as unmanaged
• re-attaches them to the topology defined by the spec + bindings

Important limits:

• this is for sessions still alive
• spec alone is not enough for adopted rigs; you also need bindings
• this does not yet mean OpenRig can recreate dead external sessions from nothing

Add unmanaged pods into an existing rig

This is the proven workflow when a rig is already managed, but a new pod was created outside OpenRig and you want to add it later:

rig adopt <pod-fragment.yaml> --bindings-file <pod.bindings.yaml> --target-rig <rigId>

Use this when:

• the target rig already exists
• the new sessions are live and visible in rig discover --json
• you want additive topology growth, not a full rebuild

What to prepare:

• a pod fragment spec with only the new pod
• a bindings file mapping the new logical IDs to the live session names

Verification loop:

rig discover --json
rig adopt <fragment.yaml> --bindings-file <bindings.yaml> --target-rig <rigId>
rig ps --nodes --json
rig export <rigId> -o rig.yaml

Success looks like:

• the new sessions stop appearing in rig discover
• the new logical IDs appear in rig ps --nodes --json
• rig export includes the new pod

Mixed-origin rigs are allowed

One rig can contain both:

• adopted nodes bound from already-running sessions
• OpenRig-launched nodes created later with rig expand / rig launch

Current safety rule:

• rig release is for claimed/adopted-only rigs
• if a rig contains launched nodes, rig release fails with contains_launched_nodes

Manager-assisted recovery

The proven operator pattern is:

• keep one OpenRig manager session outside the rig it manages
• address the target by rig name, not cached rig ID
• resolve the current owner from fresh rig ps --nodes --json
• send the manager the spec path, bindings path, and verification steps with rig send

This lets ordinary agents ask the manager for OpenRig help instead of every agent needing to be an OpenRig expert.

Add/remove running topology parts

rig expand <rig-id> <pod-fragment-path> [--rig-root <path>] [--json]
rig launch <rigId> <nodeRef> [--json]
rig remove <rigId> <nodeRef> [--json]
rig shrink <rigId> <podRef> [--json]
rig unclaim <sessionRef> [--json]

Specs and Validation

Validate specs

rig spec validate <path> [--json]
rig spec preflight <path> [--rig-root <root>] [--json]
rig agent validate <path> [--json]

Spec library

rig specs ls [--kind <kind>] [--json]
rig specs show <name-or-id> [--json]
rig specs preview <name-or-id> [--json]
rig specs add <yaml-or-directory> [--json]
rig specs sync [--json]
rig specs remove <name-or-id> [--json]
rig specs rename <name-or-id> <new-name> [--json]

MCP

rig mcp serve [--port <port>]

Current shipped MCP tools:

• rig_up
• rig_down
• rig_ps
• rig_status
• rig_snapshot_create
• rig_snapshot_list
• rig_restore
• rig_discover
• rig_bind
• rig_bundle_inspect
• rig_agent_validate
• rig_rig_validate
• rig_rig_nodes
• rig_send
• rig_capture
• rig_chatroom_send
• rig_chatroom_watch

Troubleshooting and Weird States

When the CLI behaves strangely, use the smallest truthful check first:

rig whoami --json
rig daemon status
rig ps --nodes --json

Specific operator rules:

• Sent to ... + Verified: no is ambiguous delivery, not automatic failure. Check reply, rig capture, transcript evidence, or queue/outbox state before retrying.
• partial rig whoami --json can happen when identity is still inferable but the daemon-backed path is degraded.
• the unified-exec-process warning is a host/tooling-layer signal, not automatic proof that the OpenRig topology is unhealthy.

If you hit the unified-exec warning, inspect for stale one-shot helpers before touching live seats:

ps -axo pid,ppid,command | rg 'tmux send-keys|rig queue create|tmux attach|codex|claude'

Safe cleanup target:

• orphaned one-shot wrappers like tmux send-keys ...

Do not mass-kill:

• tmux attach ...
• codex ...
• claude ...

For deeper host/runtime triage, use the companion openrig-operator skill if it is available in your seat.

JSON and Error Posture

Design assumptions that hold in the shipped CLI:

• many operator commands support --json
• error messages are intended to say what happened, why it matters, and what to do next
• daemon-backed commands fail loudly when the daemon is stopped or unhealthy
• restore failure is not something you should silently reinterpret as success

After-Compaction Recovery Checklist

1. rig whoami --json
2. rig transcript <your-session> --tail 100
3. rig ps --nodes --json
4. rig chatroom history <rig> --limit 50

Commands That Do Not Exist

Do not assume these exist unless the shipped help starts listing them:

• rig claim
• rig blame
• rig replay