---

Most AI CLIs are optimized for conversation. IOSM CLI is optimized for controlled engineering execution — working directly against your filesystem and shell, orchestrating parallel agents across complex tasks, tracking metrics and artifacts over time, and running improvement cycles that can be audited, repeated, and benchmarked.

It is not a chat interface. It is a runtime.

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✦ What's New in 0.3.13

• Hotkeys are now more reliable across terminals and OSes:
  • added fallback bindings for unstable control combos (Ctrl+O/T/P/L now have Alt+... alternatives)
  • model cycling and selector shortcuts are more robust in Windows terminal environments
  • reverse model cycling is explicitly surfaced in /hotkeys
• Ctrl+Z/suspend behavior was hardened:
  • suspend is disabled on Windows by default (no broken signal path)
  • unsupported suspend environments now recover TUI safely and show a warning instead of breaking the session
• Keybinding configuration compatibility was improved:
  • supports both action -> key(s) (preferred) and legacy key -> action formats
  • normalizes common variants (Control+..., case/spacing differences)
  • includes action aliases like nextModel, previousModel, openModelSelector
• Keyboard docs and runtime hints were aligned:
  • updated interactive/docs/configuration examples to the real supported format
  • /hotkeys now displays active bind values (including platform-specific image-paste key)

✦ Major Additions in 0.2.16

• Policy Engine v2 for deterministic layered permission resolution across interactive and RPC modes
• Session/turn-scoped permission approvals to reduce repetitive confirmation prompts in ask mode
• Security baseline for package and extension sources: trust ledger, host allowlist checks, fingerprint/integrity verification, explicit consent flow
• MCP trust enforcement with per-tool policy decision tracing
• Opt-in Linux sandbox execution with explicit bwrap requirement validation
• Filesystem checkpointing (snapshot/restore) integrated into command execution flow with deterministic rollback order
• ACP adapter mode (--mode acp) over existing RPC/event bus with capability degradation mapping
• New built-in tools: apply_patch, tool_search, and tool_suggest
• PTY-based unified execution runtime support for interactive process workflows
• Faster session resume path via indexed session lookup
• Schema-driven settings with generated configuration documentation and CI consistency checks
• Improved task UX in interactive mode: structured checklist rendering for task-state operations instead of raw JSON payload dumps

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Table of Contents

• What You Get
• The IOSM Methodology
• Quick Start
• Usage Patterns
• Agent Profiles
• Complex Change Workflow
• Integration Modes
• Extensibility
• Configuration
• Architecture
• Documentation
• Development
• Contributing
• License

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✦ What You Get

Area	Capability
Everyday coding	Interactive terminal session with file, search, edit, and shell tools
Operational safety	/checkpoint, /rollback, /doctor, granular permission controls
Complex changes	/contract → /singular → /swarm — deterministic execution with locks and gates
Codebase understanding	Semantic search, repository-scale indexing, project memory
Multi-agent work	Parallel subagents with shared memory and consistency model
Background execution	Detached shell runs (! <command> &) with /bg process management
Methodology	IOSM cycles: measurable improvement with metrics, evidence, and artifact history
Integrations	Interactive TUI, print mode, JSON event stream, JSON-RPC server, Telegram bridge, TypeScript SDK
Extensibility	MCP servers, TypeScript extensions, Markdown skills, prompt templates, themes

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✦ The IOSM Methodology

IOSM — Improve, Optimize, Shrink, Modularize — is an algorithmic methodology for systematic engineering improvement. It transforms ad-hoc refactoring into a reproducible, measurable process.

Four mandatory phases — executed in strict order:

Improve → Optimize → Shrink → Modularize

Phase	Focus
Improve	Eliminate defects, inconsistencies, and technical debt
Optimize	Reduce resource usage, latency, and execution cost
Shrink	Minimize code surface — delete dead code, compress abstractions
Modularize	Extract cohesive components, enforce dependency hygiene

Six canonical metrics track progress across every phase:

Metric	Measures
semantic	Code clarity — naming, comments, structure readability
logic	Correctness — test coverage, error handling, invariants
performance	Runtime efficiency — latency, throughput, resource usage
simplicity	Cognitive load — cyclomatic complexity, abstraction depth
modularity	Dependency health — coupling, cohesion, interface clarity
flow	Delivery velocity — CI reliability, deploy frequency, lead time

Metrics can be derived automatically or attached as evidence during IOSM cycles.

The IOSM-Index aggregates all six metrics into a single weighted health score. Every cycle produces a baseline, hypothesis cards, evidence trails, and a final report — stored in .iosm/ for permanent project history.

Quality gates after each phase enforce progression: a phase cannot close if any guardrail is breached.

Full specification: iosm-spec.md · Canonical repository: github.com/rokoss21/IOSM

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✦ Quick Start

1. Install

npm install -g iosm-cli
iosm --version

Requirements: Node.js >=20.6.0 · at least one authenticated model provider

No global install? Use npx:

npx iosm-cli --version

2. Configure a provider

The fastest path is interactive setup inside the app:

iosm
/login      ← OAuth or API key (models.dev catalog)
/model      ← pick your model

Or set an environment variable before launching:

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."   # Claude (recommended)
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."          # GPT models
export GEMINI_API_KEY="AI..."           # Gemini
export GROQ_API_KEY="gsk_..."           # Groq
# Also supported: OpenRouter, Mistral, xAI, Cerebras, AWS Bedrock

3. Run your first session

cd /path/to/your/project

# Interactive mode
iosm

# Or one-shot without entering the TUI
iosm -p "Summarize the repository architecture"

Inside interactive mode:

Review the repository structure and summarize the architecture.

4. Optional — enhanced search toolchain

Works without these, but large repositories benefit significantly:

# macOS
brew install ripgrep fd ast-grep comby jq yq semgrep

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt-get install -y ripgrep fd-find jq yq sed

Run /doctor to check your environment at any time.

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✦ Usage Patterns

Daily coding and repository work

Default full profile. Works on any codebase without prior setup.

iosm

Common tasks:

• implement or refactor features
• read, search, and edit files with full shell access
• run long shell jobs in background (! npm run dev &) and manage them through /bg interactive menu (list/running/status/logs/stop/stop-all/prune)
• treat "start/run project or dev server" requests as detached background jobs by default, then follow with /bg status|logs|stop
• manage extension lifecycle from chat with /extensions (/ext) for list/install/update/remove/enable/disable
• review architecture or explore unfamiliar modules
• resume previous sessions: /resume, /fork, /tree
• keep persistent notes: /memory

One-shot tasks skip the interactive TUI entirely:

iosm -p "Audit src/ for unused exports"
iosm @README.md @src/main.ts -p "Explain the CLI entry points"
iosm --tools read,grep,find -p "Find all TODO comments in src/"

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Read-only planning and review

Use plan when you want architecture analysis or code review without any writes.

iosm --profile plan

The agent is restricted to read-only tools. Nothing can be written to disk. Useful for code review, architecture audits, or exploring a codebase you are unfamiliar with before making changes.

---

Complex or risky engineering changes

Define constraints → analyze options → execute with guardrails:

/contract
/singular Refactor auth module, split token validation from session management

/singular produces three implementation options with trade-off analysis. Select one, then choose Start with Swarm to hand off to the execution runtime.

/swarm will not start without an active /contract. If none exists, it prompts you to draft one automatically.

The swarm runtime then executes with locks, gates, retries, and checkpoints, writing per-run artifacts under .iosm/orchestrate/<run-id>/.

Monitor and control the run:

/swarm watch     ← live status
/swarm retry     ← retry failed gates
/swarm resume    ← continue interrupted runs

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Measurable codebase improvement (IOSM cycles)

Use the iosm profile for structured improvement with metric tracking and artifact history.

iosm --profile iosm

Bootstrap the workspace once:

/init

Run a full improvement cycle targeting an IOSM-Index of 0.95:

/iosm 0.95 --max-iterations 5

Or use CLI subcommands:

iosm init                             # bootstrap .iosm/ workspace
iosm cycle plan "Reduce auth complexity" "Improve test coverage"
iosm cycle status                     # check phase progress and gate results
iosm cycle report                     # full JSON report
iosm cycle list                       # history of all cycles

Artifacts are written to .iosm/cycles/<cycle-id>/ — baselines, hypothesis cards, phase data, and final reports.

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✦ Agent Profiles

Profiles control tool access, thinking level, and behavioral guidance injected into the model's system prompt.

Primary profiles — operator-facing:

Profile	Best for	Tool access	Thinking
full	General engineering (default)	Full toolset	Medium
meta	Orchestration-first, parallel delegation	Full toolset	Medium
iosm	IOSM cycles, artifact-aware refactoring	Full + IOSM context	Medium
plan	Read-only planning and code review	Read-only	Medium

Specialist profiles — for subagent delegation and targeted work:

Profile	Best for	Tool access	Thinking
explore	Fast codebase exploration (no writes)	Read, grep, find, ls	Off
iosm_analyst	Reading .iosm/ artifacts, reporting	Read-only	Low
iosm_verifier	Verifying changes, updating .iosm/	bash, read, write, test_run, lint_run, typecheck_run	Low
cycle_planner	Planning IOSM cycles, writing hypotheses	bash, read, write	Medium

Select at startup:

iosm --profile plan
iosm --profile iosm

Switch during a session: Shift+Tab (cycles through primary profiles), or select via the TUI.

meta prioritizes orchestration and delegation over direct execution. Strong results require a capable model with a large context window and reliable tool-calling. For ordinary sessions, full is the better default.

---

✦ Complex Change Workflow

For non-trivial changes, the recommended path is a controlled progression rather than a single giant prompt.

flowchart LR
  A[Goal] --> B["/contract"]
  B --> C["/singular"]
  C --> D["/swarm"]
  D --> E[Verified changes]
  E --> F["/iosm cycle"]
  F --> G[Artifacts + history]

Step-by-step:

1. Define scope — /contract sets what is in scope, what is protected, and what model behavior is expected
2. Analyze options — /singular <request> produces three implementation plans with trade-off analysis
3. Execute with guardrails — /swarm run <task> enforces a deterministic control model:

   Scopes → Touches → Locks → Gates → Done
   

4. Measure — follow with /iosm to capture metric changes as part of a formal cycle

Run artifacts: .iosm/orchestrate/<run-id>/ — run state, DAG, checkpoints, events, final report.

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✦ Integration Modes

Mode	Use case	How
Interactive TUI	Daily engineering work	iosm
Print mode	One-shot tasks, shell scripts	iosm -p "..."
CI / automation	Contract-driven runs inside pipelines	iosm -p "..." — exits non-zero on failure
JSON stream	Machine-readable event output	iosm --mode json -p "..."
RPC server	IDE / editor integration	iosm --mode rpc --no-session
Telegram bridge	Mobile remote control over Telegram	iosm --mode telegram
TypeScript SDK	Embed the runtime in your own application	createAgentSession()

# Print mode — one-shot task
iosm -p "Review src/auth.ts for security issues"

# Constrain which tools are available
iosm --tools read,grep,find,ls -p "Audit src/ for dead code"

# Pre-load files as context
iosm @src/main.ts @src/core/sdk.ts -p "Explain the session lifecycle"

# JSON stream for programmatic consumption
iosm --mode json -p "Summarize the repository" | jq -r 'select(.type=="text_delta") | .delta'

# RPC server for editor integrations
iosm --mode rpc --no-session

# Telegram remote control bridge (requires telegram settings)
iosm --mode telegram

# Telegram bridge with explicit root-agent profile
iosm telegram --profile full
iosm telegram --profile meta
iosm telegram --profile iosm
iosm telegram --profile plan

Telegram bridge tips:

• Keep tasks/output expectations focused; very large outputs are delivered as compact chat summaries plus file attachments.
• For heavy audits, ask the agent to generate/run script files instead of fragile mega one-liners.
• On Windows, prefer .ps1/.cmd script execution for complex quoting scenarios.

---

✦ Extensibility

iosm-cli acts as a runtime platform rather than a closed CLI tool. Every layer is open to extension.

Extension surfaces

Surface	Capability
MCP servers	Connect external services as tools (user-level or project-level via .mcp.json)
TypeScript extensions	Custom tools, slash commands, hooks, UI components, provider adapters
Markdown skills	Reusable multi-step workflows as slash commands
Prompt templates	Parameterized prompts available as slash commands
JSON themes	Customize terminal colors and TUI appearance

Install from npm, git, or a local path:

iosm install npm:@yourorg/your-extension
iosm install git:github.com/yourorg/your-extension@main
iosm install ./local-extension --local
iosm list
iosm update

Included examples

• 66 extension examples — tools, hooks, UI, commands
• 12 SDK examples — programmatic session usage
• Plan-mode extension
• Subagent orchestration extension

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✦ Configuration

Settings merge in priority order: CLI flags > project .iosm/settings.json > global ~/.iosm/agent/settings.json.

Key paths

~/.iosm/agent/
├── settings.json        # global defaults
├── auth.json            # provider credentials
├── models.json          # model configuration
├── mcp.json             # global MCP servers
├── keybindings.json     # keyboard shortcuts
└── sessions/            # session persistence

.iosm/                   # project workspace (created by /init or iosm init)
├── iosm.yaml            # methodology config: phases, gates, guardrails, weights
├── IOSM.md              # auto-generated project playbook
├── contract.json        # active engineering contract
├── cycles/              # IOSM cycle artifacts
├── orchestrate/         # swarm run artifacts
└── settings.json        # project overrides

Key settings

{
  "model": {
    "provider": "anthropic",
    "id": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
    "thinking": "medium"
  },
  "tools": {
    "enabled": ["read", "bash", "edit", "write", "grep", "rg"],
    "bashTimeout": 30000
  },
  "session": {
    "autoCompact": true,
    "compactThreshold": 100000
  },
  "promptContext": {
    "enableContextDedupe": true,
    "maxContextCharsPerFile": 4000,
    "maxTotalContextChars": 12000,
    "enableGitSnapshotContext": false,
    "gitSnapshotMaxChars": 2000
  },
  "permissions": {
    "autoApprove": false,
    "extensionToolEnforcement": false
  }
}

Run /settings inside the TUI to view and modify all settings interactively.

---

✦ Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                         User                            │
│         CLI flags · slash commands · SDK calls          │
└────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────┘
                         │
┌────────────────────────▼────────────────────────────────┐
│                   iosm-cli runtime                      │
│   Interactive TUI · Print mode · JSON stream · RPC      │
│   Session persistence · Checkpoints · Contracts         │
└──────────┬──────────────────────────┬───────────────────┘
           │                          │
┌──────────▼─────────────┐  ┌─────────▼───────────────────┐
│      Agent engine      │  │        Orchestrator         │
│  Model · Profiles      │  │  /swarm · /singular · /meta │
│  Thinking · Tools      │  │  Shared memory · Locks      │
└──────────┬─────────────┘  └─────────┬───────────────────┘
           │                          │
┌──────────▼──────────────────────────▼───────────────────┐
│                       Tool layer                        │
│  read · edit · write · fs_ops · test_run · lint_run · typecheck_run · db_run · bash · grep · rg · fd · ast_grep │
│  comby · jq · yq · semgrep · sed · semantic_search · lsp · fetch · web_search · git_read · git_write │
└─────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────┘
                          │
┌─────────────────────────▼───────────────────────────────┐
│                   Filesystem + Shell                    │
│          Project codebase · External processes          │
└─────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────┘
                          │
┌─────────────────────────▼───────────────────────────────┐
│               Artifacts + IOSM cycles                   │
│   .iosm/cycles/  ·  .iosm/orchestrate/  ·  sessions/    │
│   metrics-history.jsonl  ·  decision-log.md             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Every layer is independently configurable: tool access per profile, orchestration via swarm or manual delegation, persistence toggleable per session, extension hooks attachable at the tool, command, and event layers of the runtime.

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✦ Documentation

Topic	Link
Documentation index	docs/README.md
Getting started	docs/getting-started.md
CLI reference	docs/cli-reference.md
Interactive mode and slash commands	docs/interactive-mode.md
IOSM init and cycles	docs/iosm-init-and-cycles.md
Orchestration and subagents	docs/orchestration-and-subagents.md
Configuration and environment	docs/configuration.md
Extensions, packages, skills, themes	docs/extensions-packages-themes.md
Sessions, traces, export	docs/sessions-traces-export.md
JSON stream, RPC, SDK	docs/rpc-json-sdk.md
Development and testing	docs/development-and-testing.md
Changelog	CHANGELOG.md
IOSM specification (v1.0)	iosm-spec.md
Canonical IOSM repository	github.com/rokoss21/IOSM

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✦ Development

git clone https://github.com/rokoss21/iosm-cli.git
cd iosm-cli
npm install
npm run check    # typecheck
npm test         # run tests (vitest)
npm run build    # compile to dist/

Additional scripts:

npm run dev            # watch mode (incremental compilation)
npm run build:binary   # standalone Bun binary
npm run deploy-local   # build and sync local install

Repository layout:

src/           TypeScript source
test/          Vitest test suites
docs/          Reference documentation
examples/      Extension and SDK examples (66 + 12)
iosm-spec.md   IOSM methodology specification

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✦ Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development workflow, testing requirements, and contribution guidelines.

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Please open an issue before starting large changes.

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✦ License

MIT © 2026 Emil Rokossovskiy