Command line
Every baton command, with its options. baton --help prints the short version, and a mistyped
command suggests the right one.
#Starting
| Command | What it does |
|---|
baton | Open Baton in this project. The first time, it sets the folder up (finds your agents and test command, writes .baton/config.toml). If Baton is already running here, this re-attaches to it. |
baton "<task>" | Open Baton and hand the task straight to the orchestrator. |
baton demo [task] | Simulated agents, no tokens: learn the screen safely. --workers 8 sets the team size, --speed 2 slows it down, and --no-task waits for you to type one. |
baton init | Run the project setup again. -y accepts the defaults. |
Options for baton and baton demo:
| Option | Meaning |
|---|
--orchestrator <agent> | Which agent leads, for this session (claude, codex, opencode, …). |
--autonomy <normal|auto|yolo|ask> | Start with this autonomy level for every agent. --yolo is short for --autonomy yolo. |
--theme <name> · --layout <grid|list|focus|swarm|wide> | Looks for this session (saved settings are untouched). |
-c, --continue | Bring back the agents that were running when the last run ended. |
--resume [run] | The same for a given run (an id, or its end, from baton history); alone, it opens the list to pick from. |
-y, --yes | Accept setup defaults without asking. |
#Running without the screen
baton run "update the changelog for the last release" --approve all --json
| Option | Meaning |
|---|
--approve ask (default) | Ask on the terminal when an agent needs permission. |
--approve all / --approve none | Allow / deny everything your policy doesn't settle itself. Use one of these in CI. |
--json | Print every event as one JSON line (for scripts). |
--timeout <seconds> | Give up after this long (default 3600). |
--autonomy, --yolo, --orchestrator | As above. |
The exit code is 0 when the run finished cleanly and 1 when it failed or timed out.
#Your agents
| Command | What it does |
|---|
baton doctor | Check everything: your terminal, every agent (installed? signed in?), your config, the daemon. Start here when something's off. |
baton agents | List the agent tools Baton found, with versions and sign-in status. |
baton login [agent] | Run an agent's own sign-in (baton login claude, baton login codex, …). Without a name, it shows who needs one. Baton never sees your credentials. |
#Roles, skills and notes
| Command | What it does |
|---|
baton roles | Every role workers can have (built-in and yours), with access, size and agent. |
baton role new <name> | Scaffold .baton/roles/<name>.md to edit. |
baton skills | Every skill workers can load, and where it comes from. |
baton skill new <name> | Scaffold .baton/skills/<name>/SKILL.md. |
baton notes · baton notes add "<fact>" | The team's notes about this project, or add one. |
baton features · baton features <name> on|off | Which team features are on (roles, skills, acceptance, notes), or switch one. |
In the app: /features [name on|off], /roles, /skills, /notes [add <text>], /spawn <role> [agent] [count] [label],
/team <name> [task]. See roles, skills and notes.
#Runs and history
| Command | What it does |
|---|
baton history | List past runs in this project (in the app: ctrl+r or /resume to resume one). |
baton resume [run] | Resume a run: the agents that were still running when it ended come back with their conversations. The last run by default. |
baton compact | Shrink this project's event log (.baton/state.db). Logs from before 0.3.7 are compacted once automatically. Stop the daemon first (baton stop). |
baton replay [run] | Play a run back like a video: space pause, , . jump between moments, - + speed. |
baton export <run> [--format md|html|jsonl] | Write a run out as Markdown (default), a standalone HTML page, or raw events. |
baton watch | A plain, line-by-line view with typed input: screen-reader friendly, and good over slow connections. |
#From anywhere
| Command | What it does |
|---|
baton web | Follow, approve and send tasks from a browser. --lan lets your phone on the same Wi-Fi connect (it prints a QR code), --https adds encryption with a certificate Baton makes for you, --tailscale publishes it on your tailnet, --rotate makes a new access link, --stop turns it off. |
baton mcp | Run Baton as an MCP server, so Claude Desktop, Cursor or any MCP client can hand tasks to your team (remote). |
baton a2a | Serve your team as an A2A agent. --port, --host, --public-url, --rotate, --stop (A2A). |
baton issue <number|url> | Start with a GitHub issue as the task. |
baton pr [-y] [--title …] | Open a draft pull request from what this run merged. Without -y, it shows the plan first (integrations). |
#Housekeeping
| Command | What it does |
|---|
baton ps | Is Baton running in this project? Which agents? |
baton stop | Stop Baton and every agent in this project. |
baton trust [--revoke] | Allow (or take back) commands and safety changes that come from this project's .baton/config.toml. A cloned repo can't run anything until you do. |
baton config path | Where the config files are. |
baton config get [key] | The effective value of a setting (all of them without a key). |
baton config explain <key> | Which file a value comes from, and what it means. |
baton config schema · defaults | The JSON schema, or every default value. |
baton theme list · set <name> | List themes, or pick one. |
baton update [--check] [version] | Update to the latest release (checksum-verified). Installed through npm or Homebrew? It tells you the right command instead. |
baton protocol | Protocol versions and handshake details (for SDK authors). |
baton --version · --help | |
#Environment variables
| Variable | Effect |
|---|
BATON_THEME, BATON_LAYOUT, BATON_ICONS | Override ui.theme, ui.layout, ui.icons. |
BATON_USER | Your name in shared runs (default: your git user.name). |
BATON_NO_WELCOME=1 | Skip the first-run welcome. |
BATON_NO_IMAGES=1 | Never draw agent logos as images (glyphs instead). |
BATON_CONFIG_DIR | Use a different global config folder (default ~/.config/baton). |
BATON_REPO, BATON_DOWNLOAD_BASE | Where install.sh and baton update download from (forks, mirrors). |
BATON_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1 | Don't look for new releases (the daemon checks once a day and says so in the orchestrator's feed). BATON_OFFLINE=1 turns it off too. |
Every other setting has an entry in configuration.