CLI

The zidane command comes with the zidane-tui package (install). Bare zidane opens the terminal app. Its flags, such as --no-daemon and --no-remote, are on command-line switches.

Commands#

zidane run#

zidane run runs one prompt. In a checkout, bun start takes the same flags.

zidane run --prompt "Add a /health route that returns 200" --model claude-sonnet-4-5

With --json or --stream-json, nothing asks for approval. zidane refuses --host and ignores --preset. --codemode adds the codemode tool to these runs. CI recipes: headless and CI.

Flags#

--provider accepts the providers in the table above, which are fewer than the sign-in wizard offers (providers). The default is anthropic. zidane run rejects the --restate flags and exits with code 1. zidane run accepts --durability but ignores it. Use bun start or bun run headless with --session-db to checkpoint runs (crash recovery). In a checkout, bun start --restate runs through a local Restate endpoint.

Structured output#

--json-schema '<JSON>' (or --schema <file.json>) makes the agent return a matching object in output. It implies --json, and run is optional:

zidane -p "List the package's runtime dependencies" \
  --json-schema '{"type":"object","properties":{"deps":{"type":"array","items":{"type":"string"}}},"required":["deps"]}'

The result object#

stdout carries only the result. Logs go to stderr.

{
  "status": "completed",
  "finalText": "Added GET /health in src/server.ts and a test.",
  "usage": { "input": 18230, "output": 912, "cacheRead": 12800, "cacheCreation": 0, "cost": 0.07 },
  "turns": 6,
  "durationMs": 41200,
  "numToolCalls": 5,
  "sessionId": "…",
  "transcript": []
}

--stream-json first prints one {"type":"turn","index":0,"turn":{…}} line for each finished turn. --format provider prints the turns as provider messages instead of the result object. The messages use the Anthropic format with --provider anthropic and the OpenAI format with any other provider.

Exit codes#

zidane run --json has no timeout. Ctrl+C writes no result and your shell reports 130. For a time limit and the 124 and 130 codes, use bun run headless.

Environment#

ZIDANE_HOST_TOKEN goes with ZIDANE_HOST_URL. Provider key variables: providers. What the ZIDANE_*_DIR variables move: files and folders.

Updating#

zidane upgrade                       # check, then run your package manager
zidane upgrade --in-place            # download the release and swap the binary (macOS and Linux)
zidane upgrade --channel next        # another npm dist-tag
zidane upgrade --force               # reinstall even if up to date

The install runs in a background process. Ctrl+C or closing the terminal stops the output, never the package manager (exit code 130). The log is update.log in the cache folder (files and folders). A package manager still running after 10 minutes is stopped.

The update check in the app: install and first run.

Reference#

• zidane/headless
• zidane/output/terminal
• zidane/output/stream-json