CLI commands

nt is the command you use to check, inspect, and run your project. This page lists every command and option.

nt <command> [options]

age.nt is the default

Every command loads age.nt from the current folder automatically, so you usually type just nt run age. Add --file path.nt only when your file has a different name or lives elsewhere (or --dir folder to load a whole folder).

Commands

Command	What it does
`nt validate`	Check your files for mistakes.
`nt list`	List everything in your project.
`nt graph`	Show how your agents connect to their tools and helpers.
`nt up`	Get everything ready, then run your default agent.
`nt run <name>`	Run one agent, subagent, or workflow.
`nt chat <name>`	Chat with an agent, back and forth.

Options

Option	What it does
`-f, --file FILE`	The main `.nt` file to load. Its imports are followed. Defaults to `age.nt`.
`-d, --dir FOLDER`	Load every `.nt` file in a folder instead.
`-i, --input JSON`	The input to give, written as JSON.
`-m, --message TEXT`	A quick way to send plain text instead of JSON.
`--run NAME`	With `up`, run this agent or workflow after setup.
`-v, --verbose`	Show extra detail about what the agent is doing.
`-h, --help`	Show help.

Checking your work

validate, list, and graph all work offline, without an AI key. Use them to make sure your project is set up right.

nt validate
nt list
nt graph

Running an agent

run runs something once. Give it input with -i:

nt run age -i '{"clues":"bought the first iPhone at 22"}'

For a quick plain-text message, use -m instead:

nt run age -m "graduated college in 2010"

Add -v to watch what the agent does step by step:

nt run age -m "graduated in 2010" -v

Chatting with an agent

chat opens a conversation that remembers what you said earlier. Type exit or press Ctrl-D to leave.

$ nt chat age
Chatting with 'age'. Type 'exit' or press Ctrl-D to quit.
age › she bought the first iPhone at 22
{ "age": 39, "reason": "..." }
age › what if it was the iPhone 15?
{ "age": 31, "reason": "..." }
age › exit

Which commands need an AI key

up, run, and chat talk to a real model, so they need your key set (for example ANTHROPIC_API_KEY). validate, list, and graph do not.