CLI Commands

Global flags

--registry <path>    Registry file path
                     Default: ~/.society/registry.json
                     Env: SOCIETY_REGISTRY

The --registry flag must appear before the subcommand.

`society onboard`

Auto-detect available agents and register them.

society onboard            # auto-detect CLIs, Docker, SSH, A2A agents
society onboard --deep     # also probe SSH/Docker hosts for live agents and CLIs
society onboard --manual   # interactive wizard for manual setup

Flag	Description
`--deep`	Probe SSH hosts and Docker containers for live A2A agents and CLI tools
`--manual`	Interactive wizard for manual setup

By default, scans for CLIs (claude, codex, ollama, etc.), Docker containers, SSH hosts, and A2A agents on local ports. Presents a numbered list and lets you select which to register.

With --deep, additionally SSHes into each host from ~/.ssh/config and Tailscale peers to probe for live A2A agents on common ports and detect installed CLI tools (claude, codex, aider, etc.). SSH hosts that resolve to the same IP are grouped and you pick a preferred route.

Use --manual for the interactive wizard that prompts for name, description, transport type, and transport-specific config.

`society list`

List all registered agents.

society list

Output columns: NAME, TRANSPORT, ENDPOINT, SKILLS

`society remove <name>`

Remove an agent from the registry. Prompts for confirmation.

society remove my-agent

`society ping <name>`

Health-check an agent by sending a test message.

society ping my-agent

Reports: transport type, agent name, skills, and latency in milliseconds.

`society run`

Start a single agent from a config file.

society run --config <path> [--stdio]

Flag	Description
`--config`	Path to agent YAML config (required)
`--stdio`	Run as stdio agent instead of HTTP server

`society send`

Send a message to a registered agent.

society send [--thread <id>] <name> <message>

Flag	Description
`--thread`	Thread ID to continue a conversation

The --thread flag must come before the agent name. Remaining arguments after the name are joined as the message text.

`society export`

Export the registry as JSON.

society export [--output <path>]

Without --output, prints to stdout.

`society import <path-or-url>`

Import agents from a JSON file or URL.

society import agents-backup.json
society import https://example.com/agents.json

Prompts interactively for conflicts: overwrite, skip, or rename.

`society discover <url>`

Discover an agent from an A2A endpoint.

society discover http://server:8001

Fetches the agent card from /.well-known/agent-card.json (or the legacy /.well-known/agent.json), displays it, and optionally adds it to the registry with a transport config you choose.

`society mcp`

Start an MCP server on stdio.

society mcp

Exposes each registered agent as an MCP tool (send_<name>). See MCP Integration for setup details.

`society daemon`

Manage the agent daemon.

`daemon start [agents...] [--agents <dir>]`

Start agents in the background.

society daemon start                    # all agents in agents/
society daemon start echo claude        # specific agents
society daemon start --agents ~/agents  # custom directory

`daemon stop`

Stop the running daemon (sends SIGTERM, waits up to 5s).

society daemon stop

`daemon status`

Show daemon uptime, PID, and running agents.

society daemon status

`daemon run [agents...] [--agents <dir>]`

Start agents in the foreground (logs to stdout, Ctrl+C to stop).

society daemon run
society daemon run echo greeter

`society update`

Check for a new release and update the binary in place.

society update

Downloads the latest release from GitHub, verifies it matches your OS and architecture, and replaces the current binary. On macOS, applies ad-hoc code signing automatically.

Dev builds (built from source without version ldflags) cannot self-update — use the install script or rebuild from source instead.

`society version`

Print the current version.

society version
# society v0.1.0

`society skill`

Manage Claude Code skills for society.

`skill install`

Install society skills into ~/.claude/skills/.

society skill install

`skill update`

Update previously installed skills to the latest version bundled with your society binary.

society skill update