elizaos--eliza/packages/elizaos/AGENTS.md

elizaos

The elizaos CLI: scaffolds elizaOS projects and plugins from packaged templates, upgrades generated projects against newer templates, and submits plugins to the registry. Published to npm as elizaos; the elizaos bin maps to dist/cli.js. Run via npx elizaos. Repo-wide rules live in the root AGENTS.md.

Role

A standalone, dependency-light CLI (only @clack/prompts, commander, picocolors). It does NOT import the elizaOS runtime — it renders template trees, writes .elizaos/template.json metadata, and shells out to git/gh/npm. The library entry (src/index.ts) re-exports the command functions and loadManifest so other tooling can call them programmatically; the CLI entry (src/cli.ts) wires them to Commander.

Layout

src/
  cli.ts               #!/usr/bin/env node — Commander program; default action = interactive @clack menu
  index.ts             Library exports (create, info, upgrade, version, registerPluginsCommand, submitPluginToRegistry, loadManifest, types)
  commands/
    index.ts           Barrel re-exporting every command function
    create.ts          `create` — prompt template/lang/name, render tree, init upstream submodule, write metadata
    upgrade.ts         `upgrade` — re-render template into temp dir, diff via managed-file hashes, apply
    info.ts            `info` — list templates (text or --json)
    version.ts         `version` — print CLI version from package.json
    plugins.ts         `registerPluginsCommand` + `submitPluginToRegistry` — generate registry metadata and open an explicit registry PR via git/gh
    deploy.ts          `deploy` / `runDeploy` — Eliza Cloud app deploy trigger + status polling (`--dry-run` prints plan only)
    capability-router.ts  `capabilityRouterConnect` — POST agent API /api/capability-router/connect
    DEPLOY_DESIGN.md   Design notes and follow-up boundaries for the deploy pipeline
    capability-router.test.ts
  scaffold.ts          Core engine: template-value builders, ${...} token replacement, renderTemplateTree,
                       managed-file diff (updateManagedFiles), git submodule init/update/hydrate
  manifest.ts          loadManifest / getTemplateById / getTemplates / TEMPLATE_ICONS (reads templates-manifest.json)
  project-metadata.ts  read/write .elizaos/template.json (ProjectTemplateMetadata)
  package-info.ts      getPackageRoot / readPackageJson / getCliVersion
  types.ts             All shared types/DTOs (TemplateDefinition, *TemplateValues, *Options, metadata)
  __tests__/safe-copy-dir.test.ts
build.ts               Build: copies templates, regenerates templates-manifest.json, runs tsc, sets cli.js shebang
safe-copy-dir.ts       Path-contained recursive copyDir used by build.ts
scripts/packaged-smoke.mjs   npm-pack + global/local install + create/upgrade end-to-end smoke (test:packaged)
templates/             Shipped template trees (plugin, project, min-plugin, min-project), each with template.json
templates-manifest.json  Generated index of templates (loaded at runtime by manifest.ts)

Key exports

src/index.ts re-exports: create, info, upgrade, version, registerPluginsCommand, submitPluginToRegistry, loadManifest, and types TemplateDefinition / TemplatesManifest. src/cli.ts additionally uses deploy and capabilityRouterConnect from commands/index.ts.

Commands registered on the Commander program: version, info, create, upgrade, deploy, plugins submit, capability-router connect. With no subcommand, an interactive @clack/prompts menu (defaultAction) offers create / upgrade / info / submit-plugin.

Templates

Two real templates (templates-manifest.json): plugin and project. Each templates/<id>/template.json defines id/name/description/kind/version/languages plus an optional aliases list and an optional upstream (git-submodule) block; getTemplateById (manifest.ts) matches -t/--template against either the id or an alias. min-plugin / min-project are minimal scaffolds (have SCAFFOLD.md, no template.json) and are not surfaced in the manifest.

Token replacement (scaffold.ts): plugin templates substitute ${PLUGINNAME}, ${PLUGINDESCRIPTION}, ${GITHUB_USERNAME}, ${REPO_URL}, __ELIZAOS_VERSION__, and plugin-starter variants; project templates substitute __PROJECT_SLUG__, __APP_NAME__, __BUNDLE_ID__, etc. Longest-match-first so prefixes don't clobber.

Commands

bun run --cwd packages/elizaos build          # build.ts: prep templates + manifest, tsc, shebang
bun run --cwd packages/elizaos dev            # build.ts --watch
bun run --cwd packages/elizaos typecheck      # tsgo --noEmit
bun run --cwd packages/elizaos test           # vitest run --passWithNoTests
bun run --cwd packages/elizaos test:packaged  # scripts/packaged-smoke.mjs (packs + installs + create/upgrade)
bun run --cwd packages/elizaos lint           # biome check --write (also lints templates/plugin + project/apps/app)
bun run --cwd packages/elizaos lint:check     # biome check (no write)

Config / env vars

• ELIZAOS_UPSTREAM_REPO / ELIZAOS_UPSTREAM_BRANCH — override a template's upstream git-submodule repo/branch in resolveTemplateUpstream (scaffold.ts). Used by create and upgrade; the smoke test sets these to point the project template's upstream at the local checkout.
• capability-router connect reads ELIZA_API_BASE_URL / ELIZA_API_BASE (else http://127.0.0.1:<ELIZA_API_PORT|ELIZA_PORT|2138>) and ELIZA_API_TOKEN for the agent API call.
• deploy reads ELIZAOS_CLOUD_API_KEY, ELIZA_CLOUD_API_KEY, ELIZACLOUD_API_KEY, or ~/.elizaos/credentials.json; ELIZA_CLOUD_API_BASE_URL / ELIZAOS_CLOUD_API_BASE_URL / ELIZACLOUD_API_BASE_URL / ELIZA_CLOUD_BASE_URL override the default cloud API base. ELIZAOS_DEPLOY_POLL_INTERVAL_MS and ELIZAOS_DEPLOY_TIMEOUT_MS override the default status-polling interval and maximum wait time.
• packaged-smoke.mjs honors ELIZAOS_SMOKE_* flags (KEEP_TEMP, EJECT, REMOTE_UPSTREAM, SKIP_GLOBAL_INSTALL, FULLSTACK_INSTALL, TMPDIR).

Generated projects record state in .elizaos/template.json (ProjectTemplateMetadata): cliVersion, templateId, templateVersion, values, and a managedFiles map of relative-path → sha256. upgrade uses these hashes to classify each file as updated / created / deleted / unchanged / conflict; locally-modified files become conflicts and are left untouched.

How to extend

• Add a template: create templates/<id>/ with a template.json (matching TemplateDefinition), use the token placeholders above in files/filenames, and run build to regenerate templates-manifest.json. If the template needs an upstream checkout, add the upstream block and the matching value builder in scaffold.ts (buildPluginTemplateValues / buildFullstackTemplateValues) plus its key list (PLUGIN_TEMPLATE_VALUE_KEYS / FULLSTACK_TEMPLATE_VALUE_KEYS).
• Add a command: implement it under src/commands/<name>.ts, export from src/commands/index.ts, register it on the program in src/cli.ts, and (if it should be callable as a library) re-export from src/index.ts. Define its options interface in src/types.ts.

Conventions / gotchas

• manifest.ts and getTemplatesDir read templates-manifest.json and templates/ relative to getPackageRoot() (one dir up from dist/), so the CLI only works after build and against the shipped dist + templates (both in the files allowlist). loadManifest throws if the manifest is missing — run build first.
• cli.ts ends with top-level await program.parseAsync(); the bin shebang is #!/usr/bin/env node (re-applied by ensureCliShebang in build.ts).
• Commands that interact with the user use @clack/prompts and call process.exit(...) directly on cancel/error; deploy/capabilityRouterConnect split a pure run* function (returns exit code) from the thin process.exit wrapper for testability.
• plugins submit --dry-run prints the generated entries/third-party/<pkg>.json metadata. Opening a PR requires an explicit --registry owner/repo; no public default registry repository is configured. @elizaos/* names are rejected (reserved for first-party).
• deploy is experimental: real runs queue POST /api/v1/apps/:id/deploy, optionally attach --domain, and poll GET /api/v1/apps/:id/deploy/status until READY or ERROR; --dry-run prints the planned sequence without network calls.
• This package is intentionally runtime-free — do NOT add @elizaos/core or other runtime deps. Keep it to the three production dependencies.

⛔ NON-NEGOTIABLE — evidence, trajectories & real end-to-end tests

The binding, repo-wide standard is AGENTS.md. Read it. Nothing in this package is done until it is proven done — a reviewer must confirm it works without reading the code, from the artifacts you attach. This applies to every feature, fix, refactor, and chore here. "Tests pass" is not proof; "CI is green" is not proof.

• Record AND read model trajectories. Capture the actual inputs and outputs of the model from a live LLM — not the deterministic proxy, not a mock: the prompt, the providers/context, the raw model output, every tool/action call, and the result. Then open the trajectory and review it by hand. A captured-but-unread trajectory is not evidence (packages/scenario-runner/bin/eliza-scenarios run <scenario> --report <out>).
• Real, full-featured E2E — no larp. Every feature ships detailed end-to-end tests that drive the real path end to end. Not the happy "front door" only: cover error paths, edge/empty/invalid input, concurrency, roles/permissions, and adversarial input. A test that asserts against a mock/stub/fixture standing in for the thing under test does not count. If the real model/device/chain/connector/account is hard to reach, make it reachable — that is the work, not an excuse to mock. If the existing tests here are shallow or mocked, fixing them is part of your change.
• Screenshots + logs at every phase, plus a complete walkthrough video/run-through of the entire feature or view, start to finish (bun run test:e2e:record).
• Manually review every artifact the change touches — never just the green check: client logs (console + network), server logs ([ClassName] …), the model trajectories in and out, before/after full-page screenshots, and the domain artifacts listed below for this package.
• No residuals. No shortcuts. The goal is not "done" — it is everything done. Clear every blocker by the hard path: build the real architecture, stand up the real model/device/service, actually test it. Never leave a TODO, a stub, a stepping-stone, or a "follow-up." When unsure, research thoroughly, weigh the options, and ship the best, highest-effort, production-ready version. Keep going until every possibility is exhausted.

Artifacts → attached inline in the PR (MP4 video, JPG screenshots, logs in <details>); attach each evidence type or explicitly mark it N/A with a reason — never leave it blank. If develop moved and changed behavior, re-capture evidence; stale proof is worse than none.

Capture & manually review for this package — CLI / tooling:

• The real command/flow invocation transcript (args in, stdout/stderr, exit code) and the artifacts it generated (files, scaffolds, manifests, screenshots/recordings).
• Failure paths: bad args, missing deps, partial state, permission/network errors.
• A recording/log of the actual run end to end — not a unit test of one helper.
• Any model interaction captured as a live trajectory and reviewed.