🎯

ct

🎯Skill

from commontoolsinc/labs

What it does

Guides developers in deploying, managing, and interacting with charms and recipes using the CommonTools CLI through precise command-line operations.

Installation

Install skill:

npx skills add https://github.com/commontoolsinc/labs --skill ct

AddedJan 27, 2026

View on GitHub Back to Skills

Skill Details

SKILL.md

Guide for using the ct (CommonTools) binary to interact with charms,

Overview

# CT CLI

The ct binary is the CLI for CommonTools. Use --help for current commands:

```bash

deno task ct --help # Top-level commands

deno task ct charm --help # Charm operations

deno task ct check --help # Type checking

```

Environment Setup

Identity key (required for most operations):

```bash

ls -la claude.key # Check for existing

deno task ct id new > claude.key # Create if missing

```

Environment variables (avoid repeating flags):

```bash

export CT_API_URL=http://localhost:8000 # or https://toolshed.saga-castor.ts.net/

export CT_IDENTITY=./claude.key

```

Local servers: See docs/development/LOCAL_DEV_SERVERS.md

Quick Command Reference

| Operation | Command |

|-----------|---------|

| Type check | deno task ct check pattern.tsx --no-run |

| Deploy new | deno task ct charm new pattern.tsx -i key -a url -s space |

| Update existing | deno task ct charm setsrc pattern.tsx --charm ID -i key -a url -s space |

| Inspect state | deno task ct charm inspect --charm ID ... |

| Get field | deno task ct charm get --charm ID fieldPath ... |

| Set field | echo '{"data":...}' \| deno task ct charm set --charm ID path ... |

| Call handler | deno task ct charm call --charm ID handlerName ... |

| Trigger recompute | deno task ct charm step --charm ID ... |

| List charms | deno task ct charm ls -i key -a url -s space |

| Visualize | deno task ct charm map ... |

Core Workflow: setsrc vs new

Critical pattern: After initial deployment, use setsrc to iterate:

```bash

# First time only

deno task ct charm new pattern.tsx ...

# Output: Created charm bafyreia... <- Save this ID!

# ALL subsequent iterations

deno task ct charm setsrc pattern.tsx --charm bafyreia... ...

```

Why: new creates duplicate charms. setsrc updates in-place.

JSON Input Format

All values to set and call must be valid JSON:

```bash

# Strings need nested quotes

echo '"hello world"' | deno task ct charm set ... title

# Numbers are bare

echo '42' | deno task ct charm set ... count

# Objects

echo '{"name": "John"}' | deno task ct charm set ... user

```

Gotcha: Stale Computed Values

charm set does NOT trigger recompute. Run charm step after:

```bash

echo '[...]' | deno task ct charm set --charm ID expenses ...

deno task ct charm step --charm ID ... # Required!

deno task ct charm get --charm ID totalSpent ...

```

See docs/development/debugging/cli-debugging.md for debugging patterns.

Troubleshooting

| Issue | Fix |

|-------|-----|

| Commands hang | Check Tailnet connection for *.ts.net URLs |

| Permission denied | chmod 600 claude.key |

| JSON parse error | Check nested quotes, no trailing commas |

| Local servers not responding | ./scripts/restart-local-dev.sh --force |

References

packages/patterns/system/default-app.tsx - System charms (allCharms list lives here)
docs/common/workflows/handlers-cli-testing.md - Handler testing
docs/development/debugging/cli-debugging.md - CLI debugging

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