multica/CLI_AND_DAEMON.md

CLI and Agent Daemon Guide

The multica CLI connects your local machine to Multica. It handles authentication, workspace management, issue tracking, and runs the agent daemon that executes AI tasks locally.

Installation

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

brew install multica-ai/tap/multica

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/multica-ai/multica.git
cd multica
make build
cp server/bin/multica /usr/local/bin/multica

Update

brew upgrade multica-ai/tap/multica

For install script or manual installs, use:

multica update

multica update auto-detects your installation method and upgrades accordingly.

Quick Start

# One-command setup: configure, authenticate, and start the daemon
multica setup

# For self-hosted (local) deployments:
multica setup self-host

Or step by step:

# 1. Authenticate (opens browser for login)
multica login

# 2. Start the agent daemon
multica daemon start

# 3. Done — agents in your watched workspaces can now execute tasks on your machine

multica login automatically discovers all workspaces you belong to and adds them to the daemon watch list.

Authentication

Browser Login

multica login

Opens your browser for OAuth authentication, creates a 90-day personal access token, and auto-configures your workspaces.

Token Login

multica login --token <mul_...>

Authenticate using a personal access token directly. Useful for headless environments. Pass --token= with an empty value to be prompted interactively (so the token never lands in shell history).

Check Status

multica auth status

Shows your current server, user, and token validity.

Logout

multica auth logout

Removes the stored authentication token.

Agent Daemon

The daemon is the local agent runtime. It detects available AI CLIs on your machine, registers them with the Multica server, and executes tasks when agents are assigned work.

Start

multica daemon start

By default, the daemon runs in the background and logs to ~/.multica/daemon.log.

To run in the foreground (useful for debugging):

multica daemon start --foreground

Stop

multica daemon stop

Status

multica daemon status
multica daemon status --output json

Shows PID, uptime, detected agents, and watched workspaces.

Logs

multica daemon logs              # Last 50 lines
multica daemon logs -f           # Follow (tail -f)
multica daemon logs -n 100       # Last 100 lines

Supported Agents

The daemon auto-detects these AI CLIs on your PATH:

CLI	Command	Description
Claude Code	claude	Anthropic's coding agent
Codex	codex	OpenAI's coding agent
GitHub Copilot CLI	copilot	GitHub's coding agent (model routed by your GitHub entitlement)
OpenCode	opencode	Open-source coding agent
OpenClaw	openclaw	Open-source coding agent
Hermes	hermes	Nous Research coding agent
Gemini	gemini	Google's coding agent
Pi	pi	Pi coding agent
Cursor Agent	cursor-agent	Cursor's headless coding agent
Kimi	kimi	Moonshot coding agent
Kiro CLI	kiro-cli	Kiro ACP coding agent

You need at least one installed. The daemon registers each detected CLI as an available runtime.

How It Works

1. On start, the daemon detects installed agent CLIs and registers a runtime for each agent in each watched workspace
2. It polls the server at a configurable interval (default: 3s) for claimed tasks
3. When a task arrives, it creates an isolated workspace directory, spawns the agent CLI, and streams results back
4. Heartbeats are sent periodically (default: 15s) so the server knows the daemon is alive
5. On shutdown, all runtimes are deregistered

Configuration

Daemon behavior is configured via flags or environment variables:

Setting	Flag	Env Variable	Default
Poll interval	--poll-interval	MULTICA_DAEMON_POLL_INTERVAL	3s
Heartbeat interval	--heartbeat-interval	MULTICA_DAEMON_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL	15s
Agent timeout	--agent-timeout	MULTICA_AGENT_TIMEOUT	2h
Codex semantic inactivity timeout	--codex-semantic-inactivity-timeout	MULTICA_CODEX_SEMANTIC_INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT	10m
Max concurrent tasks	--max-concurrent-tasks	MULTICA_DAEMON_MAX_CONCURRENT_TASKS	20
Daemon ID	--daemon-id	MULTICA_DAEMON_ID	hostname
Device name	--device-name	MULTICA_DAEMON_DEVICE_NAME	hostname
Runtime name	--runtime-name	MULTICA_AGENT_RUNTIME_NAME	Local Agent
Workspaces root	—	MULTICA_WORKSPACES_ROOT	~/multica_workspaces
GC enabled	—	MULTICA_GC_ENABLED	true (set false/0 to disable)
GC scan interval	—	MULTICA_GC_INTERVAL	1h
GC TTL (done/cancelled issues)	—	MULTICA_GC_TTL	24h
GC orphan TTL (no .gc_meta.json)	—	MULTICA_GC_ORPHAN_TTL	72h
GC artifact TTL (open issues)	—	MULTICA_GC_ARTIFACT_TTL	12h (set 0 to disable)
GC artifact patterns	—	MULTICA_GC_ARTIFACT_PATTERNS	node_modules,.next,.turbo

Workspace garbage collection

The daemon periodically scans MULTICA_WORKSPACES_ROOT and reclaims disk space in three modes:

• Full task cleanup — when an issue's status is done or cancelled and has been idle for MULTICA_GC_TTL, the entire task directory is removed.
• Orphan cleanup — task directories with no .gc_meta.json (e.g. left over from a daemon crash) are removed once they exceed MULTICA_GC_ORPHAN_TTL.
• Artifact-only cleanup — when a task has been completed for at least MULTICA_GC_ARTIFACT_TTL but the issue is still open, regenerable build outputs whose directory basename matches MULTICA_GC_ARTIFACT_PATTERNS are removed; the rest of the workdir (source, .git, output/, logs/, .gc_meta.json) is preserved so the agent can resume the same workdir on the next task.

Patterns are basename-only — entries containing / or \ are silently dropped — and .git subtrees are never descended into. The default list (node_modules, .next, .turbo) is intentionally narrow; extend it per deployment if your repos consistently produce other regenerable directories (for example, MULTICA_GC_ARTIFACT_PATTERNS=node_modules,.next,.turbo,target,__pycache__). To disable artifact cleanup entirely, set MULTICA_GC_ARTIFACT_TTL=0.

Agent-specific overrides:

Variable	Description
MULTICA_CLAUDE_PATH	Custom path to the claude binary
MULTICA_CLAUDE_MODEL	Override the Claude model used
MULTICA_CLAUDE_ARGS	Default extra arguments for Claude Code runs
MULTICA_CODEX_PATH	Custom path to the codex binary
MULTICA_CODEX_MODEL	Override the Codex model used
MULTICA_CODEX_ARGS	Default extra arguments for Codex runs
MULTICA_COPILOT_PATH	Custom path to the copilot binary
MULTICA_COPILOT_MODEL	Override the Copilot model used (note: GitHub Copilot routes models through your account entitlement, so this may not be honoured)
MULTICA_OPENCODE_PATH	Custom path to the opencode binary
MULTICA_OPENCODE_MODEL	Override the OpenCode model used
MULTICA_OPENCLAW_PATH	Custom path to the openclaw binary
MULTICA_OPENCLAW_MODEL	Override the OpenClaw model used
MULTICA_HERMES_PATH	Custom path to the hermes binary
MULTICA_HERMES_MODEL	Override the Hermes model used
MULTICA_GEMINI_PATH	Custom path to the gemini binary
MULTICA_GEMINI_MODEL	Override the Gemini model used
MULTICA_PI_PATH	Custom path to the pi binary
MULTICA_PI_MODEL	Override the Pi model used
MULTICA_CURSOR_PATH	Custom path to the cursor-agent binary
MULTICA_CURSOR_MODEL	Override the Cursor Agent model used
MULTICA_KIMI_PATH	Custom path to the kimi binary
MULTICA_KIMI_MODEL	Override the Kimi model used
MULTICA_KIRO_PATH	Custom path to the kiro-cli binary
MULTICA_KIRO_MODEL	Override the Kiro model used

MULTICA_CLAUDE_ARGS and MULTICA_CODEX_ARGS are parsed with POSIX shellword quoting, so values such as --model "gpt-5.1 codex" --sandbox read-only are split like a shell command line. Agent arguments are applied in this order: hardcoded Multica defaults, daemon-wide env defaults, then per-agent custom_args from the task.

Self-Hosted Server

When connecting to a self-hosted Multica instance, the easiest approach is:

# One command — configures for localhost, authenticates, starts daemon
multica setup self-host

# Or for on-premise with custom domains:
multica setup self-host --server-url https://api.example.com --app-url https://app.example.com

Or configure manually:

# Set URLs individually
multica config set server_url http://localhost:8080
multica config set app_url http://localhost:3000

# For production with TLS:
# multica config set server_url https://api.example.com
# multica config set app_url https://app.example.com

multica login
multica daemon start

Profiles

Profiles let you run multiple daemons on the same machine — for example, one for production and one for a staging server.

# Set up a staging profile
multica setup self-host --profile staging --server-url https://api-staging.example.com --app-url https://staging.example.com

# Start its daemon
multica daemon start --profile staging

# Default profile runs separately
multica daemon start

Each profile gets its own config directory (~/.multica/profiles/<name>/), daemon state, health port, and workspace root.

Workspaces

List Workspaces

multica workspace list

Watched workspaces are marked with *. The daemon only processes tasks for watched workspaces.

Watch / Unwatch

multica workspace watch <workspace-id>
multica workspace unwatch <workspace-id>

Get Details

multica workspace get <workspace-id>
multica workspace get <workspace-id> --output json

List Members

multica workspace members <workspace-id>

Issues

List Issues

multica issue list
multica issue list --status in_progress
multica issue list --priority urgent --assignee "Agent Name"
multica issue list --assignee-id 5fb87ac7-23b5-4a7a-81fa-ed295a54545d
multica issue list --limit 20 --output json

Available filters: --status, --priority, --assignee / --assignee-id, --project, --limit. Use --assignee-id <uuid> for unambiguous filtering when names overlap.

Get Issue

multica issue get <id>
multica issue get <id> --output json

Create Issue

multica issue create --title "Fix login bug" --description "..." --priority high --assignee "Lambda"
multica issue create --title "Fix login bug" --assignee-id 5fb87ac7-23b5-4a7a-81fa-ed295a54545d

Flags: --title (required), --description, --status, --priority, --assignee / --assignee-id, --parent, --project, --due-date. Pass --assignee-id <uuid> (mutually exclusive with --assignee) when scripting against the IDs returned by multica workspace members --output json / multica agent list --output json.

Update Issue

multica issue update <id> --title "New title" --priority urgent

Assign Issue

multica issue assign <id> --to "Lambda"
multica issue assign <id> --to-id 5fb87ac7-23b5-4a7a-81fa-ed295a54545d
multica issue assign <id> --unassign

Pass --to-id <uuid> to assign by canonical UUID (mutually exclusive with --to); useful when names overlap across members and agents.

Change Status

multica issue status <id> in_progress

Valid statuses: backlog, todo, in_progress, in_review, done, blocked, cancelled.

Comments

# List comments
multica issue comment list <issue-id>

# Add a comment
multica issue comment add <issue-id> --content "Looks good, merging now"

# Reply to a specific comment
multica issue comment add <issue-id> --parent <comment-id> --content "Thanks!"

# Delete a comment
multica issue comment delete <comment-id>

Subscribers

# List subscribers of an issue
multica issue subscriber list <issue-id>

# Subscribe yourself to an issue
multica issue subscriber add <issue-id>

# Subscribe another member or agent by name
multica issue subscriber add <issue-id> --user "Lambda"

# Unsubscribe yourself
multica issue subscriber remove <issue-id>

# Unsubscribe another member or agent
multica issue subscriber remove <issue-id> --user "Lambda"

Subscribers receive notifications about issue activity (new comments, status changes, etc.). Without --user, the command acts on the caller.

Execution History

# List all execution runs for an issue
multica issue runs <issue-id>
multica issue runs <issue-id> --output json

# View messages for a specific execution run
multica issue run-messages <task-id>
multica issue run-messages <task-id> --output json

# Incremental fetch (only messages after a given sequence number)
multica issue run-messages <task-id> --since 42 --output json

The runs command shows all past and current executions for an issue, including running tasks. The run-messages command shows the detailed message log (tool calls, thinking, text, errors) for a single run. Use --since for efficient polling of in-progress runs.

Projects

Projects group related issues (e.g. a sprint, an epic, a workstream). Every project belongs to a workspace and can optionally have a lead (member or agent).

List Projects

multica project list
multica project list --status in_progress
multica project list --output json

Available filters: --status.

Get Project

multica project get <id>
multica project get <id> --output json

Create Project

multica project create --title "2026 Week 16 Sprint" --icon "🏃" --lead "Lambda"

Flags: --title (required), --description, --status, --icon, --lead.

Update Project

multica project update <id> --title "New title" --status in_progress
multica project update <id> --lead "Lambda"

Flags: --title, --description, --status, --icon, --lead.

Change Status

multica project status <id> in_progress

Valid statuses: planned, in_progress, paused, completed, cancelled.

Delete Project

multica project delete <id>

Associating Issues with Projects

Use the --project flag on issue create / issue update to attach an issue to a project, or on issue list to filter issues by project:

multica issue create --title "Login bug" --project <project-id>
multica issue update <issue-id> --project <project-id>
multica issue list --project <project-id>

Setup

# One-command setup for Multica Cloud: configure, authenticate, and start the daemon
multica setup

# For local self-hosted deployments
multica setup self-host

# Custom ports
multica setup self-host --port 9090 --frontend-port 4000

# On-premise with custom domains
multica setup self-host --server-url https://api.example.com --app-url https://app.example.com

multica setup configures the CLI, opens your browser for authentication, and starts the daemon — all in one step. Use multica setup self-host to connect to a self-hosted server instead of Multica Cloud.

Configuration

View Config

multica config show

Shows config file path, server URL, app URL, and default workspace.

Set Values

multica config set server_url https://api.example.com
multica config set app_url https://app.example.com
multica config set workspace_id <workspace-id>

Autopilot Commands

Autopilots are scheduled/triggered automations that dispatch agent tasks (either by creating an issue or by running an agent directly).

List Autopilots

multica autopilot list
multica autopilot list --status active --output json

Get Autopilot Details

multica autopilot get <id>
multica autopilot get <id> --output json   # includes triggers

Create / Update / Delete

multica autopilot create \
  --title "Nightly bug triage" \
  --description "Scan todo issues and prioritize." \
  --agent "Lambda" \
  --mode create_issue

multica autopilot update <id> --status paused
multica autopilot update <id> --description "New prompt"
multica autopilot delete <id>

--mode currently only accepts create_issue (creates a new issue on each run and assigns it to the agent). The server data model also defines run_only, but the daemon task path doesn't yet resolve a workspace for runs without an issue, so it's not exposed by the CLI. --agent accepts either a name or UUID.

Manual Trigger

multica autopilot trigger <id>            # Fires the autopilot once, returns the run

Run History

multica autopilot runs <id>
multica autopilot runs <id> --limit 50 --output json

Schedule Triggers

multica autopilot trigger-add <autopilot-id> --cron "0 9 * * 1-5" --timezone "America/New_York"
multica autopilot trigger-update <autopilot-id> <trigger-id> --enabled=false
multica autopilot trigger-delete <autopilot-id> <trigger-id>

Only cron-based schedule triggers are currently exposed via the CLI. The data model also defines webhook and api kinds, but there is no server endpoint that fires them yet, so they're not surfaced here.

Other Commands

multica version              # Show CLI version and commit hash
multica update               # Update to latest version
multica agent list           # List agents in the current workspace

Output Formats

Most commands support --output with two formats:

• table — human-readable table (default for list commands)
• json — structured JSON (useful for scripting and automation)

multica issue list --output json
multica daemon status --output json