CLI reference

Installing Jensen puts the jensen command on your PATH alongside the app. Everything here has an equivalent in the application, except where a page says otherwise.

jensen                    # the command list
jensen help <command>     # one command's flags and examples
jensen <command> --help   # the same thing
jensen --version

Start here

jensen setup [path]

Turn Jensen on for this machine and project. Safe to re-run: a step already in place is never applied again.

Flag	What it does
--status	Report what is wired. Writes nothing.
--only <step>	Run one step. Repeatable.
--skip <step>	Run everything but one step. Repeatable.
--uninstall	Reverse every step, or just the ones --only and --skip select.
--no-scan	Skip indexing, the slow part on a large repo.
--json	Machine-readable output.

Steps, in order: cli-path, project-activate, git-shim, git-hooks, mcp, hooks, attribution, debrief-command, guidance, daemon, project, state.

See Turn Jensen on.

jensen open [path]

Open the app on a directory, the way code . does. jensen <path> and jensen . are the same thing without the subcommand.

See Open a project.

Explore the codebase

Command	What it does
jensen view <path> [--json]	Print the file and import graph.
jensen query <path> "<q>" [--json]	Ask the map a question, for example jensen query . "calls:authenticate".
jensen watch <path> [--json]	Keep the map current as you edit.
jensen gen <path> [--out <dir>]	Write the full map to disk. Deterministic: two runs over an unchanged tree produce byte-identical files.

See Project, the map.

Knowledge

Command	What it does
jensen ingest <path> <doc>	Add a documentation source, a file or a directory.
jensen knowledge [stats]	Store statistics. The default verb.
jensen knowledge refresh	Re-index.
jensen knowledge compact [--dry-run]	Reclaim space.
jensen knowledge eval	Score retrieval quality.
jensen knowledge export	Take the store elsewhere.
jensen learn record <path>	Record a skill. Needs --name and --description; also takes --version, --tag, --body-file and --ref <name>=<path>.
jensen learn list <path> [--filter <q>]	Browse skills.
jensen learn view <path> <name>	Read one.
jensen learn search <path> <q>	Search them.
jensen learn use <path> <name>	Deliver one for use.

See Memory and knowledge search and Skills.

Workflow

Command	What it does
jensen worktree list <path>	The isolated checkouts that exist.
jensen worktree create <path> <name>	Make one.
jensen worktree remove <path> <name> [--force]	Remove one.
jensen assistant list [--json]	Discovered assistants, the evidence, and the effective default.
jensen assistant set <name>	automatic, claude, codex, gemini or antigravity.
jensen publish [path]	Generate a plugin manifest and registry entry. No forms, no prompts.

See Worktrees for parallel work and Choosing an assistant.

Maintenance

Command	What it does
jensen gc [-n] [--stale-days <n>]	Reclaim stores for projects that are gone. Defaults to 30 days. Workspaces holding traces, sessions or automation state are never removed.
jensen clean [-y]	Remove what earlier versions left elsewhere on this machine. Reports and stops unless -y. Only removes locations Jensen itself declares.
jensen doctor [--json] [--markdown]	What is working and what is not. Read-only, and it exits non-zero only when something is actually broken, so it can gate a pipeline.
jensen ping	Is the background service running?

See Troubleshooting.

Run by other programs

Command	What it does
jensen bridge <path>	The context server your assistant connects to. It launches this for you.
jensen guard <program>	The check the git guard runs before a commit. Your git hooks call it.

A few further commands exist for Jensen’s own internal use. They are not printed in the command list, they are wired by jensen setup, and you never need to type them.