CLI reference

Global syntax

anarlog [--base DIR] [--db-path FILE] [--json] <command>

Option	Environment variable	Behavior
`--base DIR`	`ANARLOG_BASE`	Use `DIR/app.db`.
`--db-path FILE`	`ANARLOG_DB_PATH`	Use an explicit SQLite file.
`--json`	—	Emit a versioned JSON response or machine-readable JSON error.

--db-path takes precedence over --base. Without either option, the CLI uses Anarlog’s platform application-data directory and recognized legacy locations. The installed command is anarlog on DEB, AppImage, macOS, Windows, and Settings-installed builds.

Account commands

anarlog auth login
anarlog auth status
anarlog auth logout

auth login prints a URL that can be opened in any browser, including one on another device. Sign in, choose Copy URL on the completion page, then paste the anarlog://auth/callback link into the hidden CLI prompt. The CLI verifies the session with Anarlog before saving it in the same local auth store as the desktop app. With --json, the login URL and instructions are printed to stderr. The callback URL is read from stdin. JSON appears on stdout only after login completes. On Linux, the CLI uses Secret Service when it is available. Headless systems without Secret Service fall back to auth.cli.json in Anarlog’s local application-data directory with permissions limited to the current user. The desktop app reconciles that file into Secret Service when it becomes available. On Windows, the CLI stores sessions with DPAPI in the desktop app’s secure auth file. auth logout removes the local session; it does not delete the Anarlog account. auth status reports the signed-in account and whether the current access token has expired. The stored refresh token lets the desktop app refresh an expired access token when it starts.

Meeting data sources

Meeting commands accept --source local|cloud|auto before their subcommand:

anarlog meetings --source cloud list
anarlog meetings --source auto get MEETING_ID

local is the default and reads Anarlog’s database on this computer. cloud reads the opted-in hosted snapshots using the account saved by anarlog auth login. auto uses the local database when it exists and falls back to Cloud when it does not. Set ANARLOG_SOURCE to choose the same behavior without a flag. All meeting read commands support all three sources. --base, --db-path, and doctor apply only to local data. Proposals and anarlog mcp remain local because hosted Cloud access is read-only.

Meeting commands

Command	Options	Result
`meetings list`	`-q, --query TEXT`, `--series-id ID`, `--limit 1..200`, `--offset NUMBER`	Meetings ordered by the application query layer. Defaults to 20 results.
`meetings get ID`	—	Metadata, canonical memo, summaries, participants, and action items.
`meetings note ID`	`--kind note\|summary\|all`	The selected note documents. Defaults to `note`.
`meetings transcript ID`	`--limit 1..500`, `--offset NUMBER`	A bounded transcript word page. Defaults to 200 words from offset 0.
`meetings history ID`	`--limit 1..200`, `--offset NUMBER`	A page of meetings from the same recurring series. Defaults to 20 from offset 0.
`meetings export ID`	`--format markdown\|json`, `-o, --output FILE`, `--force`	A complete meeting export, including transcripts. Defaults to Markdown on stdout. Existing files require `--force`.

Proposal commands

These commands insert or inspect staged edits. They do not apply the edit to the meeting. Apply happens in the desktop app.

Command	Options	Result
`proposals create`	`--meeting ID`, `--kind summary\|memo`, `--target ID`, `--content TEXT` or `--content-file FILE`	Stages a pending replacement. `--target` is required when the meeting has multiple summaries.
`proposals list`	`--meeting ID`, `--status pending\|applied\|declined\|all`, `--limit 1..200`, `--offset NUMBER`	Proposals, newest first. Defaults to pending rows, 20 results.
`proposals show ID`	—	Proposal metadata and a unified diff.
`proposals decline ID`	—	Marks a pending proposal declined. The meeting is unchanged.

JSON response contract

Successful --json responses contain:

Field	Meaning
`schema_version`	CLI JSON contract version. Currently `1`.
`command`	Stable command identifier such as `meetings.list`.
`data`	Command result.
`pagination`	Page metadata when the command is paginated.

Pagination includes offset, limit, returned, optional total, and optional next_offset.

Doctor command

anarlog --json doctor

Checks the resolved database path, read-only access, and required schema without changing data. It exits with status 0 when ready is true and status 1 when ready is false.

MCP command

anarlog mcp

Starts the local MCP server over stdio. Meeting reads are idempotent. Proposal tools stage or decline pending edits without applying them to the meeting.

Do not write other output to the server’s stdout. Anything else written there corrupts the MCP stdio protocol stream.

Help and version

anarlog --help
anarlog auth --help
anarlog meetings --help
anarlog meetings list --help
anarlog --version

Getting started

Using Anarlog

AI and privacy

CLI and agents

Recipes

Reference

Help

Global syntax

Account commands

Meeting data sources

Meeting commands

Proposal commands

JSON response contract

Doctor command

MCP command

Help and version

​Global syntax

​Account commands

​Meeting data sources

​Meeting commands

​Proposal commands

​JSON response contract

​Doctor command

​MCP command

​Help and version

Global syntax

Account commands

Meeting data sources

Meeting commands

Proposal commands

JSON response contract

Doctor command

MCP command

Help and version