> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getgaal.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# CLI overview

> Global flags and a one-line summary of every command.

Every gaal invocation starts with `gaal`. Global flags can sit before or after the subcommand.

## Global flags

These work with every command:

| Flag                    | Default     | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| ----------------------- | ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `-c`, `--config <path>` | `gaal.yaml` | Path to the configuration file.                                                                                                                                                                             |
| `-v`, `--verbose`       | off         | Enable debug logging.                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| `--no-banner`           | off         | Suppress the ASCII-art banner.                                                                                                                                                                              |
| `--sandbox <dir>`       | unset       | Redirect every write to this directory. See [Sandbox mode](/workflows/sandbox-mode).                                                                                                                        |
| `--log-file <path>`     | unset       | Write structured JSON logs to this file (in addition to console).                                                                                                                                           |
| `-o`, `--output <fmt>`  | `text`      | Output format: `text`, `table`, or `json`. `text` is the default human- and pipe-friendly layout; `table` renders boxed pterm tables; `json` emits structured data and suppresses the banner automatically. |

## Commands

| Command                              | Purpose                                                          |
| ------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [`gaal skill`](/cli/skill)           | Search registry skills and add them to `gaal.yaml`.              |
| [`gaal sync`](/cli/sync)             | Reconcile every resource in `gaal.yaml` against the filesystem.  |
| [`gaal status`](/cli/status)         | Print the current state of every repo, skill, and MCP entry.     |
| [`gaal agents`](/cli/agents)         | List registered coding agents and detection status.              |
| [`gaal info`](/cli/info)             | Detailed view of a single repo, skill, MCP, or agent.            |
| [`gaal init`](/cli/init)             | Bootstrap a `gaal.yaml` interactively or from flags.             |
| [`gaal audit`](/cli/audit)           | Read-only scan of skills and MCP entries already on the machine. |
| [`gaal doctor`](/cli/doctor)         | Health check on configuration, sources, targets, and agents.     |
| [`gaal migrate`](/cli/migrate)       | Validate and prepare configuration for Community Edition.        |
| [`gaal schema`](/cli/schema)         | Print or write the JSON Schema for `gaal.yaml`.                  |
| [`gaal version`](/cli/version)       | Print version and build time.                                    |
| [`gaal completion`](/cli/completion) | Generate shell completion scripts.                               |

## Exit codes

Most commands follow this convention:

| Code | Meaning                                                                                    |
| ---- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `0`  | Success, nothing to do, or work completed cleanly.                                         |
| `1`  | Warning, work completed but with non-fatal issues, or `--dry-run` reports pending changes. |
| `2`  | Error, operation failed.                                                                   |

Per-command exit-code semantics are documented on each command's page.

## Examples

```bash theme={"theme":"nord"}
# Use a config in /etc rather than the default
gaal --config /etc/gaal/team.yaml sync

# Verbose JSON output
gaal --verbose -o json status

# Search the default skill registry
gaal skill search frontend

# Sync everything into a sandbox
gaal --sandbox /tmp/gaal-test sync

# Service mode with logging
gaal --log-file /var/log/gaal.json sync --service --interval 5m
```