c2j

c2j

c2j is the local job-oriented CLI for submitting and running recipe jobs through an SWF runtime.

Use it when you want to:

• submit a recipe job from a named recipe or a local recipe file
• run or continue an existing job
• use the embedded local runtime for fast iteration
• inspect the current cell configuration used for job targeting
• list jobs for a cell

Examples below assume you are running from the repo root.

Command Summary

c2j self
c2j cells
c2j init
c2j submit
c2j exec
c2j list
c2j test

Use go run ./cmd/c2j --help or c2j --help to see the full command tree.

Quick Start

1. Check current-cell resolution

submit targets the current cell by default. That usually comes from .c2j/config.yaml, but supported project types can also be auto-detected.

Inspect the resolved config:

c2j self

List allowed dependent cells:

c2j cells

Generate a starter config if needed:

c2j init --stdout

If the current directory does not resolve as a cell, either:

• create .c2j/config.yaml, or
• pass --cell <repo-or-path> explicitly to submit or list

2. Submit and run a local recipe file

For local authoring, this is the default loop:

c2j submit \
  --recipe-file ./recipes/my-recipe.yaml \
  --run \
  --embed

That does all of the following:

• loads the local YAML file
• embeds that recipe into the submitted job
• starts an embedded SWF runtime
• submits the job
• immediately executes it

3. Continue or inspect a job later

Find recent jobs for the current cell:

c2j list --self --embed

Continue a submitted job:

c2j exec --job-id <job-id> --embed

Current Cell Commands

c2j self

Shows how c2j resolves the current cell from .c2j/config.yaml or supported auto-detection.

c2j self
c2j self --json

Fields include:

• short_name
• repo
• ref
• root_repo
• root_ref
• pattern

c2j cells

Lists dependent cells allowed by the current config.

c2j cells
c2j cells --json

This is mainly useful when you want to target another cell by short name and need to verify how config expands it.

c2j init

Writes a commented .c2j/config.yaml template.

c2j init
c2j init --stdout
c2j init --force

The generated template can derive values from the Go module in the current repo when base: go is appropriate.

Submitting Jobs

Basic forms

Submit a named recipe:

c2j submit --recipe default --embed

--recipe accepts a recipe name or git selector. For local files, prefer --recipe-file.

Submit a local recipe file:

c2j submit --recipe-file ./recipes/my-recipe.yaml --embed

Submit and run immediately:

c2j submit --recipe-file ./recipes/my-recipe.yaml --run --embed

By default, if neither --recipe nor --recipe-file is set, c2j submits the recipe named default.

Passing inputs

Inline JSON:

c2j submit \
  --recipe-file ./recipes/my-recipe.yaml \
  --inputs-json '{"message":"hello"}' \
  --run \
  --embed

Inputs file in JSON or YAML:

c2j submit \
  --recipe-file ./recipes/my-recipe.yaml \
  --inputs-file ./recipes/test-inputs.yaml \
  --run \
  --embed

Positional prompt shortcut:

c2j submit "Summarize the repo" --recipe my-prompt-recipe --embed

The positional argument is merged as inputs.prompt.

Rules:

• --inputs-json and --inputs-file are mutually exclusive
• the positional prompt cannot also be provided as inputs.prompt

Choosing the target cell

Use the current cell:

c2j submit --recipe-file ./recipes/my-recipe.yaml --self --embed

Use another cell explicitly:

c2j submit \
  --recipe-file ./recipes/my-recipe.yaml \
  --cell github.com/colony-2/root \
  --embed

--cell accepts:

• a canonical repo string
• a clone URL
• a local repository path
• a configured short name when .c2j/config.yaml defines a pattern

Rules:

• --self and --cell are mutually exclusive
• if no --cell is given, c2j behaves as if you targeted --self

Getting machine-readable output

If you only want the submitted job identity:

c2j submit \
  --recipe-file ./recipes/my-recipe.yaml \
  --json \
  --embed

This emits:

{
  "tenant_id": "0",
  "job_id": "job-...",
  "recipe": "my_recipe_id"
}

Note:

• --json and --run are mutually exclusive

Testing Recipes

c2j test compiles, validates, and runs recipe test suites locally. It does not call the old Colony2 API.

Compile a suite to canonical IR:

c2j test compile \
  --recipe-file ./recipes/my-recipe.yaml \
  --file ./recipes/my-recipe.test.yaml \
  --out ./tmp/compiled-test.json

Run a local suite:

c2j test run \
  --recipe-file ./recipes/my-recipe.yaml \
  --file ./recipes/my-recipe.test.yaml \
  --artifact-mode inline

Run one case:

c2j test case run \
  --recipe-file ./recipes/my-recipe.yaml \
  --file ./recipes/my-recipe.test.yaml \
  --case-id smoke

Useful flags:

• --recipe <name-or-git-selector> targets a current-cell recipe or explicit git selector
• --recipe-file <path> uses a local inline recipe file
• --case <id> filters suite mode to selected cases
• --parallelism <n> controls local case concurrency
• --out-dir <dir> defaults to .c2j/test-results/<timestamp>/
• passthrough cases use a disposable embedded runtime root automatically; use --runtime-root and --keep-runtime only for debugging

Running Jobs

c2j exec executes or continues an existing job and prints live story progress to stdout.

Basic usage:

c2j exec --job-id <job-id> --embed

Common variants:

c2j exec --job-id <job-id> --wait-timeout 30m --embed
c2j exec --job-id <job-id> --input-mode fail --embed
c2j exec --job-id <job-id> --ci --embed

Important behavior:

• completed jobs return successfully
• failed jobs return a non-zero exit code
• suspended jobs may wait, prompt, or fail depending on flags
• when input is pending, interactive terminals default to prompting
• in CI or non-terminal mode, input handling defaults to ops

Input handling

--input-mode controls what happens when a job is blocked on user input:

• prompt Prompt on stdin/stdout and submit the response
• ops Emit machine-readable input_required JSON and exit non-zero
• fail Exit immediately when input is required

--ci enables machine-readable input-required behavior without prompting.

Not-ready handling

--on-not-ready controls how exec reacts when a job is not runnable yet:

• wait
• fail
• fail-on-lease
• fail-on-pending-jobs
• fail-on-future
• fail-on-missing-capability

With the default wait, exec will print waiting: ... lines and poll until the job becomes runnable or the wait timeout is reached.

Exit codes

c2j exec uses distinct exit codes:

• 1: general failure or job failure
• 2: wait timeout
• 3: input required
• 4: job not runnable under the selected policy
• 5: invalid job identity or invalid exec arguments

Listing Jobs

List jobs for the current cell:

c2j list --self --embed

List as JSON:

c2j list --self --json --embed

Filter by status:

c2j list --self --status pending_jobs --status active --embed

List jobs for another cell:

c2j list --cell github.com/colony-2/root --embed

Useful filters:

• --job-id
• --job-type
• --status
• --waiting-for
• --created-after
• --created-before
• --page-size
• --page-token
• --all

Embedded Runtime

--embed is shorthand for:

--swf-url embed:///

Use it when you want a local self-contained runtime instead of an external SWF server.

Behavior:

• starts embedded Postgres and Strata as needed
• uses a persistent runtime root on disk
• works well for local recipe authoring and debugging

Defaults:

• runtime URL: embed:///
• runtime root: ~/.c2j/embed/default

You can override the root with:

export C2J_EMBED_ROOT=/absolute/path/to/embed-root

Notes:

• C2J_EMBED_ROOT must be an absolute path
• only one c2j process can own a given embedded runtime root at a time
• if you need parallel embedded runtimes, give each process a different C2J_EMBED_ROOT

Runtime and Tenant Defaults

c2j reads these environment variables:

• C2J_SWF_URL
• C2J_TENANT_ID
• C2J_EMBED_ROOT

Built-in defaults:

• C2J_SWF_URL: http://localhost:9047
• C2J_TENANT_ID: 0

Examples:

export C2J_SWF_URL=http://localhost:9047
export C2J_TENANT_ID=123

When --embed is present, it overrides C2J_SWF_URL for that command.

Common Workflows

Local recipe authoring loop

c2j self
c2j submit --recipe-file ./recipes/my-recipe.yaml --run --embed

Detached submit, then later run

c2j submit --recipe-file ./recipes/my-recipe.yaml --json --embed
c2j exec --job-id <job-id> --embed

Run against a remote runtime instead of embed

c2j submit \
  --recipe-file ./recipes/my-recipe.yaml \
  --swf-url http://localhost:9047 \
  --run

Target another cell explicitly

c2j submit \
  --recipe-file ./recipes/my-recipe.yaml \
  --cell github.com/colony-2/root \
  --run \
  --embed

Gotchas

• --recipe and --recipe-file are mutually exclusive
• --json and --run are mutually exclusive on submit
• --inputs-json and --inputs-file are mutually exclusive
• --self and --cell are mutually exclusive
• self, cells, and implicit current-cell submission depend on config or supported auto-detection succeeding
• short cell names require a config pattern; without config, use an explicit repo or path
• --recipe-file is clearer than passing a local file path through --recipe

Related Files

• command entrypoint: main.go
• embedded runtime notes: embed-swf-mode-spec.md
• recipe authoring docs: RECIPE_AUTHORING_GUIDE.md