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name: cli-and-agent-tools description: "Helps agents use the Data Designer CLI, config subcommands, persona downloads, plugin catalog commands, and machine-readable agent introspection." disable-model-invocation: true metadata: disco-role: operating license: NOASSERTION

CLI and Agent Tools

Use this sub-skill when a request is about the data-designer command line, local config state, persona downloads, plugin catalog lookup/install commands, or the data-designer agent ... introspection interface.

What belongs here

• Root CLI shape, --help, --version, and lazy command groups.
• config commands: list, providers, models, mcp, tools, reset.
• download personas flags and managed persona state.
• plugin and plugin catalog command routing.
• agent context, agent types, agent state model-aliases, and agent state persona-datasets.
• CLI-to-controller/API mapping for preview, create, validate, and check-models without generation internals.
• Config file locations, DATA_DESIGNER_HOME, plugin catalog cache, managed-assets layout, and -- script-argument forwarding.
• Troubleshooting for PATH issues, missing API keys, no usable model aliases, bad config paths/modules, run-config shape, non-TTY preview navigation, reset/delete caution, and network/storage-bound persona downloads.

What stays elsewhere

• Config object fields and config authoring rules → ../config-authoring/SKILL.md.
• Runtime generation behavior for preview, create, validate, and check-models → ../generation-runtime/SKILL.md.
• Plugin implementation contracts, entry-point authoring, and plugin package internals → ../plugins-and-extensions/SKILL.md.

Read these first

• references/cli-reference.md for command tree, flags, examples, and CLI-to-API mapping.
• references/agent-introspection.md for agent context, agent types, and agent state output structure.
• references/configuration-files.md for the state directory, config YAML files, plugin cache, and managed assets.
• references/troubleshooting.md for predictable CLI failures and recovery steps.
• scripts/capture_agent_context.py when you need a repeatable snapshot from an installed CLI without depending on the source checkout.

Typical workflows

1. Bootstrap a session with data-designer agent context; it includes live type catalogs, model alias state, persona state, and the agent command registry.
2. Use data-designer agent state model-aliases before model-backed validation, preview, create, or config edits.
3. Use data-designer agent state persona-datasets or download personas --list before relying on persona locale data.
4. Use data-designer --help and references/cli-reference.md for exact command names and flags.
5. Preserve config-script args after --; do not turn them into Data Designer CLI options.
6. When a task crosses into config schema, generation runtime, or plugin internals, follow the sibling links above rather than duplicating that material here.

Fast decision hints

• Fresh or unknown environment: run scripts/capture_agent_context.py or data-designer agent context first.
• No model aliases usable: configure providers/API keys, then re-run agent state model-aliases.
• Persona request: treat installation as per-locale under managed assets.
• Plugin discovery/install request: this sub-skill owns command syntax; route deeper plugin design to plugins-and-extensions.
• preview/create/check-models request: this sub-skill owns CLI flags and mapping; route execution semantics to generation-runtime.