---

name: amq-cli version: 0.96.1 # x-release-please-version description: Coordinate coding agents through AMQ. Use for agent messages, inboxes, receipts, sessions, wake delivery, cross-project routing, managed launches, or AMQ diagnostics. Use amq-spec for collaborative design; do not use this for general message queues or single-agent work. metadata: short-description: Inter-agent messaging via AMQ CLI compatibility: claude-code, codex-cli, grok-cli

AMQ CLI

Use the amq CLI for all queue operations. Never edit Maildir files directly. AMQ transports coordination; the caller or orchestrator still owns task planning, worktrees, approvals, and delivery.

Start in the correct context

Inside coop exec, use the environment as provided and run bare amq commands. Do not override --me or reconstruct the root. Outside it, resolve and export the complete context before reading or sending:

amq_context="$(amq env --me "<handle>" --export)" && eval "$amq_context" &&
  amq drain --include-body

For a named session, add --session <name> to amq env. Treat the evaluated context as one terminal bound to one session. Use --session or --project for deliberate routing; do not point a participating command at another queue with a raw --root.

Receive under a live wake

If session-start context says wake=live(...), or amq wake check --me <handle> --json reports live_wake: true with an injection mode other than none, the wake delivers a doorbell for you. Run amq drain --include-body when it fires, then act on the messages.

The default drain reads at most 20 messages in filename order, including held mail. After a full batch, check amq list --new --limit 1 and continue with bounded drains as needed; do not assume the inbox is empty. Use --limit 0 only for a known, manageable batch. Urgent hold bypass does not change drain order.

Do not run amq watch, amq monitor, sleep-poll, or start another inbox watcher under that live wake. A blocking wait holds your turn while the doorbell queues behind it. When your work is done, finish the turn; do not keep a tool running or send idle check-ins just to wait for mail.

A wake can hold its first doorbell for routine mail with the hold_normal and hold_low settings; 5m / 30m is an opt-in example. The configured retry policy applies after the first attempt. Urgent priority skips the hold. Ordinary urgent mail still passes through debounce and input deferral; urgent mail with the configured interrupt label follows the interrupt path. Use --priority urgent on send or reply for time-critical verdicts and unblocking requests. Other review responses remain normal by default.

Wake settings (hold, debounce, preview, bell, input deferral, interrupt notice) live in .wake.settings and apply to a running wake. Change your own or a peer's wake without a restart:

amq wake config --me <handle>                           # show
amq wake config --me <handle> --hold-normal 5m --wait   # set, wait for apply
amq wake config --me <handle> --unset hold_normal       # back to default
amq wake config --me <handle> --reset --hold-low 30m    # replace the file

Set a default for every wake of this user on this machine with --machine (no --me); a per-agent value overrides it per key, and --unset falls back to the next layer:

amq wake config --machine --hold-normal 5m --hold-low 30m  # machine default
amq wake config --machine --unset hold_low                 # back to default

A refused file shows file: refused: <err> with default rows (the wake keeps its last applied settings); set and --unset exit 1 and point at --reset. A running wake that reports no live settings shows unreported: --wait exits 6 after 5 s, and set/--unset on an absent file exit 6 after the same 5 s. Causes: an older image, a failed status write, or a resumed wake still storing its command-line settings in the file (wait a moment). Otherwise restart that wake (a resume seeds the file) or --reset with the full set. A missing mailbox exits 3.

Flags fixed for a running wake (--inject-mode, --inject-via, --inject-arg, --inject-cmd, --interrupt-cmd, --retry-until) are refused; restart the wake through its owning terminal after amq wake check. Repair, coop exec, keepalive, and self-upgrade keep the stored settings; a resume with no file seeds it once from its argv settings flags.

Without an injecting wake, use the receive methods in the operations guide. A notify-only wake (--inject-mode none) paired with a supervisor monitor service is a separate supported setup.

Send useful handoffs

For one related batch, send one completion handoff with artifact paths, the relevant source or digest, checks, failed or pending parts, and the next action or actor. Send independent blockers promptly; send a partial result when the receiver can act on it before the rest finishes.

Send status when work starts, a state, decision, or result changes, or an agreed escalation is due. Avoid file-by-file completion notices and unchanged check-ins. Automated callers own duplicate suppression by item, revision, and event; AMQ threads correlate messages, but do not deduplicate repeated sends.

Route the task

Need	Read or run
Send, reply, drain, inspect receipts, or diagnose	Use the operations guide.
Two-agent research and design	Use the amq-spec skill.
Co-op roles and phased collaboration	Read co-op mode.
Claude Code Agent Teams	Read swarm mode.
Cross-project delivery or decision threads	Read cross-project routing.
Grok Bot on a registered Mac	Read registered-machine execution.
Symphony or Kanban adapters	Read integrations.
Message schema details	Read message format.
Multi-round background review	Read review loop.
Attach to a running harness session	Read the amq-remote reference.

Use amq <command> --help for current flags. The repository README is the canonical setup path.

Remote

amq-remote is a companion binary, not an amq subcommand. It attaches to a harness session that is already running. Targets are declared in <AM_ROOT>/extensions/remote/manifest.json (claude, codex, pi, or fake). up supervises the endpoint; submit, status, wait, and cancel talk to it; share mints the session body key. A manifest relay object shares a target with its owner over a Buzz relay. DM commands require the pinned native_session_id and run only while that session is attached; Desktop presence reports the attachment status and honors the pin when one is set. doctor lists each failing boundary under failing and exits 6 while any remains. Flags and exit codes are in the amq-remote reference. The design is the remote-control ADR. Pinned seams are the compatibility manifest.

Safety and delivery rules

• A wake notification is attention, not consumption proof. Use receipts or --wait-for drained when delivery proof matters. A drained receipt proves ingestion, not that the requested work is complete.
• Preserve the existing thread when replying. Drain again after a doorbell; the newest complete message body is authoritative.
• Cleanup is explicit through amq cleanup. Do not add automatic deletion.
• Before any wake mutation, run amq wake check --me "<handle>" --json. Act only when restart_capability=agent_safe; otherwise preserve state and report the required operator action.
• Keep cross-host payloads outside privileged inboxes until the configured bridge has authenticated and applied them. Never copy or remote-drain a foreign Maildir as a substitute for routing.
• Do not translate native Windows injection into Unix wake or coop exec. Read the platform section in the operations guide when Windows is involved.
• Dangerous provider bypass flags belong only on an operator-controlled direct coop exec command. Do not place them in committed launch configuration.

The full command catalog, environment precedence, setup flow, platform notes, operator gates, and examples are in the operations guide.