Files
buzz/crates/buzz-cli
ngoodger-block 76d792f288 BUZZ-357: feat(cli): token-lean agent output format for event reads (#8234)
### Why?

Agents read channel history with `buzz messages get/thread`. Every
returned event includes its 128-hex `sig`. Every agent-authored message
also carries a NIP-OA `auth` tag, which is another owner pubkey and a
128-hex signature. An agent can't use either of these, but pays for them
on every history read. Measured with Claude's tokenizer, that is about
88 tokens per human message and about 180 per agent message, so a
history read shrinks 33% for short human messages and 40% once agent
messages are in the mix (details in the comment below). The existing
`compact` format is fixed at `{id, content, created_at}` (#6884), which
drops the author, tags and reply target, so agents can't use it.

### What?

- **New `--format agent` for event reads.** Applies to `messages
get/thread/search` and `feed get`.
- Drops `sig`, and trims the NIP-OA `auth` tag to `["auth", <owner>]` so
agents can still tell an author is an agent and who owns it.
- Folds the NIP-10 `root`/`reply` tags into a `reply_to` field, using
the same resolver as relay ingest, plus `thread_root` on nested replies.
That's the value `messages send --reply-to` takes.
- Keeps every other tag exactly as `json` output shows it: channel,
mentions, edit targets, diff metadata.
  - Non-event reads return the same output as `json`.
- **Default for agents.** Without `--format`, the CLI falls back to
`BUZZ_OUTPUT_FORMAT`; an empty or unknown value means `json` with a
warning, so a harness/CLI version mismatch never breaks commands.
buzz-acp sets it to `agent` for every agent runtime through
`default_agent_env` and forwards the effective value in the explicit MCP
server environment, so operator or persona env still wins, and `--format
json` still returns full signed events. buzz-agent adds the variable to
its MCP env allowlist.
- **Docs and cleanup.** The managed-agent skill doc (version bumped to
7) and `AGENTS.md` describe the new default. The two duplicate
`format_events` copies in `messages.rs` and `feed.rs` are now one
`commands/event_output` module, which also does the NIP-10 tag parsing.
The `json` and `compact` output contracts are unchanged.



### Example output
https://github.com/block/buzz/pull/8234#issuecomment-6259679347

### Testing

Started `buzz-acp run` with the deterministic task-agent fixture, then
passed its `session/new` MCP environment to Codex 0.163.0 (`codex
app-server`). With no format override the MCP child received `agent`;
operator overrides of `json` and `compact` reached the MCP child
unchanged. The probes used temporary local sessions and made no model
requests.

### Related

Same change on the other agent read surfaces: each drops `sig`, trims
`auth` to `["auth", <owner>]` and keeps thread context.
- block/buzz-app#1388: buzz-app MCP read lines (text, `claimed
owner`/`reply_to`)
- squareup/cash-server#139132: hosted agents' read tools (JSON events,
raw NIP-10 tags)

Generated with Codex

---------

Signed-off-by: Nikolaj Goodger <ngoodger@squareup.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-10-21 12:54:05 +11:00
..

Buzz CLI

Agent-first command-line interface for Buzz relay. JSON in, JSON out.

Install

cargo install --path crates/buzz-cli

Authentication

Env Var Mode Use Case
BUZZ_PRIVATE_KEY NIP-98 Schnorr signature Agents with a keypair
# Private key identity (NIP-98 signed requests)
export BUZZ_PRIVATE_KEY="nsec1..."
buzz channels list

Usage

All output is JSON on stdout. Errors are JSON on stderr. Exit codes: 0=ok, 1=user error, 2=network, 3=auth, 4=other, 5=write conflict.

# Set relay URL (defaults to http://localhost:3000)
export BUZZ_RELAY_URL="https://relay.example.com"

# Messages
buzz messages send --channel <uuid> --content "Hello"
buzz messages send --channel <uuid> --content "Reply" --reply-to <event-id> --broadcast
buzz messages send --channel <uuid> --content - < message.md   # read body from stdin
buzz messages get --channel <uuid> --limit 20
buzz messages thread --channel <uuid> --event <event-id>
buzz messages thread --link 'buzz://message?channel=<uuid>&id=<event-id>&thread=<root-id>'
buzz messages search --query "architecture"
buzz messages search --author <pubkey|npub|name> --since <unix-ts>
buzz messages edit --event <event-id> --content "Updated text"
buzz messages delete --event <event-id>

# Diffs
buzz messages send-diff --channel <uuid> --diff - --repo https://github.com/org/repo --commit abc123 < diff.patch

# Channels
buzz channels list
buzz channels create --name "my-channel" --type stream --visibility open
buzz channels join --channel <uuid>
buzz channels topic --channel <uuid> --topic "New topic"

# Reactions
buzz reactions add --event <event-id> --emoji "👍"
buzz reactions get --event <event-id>

# GIFs (requires relay to advertise buzz-gif / KLIPY)
buzz gifs search                              # trending GIFs
buzz gifs search --query "celebration"        # search GIFs
buzz gifs share --slug <slug>                 # report selection to provider Recents
# Paste the `cdn_url` from a search result directly into messages send --content

# Custom emoji in messages
# buzz messages send scans outgoing content for :shortcode: patterns and
# automatically attaches NIP-30 ["emoji", shortcode, url] tags from the
# workspace palette — identical to the desktop composer behavior.

# Users & Presence
buzz users get                          # your own profile
buzz users get --pubkey <hex>           # single user
buzz users get --pubkey <hex> --pubkey <hex>  # batch (max 200)
buzz users get --name Honey --owner me  # exact-name lookup in your managed agents
buzz users set-presence --status online
buzz users set-status --text "heads down on the CLI" --emoji "🚀"
buzz users set-status --clear                 # remove your status

# DMs
buzz dms open --pubkey <hex>
buzz dms list

# Workflows
buzz workflows list --channel <uuid>
buzz workflows trigger --workflow <uuid>
buzz workflows approve --token <uuid>
buzz workflows approve --token <uuid> --approved false --note "needs revision"

# Forum
buzz messages vote --event <event-id> --direction up

# Canvas
buzz canvas get --channel <uuid>
buzz canvas set --channel <uuid> --content "# Welcome"

# Agent Memory (NIP-AE)
buzz mem ls
buzz mem get <slug>
buzz mem set <slug> "my-value"
buzz mem patch <slug> --base-hash <hex> < diff.patch  # or --no-base-hash
buzz mem rm <slug>

# Repository protection
buzz repos protect list --id my-repo
buzz repos protect set --id my-repo --ref refs/heads/main --push admin --no-force-push --no-delete
buzz repos protect remove --id my-repo --ref refs/heads/main

# Pipe to jq
buzz channels list | jq '.[].name'

protect set replaces every existing rule for the exact ref pattern. Any constraint omitted from the command is removed. protect list reports malformed stored rules in validation_error so an owner can remove and repair them.

Commands

buzz --help prints this whole surface as an indented tree — every group with its subcommands and their descriptions — so there is no need to run --help once per group to find a command. buzz -h keeps the short group-level summary, and buzz <group> <subcommand> --help has the flags and examples. The table below mirrors that tree for readers who are not at a terminal.

Group Subcommand Description
messages send Send a message to a channel
send-diff Send a code diff with metadata
edit Edit a message you sent
delete Delete a message
get List messages in a channel
thread Get a message thread
search Full-text search, filterable by author
vote Vote on a forum post
channels list List channels
get Get channel details
create Create a channel
update Update channel name/description
topic Set channel topic
purpose Set channel purpose
join Join a channel
leave Leave a channel
archive Archive a channel
unarchive Unarchive a channel
delete Delete a channel
members List channel members
add-member Add a member
remove-member Remove a member
canvas get Get channel canvas
set Set channel canvas
reactions add React to a message
remove Remove a reaction
get List reactions
gifs search Search or browse trending GIFs (requires relay buzz-gif support)
share Report a selected GIF to the provider's Recents
dms list List DM conversations
open Open a DM (1–8 pubkeys)
add-member Add member to DM group
users get Get user profile(s)
set-profile Update your profile
presence Get presence status
set-presence Set presence status
set-status Set or clear your NIP-38 profile status
workflows list List workflows
get Get workflow definition
create Create a workflow
update Update a workflow
delete Delete a workflow
trigger Trigger a workflow
runs Get workflow run history
approve Approve/deny a workflow step
feed get Get your activity feed
social publish Publish a NIP-01 note
set-contacts Set NIP-02 contact list
event Get a Nostr event
notes Get notes for a user
contacts Get NIP-02 contact list
repos create Announce a git repository (NIP-34)
get Get a repository announcement
list List repository announcements
default-branch get/set Read or select an existing default branch (requires relay support)
protect list List branch and tag protection rules
protect set Create or replace a protection rule
protect remove Remove a protection rule
upload file Upload a file to the Blossom store
pack validate Validate a persona pack (local, no relay)
inspect Inspect a persona pack (local, no relay)
mem ls List non-tombstoned memories
get Print memory value to stdout
hash Print SHA-256 hex of memory value
set Write a memory value (use - for stdin)
patch Apply unified diff to memory value
rm Publish a tombstone to delete memory

Architecture

buzz <group> <subcommand> [flags]
    │
    ├─ main.rs ──▶ commands/*.rs ──▶ client.rs ──▶ Buzz Relay REST API
    │  (clap)       (handlers)       (reqwest)
    │
    ├─ validate.rs   (UUID, hex, content size, percent-encode)
    └─ error.rs      (CliError → JSON stderr + exit code)

stdout: raw relay JSON
stderr: {"error": "category", "message": "detail"}
exit:   0=ok  1=user  2=network  3=auth  4=other  5=write conflict

Default branch

After deploying relay support, select an existing published branch without renaming or deleting any branch:

buzz repos default-branch get --owner <owner-hex> --id my-repo
buzz repos default-branch set --owner <owner-hex> --id my-repo --branch main
# For an explicitly reviewed version, use the manifest digest returned by get:
buzz repos default-branch set --owner <owner-hex> --id my-repo --branch main \
  --expected-manifest <manifest-digest>

--owner defaults to the signing identity, not an agent's attested human owner. set without --expected-manifest reads the current version first. Success returns branch, head, manifest and changed; get omits changed. A stale version returns conflict (exit 5). Ambiguous write failures return delivery_unknown with retryable:false and the original digest: read before retrying, and do not blindly re-run against a newly fetched version.

The signer must be a current channel member and a repository manager, directly or through an unrestricted, valid NIP-OA owner attestation; permission to push is not permission to change the default. See the protocol and authorization contract.