Command Line Interface

Quick Reference

language-pipes                              # Launch interactive TUI
language-pipes -c config.toml               # Launch TUI with a config preloaded
language-pipes -c config.toml --start       # Launch TUI and start serving immediately
language-pipes -c config.toml run           # Run headless from a config file
language-pipes -c config.toml run -t TOKEN  # Run headless with a HuggingFace token
language-pipes -c config.toml config        # Print the configuration
language-pipes keygen                       # Generate and print a new AES network key

Argument order matters. -c/--config, --start, -v, and -h are options on the top-level command and must appear before the subcommand (run, config, keygen). For example, language-pipes run -c config.toml fails — use language-pipes -c config.toml run. Subcommand options such as run’s -t/--token go after the subcommand.

Global Options

These are parsed by the top-level language-pipes command and apply to every subcommand. They must be given before the subcommand name.

Option	Description	Default
-h, --help	Show help message and exit
-v, --version	Print the version and exit
-c FILE, --config FILE	Configuration to load (see below)	Show Main Menu
--start	Skip the startup confirmation and begin serving immediately	false

How --config is resolved

The value passed to -c/--config is interpreted as follows:

• If it contains .toml, it is treated as a path to a TOML file.
• Otherwise it is treated as the name of a saved configuration and resolved to <app_dir>/configs/<name>.toml.

If the resolved file does not exist, the command exits immediately with:

ERROR: <value> is not a valid path or saved configuration

See Configuration for all available properties, types, and defaults.

---

Commands

language-pipes (no subcommand)

Launches the interactive TUI for creating, viewing, editing, and loading configurations.

language-pipes                          # Open the main menu
language-pipes -c config.toml           # Open with a configuration preloaded
language-pipes -c config.toml --start   # Open and begin serving immediately

• -c/--config preloads a configuration instead of showing the main menu.
• --start begins serving all configured services without waiting for confirmation.

In TUI mode the configuration file is authoritative. Environment variables and flags do not override config values.

---

run

Start a Language Pipes server node without the TUI, streaming output to stdout.

Format:

language-pipes -c FILE run [-t TOKEN]

Option	Description	Default
-t TOKEN, --token TOKEN	HuggingFace token used to download gated models	Token from the global config

Any model listed in the configuration that is not already installed is downloaded on startup. Pass -t/--token when one of those models is gated and requires an authenticated HuggingFace account.

language-pipes -c config.toml run -t hf_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The token is optional. When -t/--token is omitted, the token is read from the hf_token field of the global config file at <app_dir>/globals.toml. This is the token saved by the TUI when you enter a HuggingFace API key while downloading a model and confirm the save prompt — so once it has been saved there, run picks it up automatically and the flag is only needed to override it for a single run. If neither is present, downloads proceed unauthenticated and gated models will fail.

A configuration is required. If -c/--config is not provided, the command exits with:

ERROR: --config param required

The configuration file is resolved the same way as the global --config option (a .toml path, or a saved configuration name under <app_dir>/configs/).

language-pipes -c config.toml run
language-pipes -c node4 run            # resolves <app_dir>/configs/node4.toml

Output is written to stdout as it happens, in the form:

2026-01-01 12:00:00,000: Starting job server on port 8000

The same records are also written to a per-session log file under the log directory (~/.cache/language_pipes/logs/language_pipes_<timestamp>.log), with the log level and originating subsystem included. This applies to both run and the TUI.

---

config

Resolve a configuration file and print its settings as a human-readable report (ports, API keys, layer models, end models, and network settings).

Format:

language-pipes -c FILE config

A configuration is required (-c/--config), resolved the same way as run.

Example:

$ language-pipes -c node4.toml config
============================================================
--- Configuration Settings ---
============================================================

Job Port: 8000
API Keys:
- None

Layer Models:
- None

End Models:
- None

============================================================
  DSNode Configuration Details
============================================================

--- Node Settings ---
  Node ID:           node-4
  ...

The output is a formatted report intended for inspection. It is not valid TOML and is not designed to be piped back into a configuration file.

---

keygen

Generate a new AES key and print it to stdout, for use as the network_key value in a configuration (see Configuration).

Format:

language-pipes keygen

keygen takes no arguments or configuration and does not write to a file — it only prints the generated key. Copy it into a config’s network_key field (or paste it into Network > Configure in the TUI) to enable encryption.

Example:

$ language-pipes keygen
✓ Network key generated: 5f3c1a9e2b7d4f6081c3a5e7d9f1b3c5

---

Examples

Launch the TUI with a saved configuration

language-pipes -c node4

Run a node headless from a config file

language-pipes -c config.toml run

Run a node headless and log to a file as well as the terminal

language-pipes -c node4.toml run | tee node4.log

Inspect the configuration

language-pipes -c node4.toml config