---

name: ct description: Guide for using the ct (CommonTools) binary to interact with charms, recipes, and the Common Fabric. Use this skill when deploying recipes, managing charms, linking data between charms, or debugging recipe execution. Triggers include requests to "deploy this recipe", "call a handler", "link these charms", "get data from charm", or "test this recipe locally".

CT CLI

The ct binary is the CLI for CommonTools. Use --help for current commands:

Copydeno task ct --help           # Top-level commands
deno task ct charm --help     # Charm operations
deno task ct check --help     # Type checking

Environment Setup

Identity key (required for most operations):

Copyls -la claude.key              # Check for existing
deno task ct id new > claude.key  # Create if missing

Environment variables (avoid repeating flags):

Copyexport CT_API_URL=http://localhost:8000  # or https://toolshed.saga-castor.ts.net/
export CT_IDENTITY=./claude.key

Local servers: See docs/development/LOCAL_DEV_SERVERS.md

Quick Command Reference

Core Workflow: setsrc vs new

Critical pattern: After initial deployment, use setsrc to iterate:

Copy# First time only
deno task ct charm new pattern.tsx ...
# Output: Created charm bafyreia... <- Save this ID!

# ALL subsequent iterations
deno task ct charm setsrc pattern.tsx --charm bafyreia... ...

Why: new creates duplicate charms. setsrc updates in-place.

JSON Input Format

All values to set and call must be valid JSON:

Copy# Strings need nested quotes
echo '"hello world"' | deno task ct charm set ... title

# Numbers are bare
echo '42' | deno task ct charm set ... count

# Objects
echo '{"name": "John"}' | deno task ct charm set ... user

Gotcha: Stale Computed Values

charm set does NOT trigger recompute. Run charm step after:

Copyecho '[...]' | deno task ct charm set --charm ID expenses ...
deno task ct charm step --charm ID ...  # Required!
deno task ct charm get --charm ID totalSpent ...

See docs/development/debugging/cli-debugging.md for debugging patterns.

Troubleshooting

References

• packages/patterns/system/default-app.tsx - System charms (allCharms list lives here)
• docs/common/workflows/handlers-cli-testing.md - Handler testing
• docs/development/debugging/cli-debugging.md - CLI debugging