Run commands

kiste exec -- git status --short
kiste exec review-42 --cwd /workspace/api -- npm test
kiste exec build -e CI=true -e NODE_ENV=test -- sh -c 'make test'

exec runs a program in the Kiste and streams its output back while it runs. kiste exits with the program's exit status, so exec fits into scripts and CI like a local command.

Exactly what you asked for

• No shell in between. The words after -- are the program and its arguments, passed exactly. Write sh -c '…' when you want shell syntax such as pipes or &&. A login shell (sh -lc) also runs the image's login profile; use sh -c when standard output must contain only the command's output.
• Byte-exact output. Standard output and standard error arrive separately and unchanged, binary included.
• No standard input. exec doesn't forward standard input; pipe input with kiste ssh NAME -- CMD < file instead.
• No terminal. Programs that insist on a terminal belong in kiste ssh.
• No SSH. exec uses a private channel into the Kiste, not SSH, and works without device keys.

--cwd sets the working directory, -e KEY=VALUE (repeatable) the environment. --timeout limits how long the command may run.

Machine-readable

kiste exec build --json -- make test
kiste exec build --output ndjson -- make test

With --json, one exec.completed envelope holds the exit_code and the output as stdout_base64 and stderr_base64. With --output ndjson every chunk of output arrives as its own line while the command runs. kiste exits with the command's status in both modes; a failure of the CLI itself is an error envelope with its own code. Exit code 127 means the program doesn't exist in the Kiste.

Durable records

Every command gets a record that survives your connection: who ran what, when it started and ended, its exit code or signal, and how many bytes it wrote. The output itself is not stored on the server.

kiste commands review-42          # the commands of one Kiste
kiste command 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000

When this computer started the command, kiste command also shows its local transcript, so you can diagnose it without running it again. The console shows commands under Activity.

Cancel and interrupt

Give a command your own ID to address it from elsewhere, for example from another agent:

kiste exec build --id 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 -- npm test
kiste cancel 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 --name build
kiste interrupt 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 --reason "superseded"

cancel stops a running exec command on its Kiste. interrupt asks any durable command, including a coding agent run, to stop cooperatively, and records the reason.

exec or ssh?