---
name: hyperframes-cli
description: >
  Use the HyperFrames CLI development loop: init, add, catalog, capture, lint, check, snapshot,
  compare, grade-compare, preview, play, present, beats, keyframes, single or batch render, publish,
  cloud, cloudrun, feedback, lambda, doctor, browser, info, upgrade, skills, compositions, docs,
  benchmark, telemetry, transcribe, auth, tts, and remove-background. Also use when diagnosing build
  or render failures. validate, inspect, and layout are deprecated aliases; use check. Covers local,
  HeyGen-hosted cloud, AWS Lambda, and Google Cloud Run rendering.
---

# HyperFrames CLI

Run commands as `npx hyperframes ...` unless project instructions provide a wrapper. Obey the wrapper when present. The CLI requires Node.js 22 or newer and FFmpeg.

## Development loop

1. **Scaffold:** `npx hyperframes init <project>` or capture a site. In non-TTY mode, pass `--non-interactive --example=<name>`.
2. **Find the move:** before authoring motion by hand, search for a primitive that already does it: `npx hyperframes catalog --query "reveal a headline one line at a time"`. Ask for the effect you want rather than the mechanism you have in mind. Install with `npx hyperframes add <name>` (see `/hyperframes-registry`). Author by hand only once nothing fits.
3. **Author:** write the composition using `/hyperframes-core`.
4. **Get fast feedback while editing:** run `npx hyperframes lint` after the first HTML pass and after structural changes.
5. **Run the final gate:** run `npx hyperframes check`; it reruns lint before opening the browser. Do not prepend a redundant standalone lint invocation. Add `--snapshots` for annotated overview frames and finding crops.
6. **Inspect sub-compositions:** when `index.html` mounts `data-composition-src`, capture midpoint snapshots and inspect each mounted scene.
7. **Open the final Studio preview:** run `npx hyperframes preview`, hand the timeline project URL to the user, and ask whether to revise or render.
8. **Render only after approval:** use draft quality for iteration and high quality for delivery.
9. **Verify the output:** confirm the file exists, is non-empty, and has a plausible duration.

```bash
# Fast iteration check; repeat while authoring as needed.
npx hyperframes lint

# Required final gate; includes lint.
npx hyperframes check
npx hyperframes preview
npx hyperframes render --quality high --output out.mp4
test -s out.mp4
ffprobe -v error -show_format out.mp4
```

`check` runs lint first, then uses one browser session and one seek pass to audit runtime errors, failed requests, layout, `*.motion.json` assertions, and WCAG contrast. Persistent findings gate the exit code; transient entrance or exit findings are informational. Use `--strict` to gate warnings. `validate`, `inspect`, and `layout` remain aliases for compatibility but must not appear in new instructions or scripts.

## Two different preview surfaces

Do not confuse these states:

| Surface                   | When it may open                                       | Purpose                                                                           |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Storyboard board          | Before composition checks, only when `storyboard: yes` | Review plan cards and wireframe sketches. Open `?view=storyboard#project/<name>`. |
| Final composition preview | After `check` passes                                   | Review the assembled timeline before render. Open `#project/<name>`.              |

The early board is not approval of the final video. Rendering always requires the final approval defined by `hyperframes-core/references/review-loop.md`.

## Sub-composition smoke test

Static audits cannot catch every mount failure. When the project uses sub-compositions, capture at least one visible midpoint for each host slot:

```bash
npx hyperframes snapshot --at <t1>,<t2>,<t3>
```

Treat tiny unstyled content, canvas-sized icons, missing hero elements, or timeline-registration timeouts as render-blocking mount defects. See `hyperframes-core/references/sub-compositions.md` for the corresponding fixes.

## Agent conventions

- **Search the catalog before writing motion by hand.** `npx hyperframes catalog --query "<the beat, in plain language>"`. Search is entirely local: there is no hosted tier, no account, and the query text is never sent anywhere. By default it ranks on vocabulary shared with the item's name, title and description, which misses any phrasing that does not reuse the catalog's own wording. Add `--on-device` to rank by meaning instead (see the offline tier below).
- **Read which tier answered; never infer it from results appearing.** With `--json` the envelope carries `query`, `tier` (`on-device` or `words`), `tier_detail`, `dropped`, `unindexed`, `shown`, `total` and `results`, plus `top_score` when the answering tier produces one and `warnings` when a tier was asked for and could not run. A weak result on `words` is expected; the same result on `on-device` is a bug. `top_score` is on-device only and has no threshold behind it: the ranker returns the whole catalog in some order for every query, so read it as evidence rather than as a pass or fail.
- **`dropped` and `unindexed` are opposite skews between the registry and the on-device index, and rewording the query fixes neither.** `dropped` counts ranked names this registry cannot install, so the strongest matches are the ones being lost. `unindexed` counts registry moves the index cannot see at all, which no query can ever return. Refreshing the registry is not the answer to either: its manifest carries a 24h TTL and heals itself, while the vectors are a separately published artifact fetched into `~/.hyperframes/catalog/`. Re-running with `--on-device` refetches that index when `unindexed` is above zero, so that is the remedy to hand the user. A pure over-coverage skew (`dropped` above zero while `unindexed` is zero) does not trigger the refetch; clearing `~/.hyperframes/catalog/` is the only way out of that one. Both counts are of names rather than of results, so either can exceed `total`.
- **When meaning search comes back with nothing worth installing, say so.** `npx hyperframes feedback --search-miss "<the query you ran>" --wanted "<the move you needed>" --tier on-device`. This is the only path that sends a query anywhere, and it is a separate deliberate command precisely so plain `catalog --query` keeps its promise of sending nothing. Report the miss when the on-device tier answered and the top hits still do not do the thing; a weak result on the `words` tier is expected and is not worth reporting. What comes back is a list of moves the catalog does not have yet, read directly rather than guessed from install counts, so the phrasing that matters is the effect you wanted, not the item name you imagined. It carries no rating and never lands in the rating metric.
- **Offer the offline tier; never enable it silently.** A one-time ~33 MB download (a quantized ONNX build of `bge-small-en-v1.5` plus its tokenizer, pinned to a fixed revision) and the catalog vectors from the registry, both cached under `~/.hyperframes/`, neither added to the project or any package. Once cached it ranks by meaning with nothing sent. Say the size out loud and let the person decide, then pass `--on-device` (with `-y` to skip the prompt) once they agree. The interactive offer only fires on a TTY, and under `--json` nothing about it is printed at all, so in an agent run you have to raise it with the user yourself.

- Prefer `--json` for agent and CI calls. Server-mode `render`, `preview`, and `play` do not provide ordinary JSON output; `preview --selection --json` and `preview --context --json` are query-mode exceptions.
- `doctor --json` always exits zero. Gate on its payload:

  ```bash
  npx hyperframes doctor --json | jq -e '.ok' >/dev/null
  ```

- Non-TTY mode is automatic. `init` requires `--example` there; use `--non-interactive` to force deterministic behavior on a TTY.
- Use one `HYPERFRAMES_RUN_ID` for all commands in the same verification loop.
- Use `--strict`, `--strict-all`, and `--strict-variables` when the corresponding warnings, variables, or CI conditions must gate the render.
- JSON paths redact the home directory as `$HOME`; do not try to reverse the redaction.
- When a hosted cloud project approaches or exceeds the 200 MB upload limit, use `cloud render --dry-run --json` and follow the `.hyperframesignore` investigation in `references/cloud.md`. Never ignore an asset merely because it is large.
- Never render merely because checks pass. Pause at the final preview and wait for approval.

## Studio-directed edits

When the user refers to “this element” or the current selection, query Studio instead of guessing:

```bash
npx hyperframes preview --context --json --context-fields selection
```

Use `selection.target.hfId` when available, otherwise its selector and source file. If the result reports `no-selection`, ask the user to click the element and rerun. Request only the context slices you need; use `--context-detail full` only for computed styles or editable text metadata. Full behavior and failure codes live in `references/preview-render.md`.

## Render choices

| Need                                     | Command                                                                       |
| ---------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Fast local iteration                     | `npx hyperframes render --quality draft`                                      |
| Final local delivery                     | `npx hyperframes render --quality high --output out.mp4`                      |
| Reproducible container render            | `npx hyperframes render --docker --strict --output out.mp4`                   |
| Local variable-driven batch render       | `npx hyperframes render --batch rows.json --output "renders/{name}.mp4"`      |
| HeyGen-hosted zero-infrastructure render | `npx hyperframes cloud render`                                                |
| Self-managed distributed AWS render      | `npx hyperframes lambda render <project> --width 1920 --height 1080 --wait`   |
| Self-managed distributed GCP render      | `npx hyperframes cloudrun render <project> --width 1920 --height 1080 --wait` |

Skill attribution is automatic — the examples above need no `--skill`. A project scaffolded by a workflow (`hyperframes init --skill=<workflow>`) records its owning skill in `hyperframes.json`, and every later render inherits it on anonymous telemetry: re-renders, `npm run render`, and `--batch` alike. Pass `--skill=<slug>` explicitly only to stamp a project that was not created through a workflow (its first render then persists it).

Use cloud rendering when the user wants hosted rendering without local Chrome, FFmpeg, or AWS. Use Lambda only when AWS ownership is a requirement. Use Cloud Run only when GCP ownership is a requirement. Read the matching reference before running any cloud path.

After verifying a successful render, send one feedback report unless telemetry is disabled or the user opted out:

```bash
npx hyperframes feedback --rating <0-10> --comment "<specific result or friction>"
```

Keep clean-run feedback concise. For any bug or friction, capture a **reproduction packet** before submitting; do not send only a symptom summary. Include the rerunnable command (relative to the project directory — feedback is submitted to a public channel, so do **not** paste absolute paths, home-directory prefixes, or user/machine identifiers), expected versus actual behavior, exact error (also strip absolute paths from stack traces — keep basename + line, drop the leading directory), whether output completed/fell back/failed, workaround, and repro-project status. For a rating ≤ 7 that describes a visual defect (black frame, flicker, corrupt output, wrong frame, blank output, other visual anomaly), also include a `COMPOSITION_STRUCTURE:` block — a privacy-preserving structural anatomy (element census + attribute presence + timeline shape) so maintainers can pattern-match against known bug families without the composition ZIP. Agents auto-fill this via the composition-census helper; the human user does not fill it by hand. If the issue did not reproduce again, say so and still include the last failing command and logs. Use `--file-issue` only with consent: it publishes a minimal reproduction to a public URL. The required packet format and privacy warning live in `references/preview-render.md`.

## Read the matching reference before running a command

The following references and owning skills are mandatory command contracts, not optional background reading. Before running a command in the table, read its matching row.

| Need                                                                                   | Reference                             |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| `init`, `capture`, `skills`                                                            | `references/init-and-scaffold.md`     |
| `lint`, `check`, motion sidecars, `snapshot`                                           | `references/lint-validate-inspect.md` |
| `compare`, `grade-compare`, variable-driven `render --batch`                           | `references/compare-and-batch.md`     |
| `beats` for an existing project's Studio beat grid                                     | `references/beats.md`                 |
| `preview`, `play`, `render`, `publish`, Studio context, feedback                       | `references/preview-render.md`        |
| `doctor`, browser management                                                           | `references/doctor-browser.md`        |
| `auth`, HeyGen-hosted cloud rendering, and template variables                          | `references/cloud.md`                 |
| AWS Lambda deployment and rendering                                                    | `references/lambda.md`                |
| Google Cloud Run deployment and rendering                                              | `references/cloudrun.md`              |
| `info`, `upgrade`, `compositions`, `docs`, `benchmark`, telemetry, media preprocessing | `references/upgrade-info-misc.md`     |

For composition variables, also read `/hyperframes-core` → `references/variables-and-media.md`. For `hyperframes add` and `hyperframes catalog`, use `/hyperframes-registry`. Before `hyperframes present`, read `/slideshow`; before `hyperframes keyframes`, read `/hyperframes-keyframes`. For TTS, transcription, captions, or background removal choices, use `/media-use`.

The specialized commands are deliberately documented by their owning workflows:

```bash
npx hyperframes present <project-dir> --port 3004 --no-open
npx hyperframes beats <project-dir> --json
npx hyperframes keyframes <project-dir> --json
```

`present` serves a navigable deck with presenter and audience synchronization. `beats` is the standalone Studio beat-grid utility defined in `references/beats.md`. `keyframes` surfaces seek-safe animation and motion-path diagnostics.
