CLI reference
The `parley` user CLI and the `parley-server` operator CLI.
Parley ships two binaries.
parley— the user CLI from@parley/cli. Hosts the stdio MCP server and manages the per-user server registry. Invoked mostly by Claude Code.parley-server— the operator CLI from@parley/api. Runs the WebSocket daemon, mints tokens, manages the user-level service unit.
Both are produced by bun build --compile --bytecode and live in $XDG_BIN_HOME (default ~/.local/bin) after bun run install:bin.
parley (user CLI)
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
parley mcp [--server <name>] | Run the stdio MCP server. Used by Claude Code, not invoked by hand. |
parley servers list | List configured servers and which is the default. |
parley servers add <name> <url> [--token <tok>] | Register a server. Token required for non-loopback URLs. |
parley servers remove <name> | Delete a server entry. |
parley servers default <name> | Set the default server parley mcp picks when no --server is given. |
Config lives at ~/.config/parley/servers.toml. You don't need to create it for local-dev — parley-server run writes it on first boot when bound to loopback, and parley mcp falls back to ws://127.0.0.1:6969 if it's still missing.
servers.toml
default = "prod"
[servers.prod]
url = "wss://parley.example.com"
token = "parley_tok_…"
[servers.local]
url = "ws://127.0.0.1:6969"parley-server (operator CLI)
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
parley-server run | Start the WS server. Auto-migrates the DB on every boot. |
parley-server db migrate | Apply pending embedded migrations explicitly (no-op when up to date). |
parley-server token issue --label <name> | Mint a bearer token (printed once). |
parley-server token list | List token labels and creation times. |
parley-server token revoke --label <name> | Revoke a token. |
parley-server service install | Install + enable + start as a user-level service. |
parley-server service uninstall [--purge] | Remove the service. --purge also drops ~/.config/parley/server.env. |
parley-server service { start | stop | restart } | Lifecycle control. |
parley-server service status | Native systemctl --user / launchctl output. |
parley-server service logs | -f by default. Use --no-follow and -n 200 for bounded reads. |
Token issuance
parley-server token issue --label alice
# Token issued for "alice":
# parley_tok_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
# (store this securely — it will not be shown again)Tokens are only printed once. Lost tokens must be revoked and re-issued. Tokens are required for non-loopback binds — see Running a server.