Classic command overview

Comet’s Classic commands are the runtime foundation of the five-phase workflow. Users, agents, and automation should prefer the stable top-level CLI:

comet state <subcommand>
comet guard <change-name> <phase> [--apply]
comet handoff <change-name> [options]
comet archive <change-name> [--dry-run]

Public command	Responsibility	Reference
`comet state`	Select the current change, read and transition state, record command evidence, and resolve the next Skill.	comet state
`comet guard`	Check phase requirements; `--apply` advances only after all checks pass.	comet guard
`comet handoff`	Generate design/build context or calculate the handoff hash.	comet handoff
`comet archive`	Complete the OpenSpec merge and archive after final confirmation.	comet archive

Packaged launchers

Comet moved from Bash scripts to Node .mjs launchers so the same workflow works on Windows, macOS, and Linux without Git Bash or WSL. The packaged command launchers are thin wrappers that import the generated comet-runtime.mjs in the same directory. The runtime bundles its dependencies and does not rely on the project’s node_modules; launchers and runtime must stay on the same version.

The comet-*.mjs files remain compatibility and troubleshooting entrypoints. Normal instructions should use the stable top-level CLI above.

How the commands cooperate

State remains split across human-readable .comet.yaml, machine-owned .comet/run-state.json, and append-only .comet/state-events.jsonl. Use comet status, comet doctor, or comet dashboard for normal inspection.

Install and health checks

Skills, evals, and publishing

Core scripts

Classic command overview

Packaged launchers

How the commands cooperate

​Packaged launchers

​How the commands cooperate

Packaged launchers

How the commands cooperate