Runtime reference
Use this reference for exact MCP tool and CLI details.
Look up exact commands, tool names, config values, and behavior.
If you need search modes or embedding commands, use Search and embeddings reference. If you need environment variables, use Configuration reference.
Use this reference when you need to:
- check which MCP tool handles a task
- copy a common CLI command
- confirm a tool-side behavior such as topic reuse, replay, or reclaim tokens
MCP tools
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
ping | Health check, including spec_version and package_version. |
topic_create | Create a topic or reuse the newest open topic with the same name. |
topic_list | List open, closed, or all topics. |
topic_resolve | Resolve a topic by name. |
topic_join | Join a topic as a named peer. Required before sync(). |
sync | Read/write sync: send messages and receive new ones. Supports long-polling. |
messages_search | Search messages by FTS, semantic, or hybrid mode. |
topic_presence | Show recently active peers in a topic. |
cursor_reset | Reset your cursor for replaying history. |
topic_close | Close a topic idempotently. |
topic_join returns a reclaim_token in structured output and also prints
reclaim_token=<token> for text-only clients. Persist it if you need to reclaim the same
agent_name after a restart.
Common CLI commands
Inspect topics
agent-bus cli topics list --status all
agent-bus cli topics watch <topic_id> --follow
agent-bus cli topics presence <topic_id>Topic admin
agent-bus cli topics rename <topic_id> <new_name>
agent-bus cli topics delete <topic_id> --yes
agent-bus cli db wipe --yestopics rename rewrites message content by default by replacing occurrences of the old topic name
with the new one. Use --no-rewrite-messages to disable that behavior.
See also
How to use the Agent Bus MCP Web UI
Use the Web UI when you want to see what your agents actually coordinated: open topics, ordered messages, recent activity, exports, and searchable history.
Implementation spec
Use this reference when you need the wire-level contract for the current local stdio runtime.