Command reference
The verbs you will actually use, grouped the way the in-app help groups them. This page
covers the everyday surface; help in-app shows the getting-started set, help all lists
the full user-facing set, help debug covers the diagnostic and @-prefixed verbs, and
help client lists the Urchin client's own / commands. help <verb> explains any one
of them.
Last verified against the live verb table, August 2026 (0.2.178).
Over SSH you type verbs directly; in the Urchin client's chat mode, prefix them with /.
Session and account
| Command |
What it does |
whoami |
Show your identity, location, and inventory |
passwd <old> <new> |
Change your password |
quit |
Disconnect |
Navigation and looking
| Command |
What it does |
look (or l) |
Examine your surroundings; look <thing> inspects one thing |
go <exit> |
Move through an exit. Shortcuts: n s e w up down, plus northeast northwest southeast southwest |
exits <room> add <name> <target> |
Link rooms (--oneway for one-way); exits <room> remove <name> unlinks |
home |
Return to your HOME |
who |
See who is here in the room with you |
peer <capsule> (or inspect) |
Look inside a capsule at what it holds |
leave [presence] |
Leave a presence channel. leave hall <name> leaves a Hall you belong to |
Talking
| Command |
What it does |
say <message> |
Talk to everyone in the room. Shortcut: "<message> |
chat <channel> <message> |
Talk in a named presence channel |
tell <person> [message] |
One-to-one message, saved to history; with no message, shows recent history. Aliases: whisper, @chat |
outbox / outbox flush |
See queued offline messages / retry delivery now |
Friends and petnames
| Command |
What it does |
friend <identity> |
Promote someone you have met to a contact |
contacts |
List your friends |
friends online |
See who is reachable right now |
finger <identity> |
Full detail on one contact |
petname <identity> <name> |
Set your private alias for someone; petnames lists, petname <name> --clear removes |
unfriend <identity> |
Stop following someone |
block <identity> / unblock <identity> |
Cut someone off entirely / undo it |
Building
| Command |
What it does |
create ~room <name> [--desc …] |
Make a room. Also: ~capsule, ~board, ~object, ~place, ~presence |
describe room <name> <text> |
Set a room's description |
get <obj> / drop <obj> |
Pick up / put down an object (take works too) |
put <item> in <container> |
Place an object inside a capsule or container |
inventory (or i) |
Your inventory |
destroy <name> |
Remove an object; destroy room|capsule <name> for containers |
Halls and standing
| Command |
What it does |
found hall <name> [--no-harbor] |
Found a Hall: hub, three zones, starter rooms; you become Steward. --no-harbor keeps it unlisted |
describe hall <text> |
Set the Hall's intention, shown to anyone looking it over |
set hall atmosphere|threshold|harbor|verb … |
Shape the Hall. Threshold is open, knock, invite_only, or members_only. Atmosphere is Supportive, Focused, Playful, or Intellectual. Harbor is public or private |
halls / zones |
List Halls / show a hub's zones |
standing [<user> <tier>] |
Check your standing; Stewards grant newcomer, familiar, trusted, steward, or visitor to clear a grant |
knocks |
List people waiting to join, with any vouches |
accept <user> / reject <user> |
Admit a knocker, or turn them down (a rejection is lasting, see Your first Hall) |
vouch <user> |
Vouch for a pending knocker (needs Familiar standing or better); two vouches auto-admit |
manifest realm <peer> |
Visit the realm of another person on your node as a walkable place |
Capsules, sharing, and grants
| Command |
What it does |
share room <name> |
Make a room reachable and open its presence channel |
share capsule <name> |
Share a capsule so others can be granted access |
grant <capsule> <identity> <caps> |
Grant capabilities, e.g. read,write |
revoke <capsule> <identity> |
Take them back |
list capsules / list grants <capsule> |
What exists / who holds what |
service list <capsule> / service invoke <peer> <method> <cap> |
List a capsule's services / call one on a peer's capsule |
| Command |
What it does |
post <text> --board <name> |
Post to a bulletin board; read --board <name> reads it (posts works too) |
reply <n> <text> |
Reply to a numbered post |
share board <name> [--post] |
Share a board read-only, or read+post with --post |
media upload <path> [--caption …] |
Upload PNG / JPEG / GIF / WebP |
media list / media info <id> / media share <id> [presence] / media delete <id> |
Manage and share uploads. Share defaults to lobby |
Invites and joining
| Command |
What it does |
invite [presence] |
Create an invite with a memorable short code like tiger-castle-7 by default; -noshort for the long form only |
join <code|name|seed> |
Join by short code, canonical name, or an in-person kunul1… seed |
meet |
Show your peer seed and QR for direct in-person LAN connection |
meet guest |
Show a QR so a phone running Urchin can join this node as a thin client |
ping <user> |
Check whether a peer is reachable, and over which protocols |
Identity
| Command |
What it does |
export-identity <file> <base64_passphrase> |
Encrypted backup of your identity |
import-identity <file> <base64_passphrase> --overwrite |
Restore or move to a new machine |
Connectivity, diagnostics, and reporting
| Command |
What it does |
transport |
See which transports are active; transport force <t> steers your next join |
debug |
Diagnostic output for support |
bug <description> |
Capture a bug report as a file on your own machine (see Alpha testing) |
Deeper diagnostics (peer lists, network checks, build info) live under help debug; they
are handy when troubleshooting or filing a report.
Urchin client commands
These exist only in the graphical client (prefix with / in chat mode):
| Command |
What it does |
/chat · /cmd · /defaultmode |
Switch input modes; set your default |
/network · /netdetail · /refresh |
Live P2P network view |
/services |
The node services view |
/a11y |
Accessibility settings (scanlines, glow, motion); font size: Ctrl + / Ctrl - |
/check-updates · /update · /reinstall |
Check for and install verified updates; full reinstall |
/restart · /reconnect |
Restart the client / reconnect without restarting |
/found-wiz · /join-wiz |
Guided Hall-founding ritual / guided join by invite code |
/bug |
Capture a bug report from inside the session (saved locally, and the typed form is bug <description>) |
/passwd · /clear · /logdebug on|off |
Change password / clear terminal / toggle debug logging |
/quit · /exit · /help |
Disconnect / close Urchin / open help |