CLI Reference

Repository Commands

Create and inspect local repositories. Local-filesystem clone is current; network repository exchange is not.

Remotes fail closed

push, pull, fetch, and sync return a nonzero error for both local-path and Internet remotes without changing objects, refs, or the working tree. Network clone also fails. A saved remote URL is configuration, not a working backup or collaboration channel.

Command	Current behavior	Usage
init	Initialize a repository on the local filesystem	dits init [PATH]
clone	Copy a repository from another local path	dits clone <SOURCE_PATH> [DEST] [-b <BRANCH>]
remote	Store and inspect remote URL configuration only	dits remote [ACTION] [NAME] [URL]
status	Show the current local working-tree and index state	dits status

`dits init`

Initializes .dits in the current directory or the local path you provide.

# Current directory
dits init

# A new or existing local directory
dits init ./evaluation-project

`dits clone`

Opens and validates another Dits repository on the same filesystem, copies its Dits objects, refs, local configuration, and embedded Git object database, records the canonical source path as origin, then checks out the source HEAD or the branch selected with --branch. The destination must not already exist or resolve inside the source worktree.

# Local-filesystem clone
dits clone /srv/repos/project ./project-copy

# Select a local source branch
dits clone /srv/repos/project ./review-copy --branch review

A local copy is not an independent backup by default

If source and destination share a disk, account, or failure domain, they can be lost together. Use a separately managed backup process for important data and verify restored files independently. Clone copies committed objects, refs, and local configuration—not working-tree changes, the index, locks, audit records, generated proxy/metadata caches, lifecycle records, or experimental project side stores.

Clone failures remain visible

Source metadata symlinks and special files are rejected before the destination is created. If checkout fails after initialization, clone returns nonzero and leaves the incomplete destination in place for inspection; it must not be treated as a successful copy.

`dits remote`

The remote command reads and writes named URLs in local repository configuration. It does not contact the URL or discover branches.

# Store a URL (no connection is attempted)
dits remote add origin https://example.invalid/team/project

# List configured names and URLs
dits remote list --verbose

# Read or update a configured URL
dits remote get-url origin
dits remote set-url origin https://example.invalid/team/new-project

# Rename or remove configuration
dits remote rename origin upstream
dits remote remove upstream

The accepted actions are add, remove (or rm), rename, get-url, set-url, and list. The optional --push flag selects the separately stored push URL for get-url or set-url; it still performs no transfer.

`dits status`

Shows the current branch, staged paths, and local working-tree changes. Run it before and after an alpha evaluation step to make state changes visible.

dits status

Continue with the remote command status, the local file workflow, or thestatus and roadmap.