Colin CLI Commands

Colin CLI Commands

Colin is a context compiler that transforms interconnected documents into compiled outputs for AI agents. Here are the essential commands.

colin init

Create a new Colin project in the current directory:

colin init

This creates:

• colin.toml - project configuration
• models/ - directory for your source documents

colin run

Compile a project. Run from a directory containing colin.toml:

colin run                          # Compile current project
colin run path/to/project          # Compile specific project
colin run --output ./dist          # Override output directory
colin run --quiet                  # Suppress progress output
colin run --no-cache               # Force recompile everything
colin run --var api_key=secret     # Pass variable overrides

Colin incrementally compiles only changed documents, making subsequent runs fast.

colin update

Update outputs from their source project. Run from an output directory (one containing .colin-manifest.json):

colin update                       # Update current directory
colin update ~/.claude/skills/my-skill  # Update specific output
colin update --no-cache            # Force full rebuild
colin update --var key=new_value   # Override stored variables

The manifest stores the source project location and any --var overrides, so you can update outputs without knowing where the source lives.

colin skills update

Update all Colin-managed skills:

colin skills update                # Update ~/.claude/skills/
colin skills update ./my-skills    # Update custom directory

Scans for subdirectories with .colin-manifest.json and runs colin update on each in parallel.

colin clean

Remove stale files from output:

colin clean                        # Clean output/ only
colin clean --all                  # Also clean .colin/compiled/