CLI Automation Patterns

Crona exposes its entire feature surface through the scriptable crona CLI. The CLI shares daemon state with the TUI, allowing automation scripts to read from or write to your active session.

Querying and Switching Context

The CLI provides commands to inspect or alter the active pointer { repository -> stream -> issue }:

# Get the active checkout context
crona context get

# Switch context by numeric IDs
crona context switch-repo --id 1
crona context switch-stream --id 2
crona context switch-issue --id 45

Controlling the Timer

You can command focus timers programmatically. Commands return structured JSON payloads when the --json flag is provided:

# Check if a session timer is running
crona timer status --json

# Start the timer for the checked-out issue context
crona timer start --from-context --json

# Pause or resume the active timer
crona timer pause --json
crona timer resume --json

# Terminate the timer and log the session
crona timer end --json

Automating Exports

You can automate narrative report generation and data syncing via shell scripts or cron jobs:

# Generate a daily markdown report
crona export daily

# Generate a summary dashboard for today or a range
crona export summary
crona export summary --week

# Export database entries as structured CSV sheets
crona export csv

# Rebuild the deterministic iCalendar feeds
crona export calendar

Reading a Summary

Use crona summary when you want a terminal snapshot instead of a saved export:

# Inspect today, a calendar week, or a rolling period
crona summary
crona summary --week
crona summary --last-x-days 7

# Inspect an explicit inclusive range
crona summary --start 2026-07-01 --end 2026-07-07

Integration Patterns

Shell Aliases for Execution

Add context-aware shortcuts to your shell configuration (.zshrc or .bashrc):

alias start-focus="crona timer start --from-context"
alias check-timer="crona timer status --json | jq '.elapsed_seconds'"

Scheduled Local Backups

Set up a daily cron job to run the backup command and prune stale files:

0 22 * * * crona backup && find ~/Library/Application\ Support/Crona/backups/ -mtime +30 -delete