#CLI commands and stable contracts

This page groups A3S Test's stable commands and return conventions by task. Start with capability discovery, then move into agent sessions, ACL suites, or distributed execution for the job at hand.

#Discover capabilities

These commands report installed protocols and scheduling boundaries instead of guessing from documentation:

a3s-test capabilities --json
a3s-test agent schema
a3s-test provider schema contract-generation
a3s-test provider schema design-audit
a3s-test provider schema llm
a3s-test provider schema visual-grounding
a3s-test worker schema
a3s-test worker inventory
a3s-test worker remote schema
a3s-test worker artifacts schema
a3s-test distributed schema

Provider schemas describe request, response, provenance, and authority fields. They do not mean the repository bundles an inference backend.

#Project Vibe Loop

These commands are included in the published v1.0.1 binary.

The project commands remove manual environment setup without hiding authority or process ownership.

a3s-test init --root . --json
a3s-test doctor --root . --json
a3s-test dev --root . --json

init prefers packageManager, rejects conflicting lockfile heuristics, uses the selected dev or start script, and recognizes explicit --port, --port=<n>, or -p script arguments. --script and --url override those two discoveries. --testkit required is the default; optional turns missing Test Kit into a warning. Existing profiles are never replaced unless --force names a regular non-link file inside the project root.

doctor --connect probes the configured HTTP(S) URL. Without it, URL status is a warning because the server may not be running yet. --strict makes any warning fail. Exit code 2 means a diagnostic or configuration boundary failed.

dev performs the static preflight first. A reachable URL is marked server: "existing" and is never terminated. Otherwise dev starts the profile's executable and argument vector without a shell, forwards both server streams to stderr, and waits up to startup_timeout_ms. Its stdout protocol contains compact ready and stopped events:

{"protocol":"a3s.test.dev/1","event":"ready","project":"checkout","url":"http://127.0.0.1:5173/","server":"started","session":"dev","artifacts_dir":"..."}
{"protocol":"a3s.test.local-repair-bridge/1","event":"repair_batch","project":"checkout","protocol_revision":15,"session":"dev","repairs":["..."],"batches":["..."],"ledger_path":".../repairs.jsonl"}
{"protocol":"a3s.test.dev/1","event":"stopped","project":"checkout","url":"http://127.0.0.1:5173/","server":"started","session":"dev","reason":"interrupt","cleanup":"complete"}

After the live Test Kit handshake, ready.repair_bridge announces a3s.test.local-repair-bridge/1. A finding explicitly sent from the ordinary Review Overlay is first persisted to the existing repair ledger with owned before evidence, then emitted once per ledger sequence as repair_batch on the same stdout stream. Its generated session ID is ready for typed agent repair-* commands; do not start a second manually coordinated repair-watch process for this dev session. Optional profiles with no Test Kit report repair_bridge: null and do not poll.

Ctrl+C returns 130 after exact browser and owned-server cleanup. An owned server that exits unexpectedly produces reason: "server_exit" and returns

1. Startup or configuration failures return 2. Unix uses a separate process group and host-death watchdog; Windows assigns a suspended launcher to a kill-on-close Job Object before resuming it.

A local bridge failure produces reason: "repair_bridge_error", performs the same exact cleanup, and returns 2.

#Agent sessions

agent open aliases agent start, and agent snapshot aliases agent observe.

#Session-start options

a3s-test agent start http://127.0.0.1:3000/checkout \
  --session checkout \
  --goal "Complete checkout" \
  --success "The confirmation heading is visible" \
  --allow-origin http://127.0.0.1:3001 \
  --browser-driver standalone \
  --json

Automatic resolution is session-scoped. A verification failure, missing fresh ready revision, or incomplete evidence can never produce resolved.

#Compact action commands

Compact commands cover common one-step operations.

a3s-test agent click @e3 \
  --session checkout \
  --observation 7 \
  --json

a3s-test agent fill @e4 "tester@example.test" \
  --session checkout \
  --observation 8 \
  --json

a3s-test agent press Enter --session checkout --json
a3s-test agent viewport 390 844 --session checkout --json
a3s-test agent screenshot screenshots/confirmation.png \
  --session checkout \
  --json

Compact commands include click, hover, focus, double-click, context-click, fill, type, insert-text, check, uncheck, select, drag, press, wheel, viewport, and screenshot. When an action uses a ref, pass the latest observation ID that created it.

#Complete Action JSON

Tabs, frames, dialogs, network controls, waits, assertions, and advanced evidence use agent act.

a3s-test agent act \
  --session checkout \
  --action-json '{"type":"wait","condition":{"type":"text","value":"Order confirmed"}}' \
  --json

Generate the complete revision-15 JSON Schema with a3s-test agent schema. Current action types are grouped below.

insert_text reuses an established editing context and accepts no target. terminal_* is legal only on a TUI surface. Unknown fields and actions unsupported by the selected surface are rejected before dispatch.

#Test Kit inspection

a3s-test agent inspect \
  --session checkout \
  --component checkout-form \
  --detail forensic \
  --limit 100 \
  --json

--detail accepts summary, scoped, diff, and forensic. Scope can be the page, a current private node, a component, or a region written as viewport,x,y,width,height or document,x,y,width,height. When the response returns a cursor, the next inspection must retain the same session, scope, and page revision.

For a revision-scoped delta, provide the positive baseline and an optional bounded wait:

a3s-test agent inspect \
  --session checkout \
  --detail diff \
  --since-revision 42 \
  --wait-timeout-ms 5000 \
  --json

--since-revision is required for diff and rejected for other detail profiles. --wait-timeout-ms must be an integer from 0 through 300,000. A continuation cursor also binds detail, scope, baseline, UI choice, normalized limits, and the current revision; changing any of them fails instead of restarting pagination.

#Repair Ledger commands

Every transition needs a new idempotent request ID. Reuse the attempt ID returned by claim for progress, reply, complete, and fail. repair-complete stores the exact ordered --changed-file list, including an empty report. repair-verify must repeat that list and target a newer ready page revision; a mismatch fails before browser connection.

Discover resumable loops across the current workspace before relying on a remembered session or finding ID:

a3s-test agent repair-inbox --json

The a3s.test.repair-inbox/1 result scans active and closed sessions without a browser connection. It orders expired leases, active mutation work, oldest queued findings, human-blocked work, and inspect-only records. Terminal history is omitted by default. Add --session dev, --limit 20, or --include-terminal when the scope requires it. total is the admitted match count before the limit; truncated reports whether the returned prefix is incomplete.

Then inspect the selected recoverable loop, including after its browser has closed:

a3s-test agent repair-inspect finding-checkout \
  --session dev \
  --json

The versioned a3s.test.repair-loop-record/1 result combines bounded intent, validated source mappings, completion-time changes, compact evidence digests, verification, ACL proof, attempt history, and the typed next disposition. It is derived from repairs.jsonl, does not connect to the browser, and never turns untrusted Page Context into a resume command.

An expired claimed, repairing, or verifying lease returns a typed reconciliation action instead of a stale edit or verify command. Run the projected bounded repair-watch operation before continuing that attempt or claiming another one.

Omit --checks-json to plan and run the smallest configured slice from .a3s-test/project.acl:

a3s-test agent repair-verify finding-checkout \
  --session dev \
  --request-id verify-checkout-1 \
  --success-criteria-passed true \
  --changed-file src/Checkout.tsx \
  --summary "Checkout repair verified on a fresh page" \
  --json

--config changes the project ACL path. The default is .a3s-test/project.acl. Focused checks declare project-relative file_prefixes; regression checks declare none. The result stores verification.verificationSlice with its protocol, focused or expanded scope, mapped source files, locator and prior-proof state, selected check IDs, and expansion reasons. Selected commands run directly in owned process trees with bounded execution and cleanup.

Pass --checks-json '[{"command":"npm test","status":"passed","summary":"Checks passed"}]' only when an external orchestrator already ran the checks. Providing it disables automatic project-check execution for that invocation while preserving browser and ACL proof gates.

repair-watch remains the one-shot pickup for directly started agent sessions. A dev --json session already runs the local repair bridge and emits evidence-backed repair_batch events; do not attach a second watch loop to it.

#Terminal session state and files

a3s-test agent finish \
  --session checkout \
  --status passed \
  --summary "Checkout completed and confirmation was observed" \
  --json

Persistent sessions live under .a3s-test/agent-sessions/<session>/ in the current workspace. events.jsonl is append-only, report.json is the terminal result, and artifacts/ accepts only relative evidence paths. Use finish for a session with an evidence-backed passed or failed result. Use the exact abort when the test cannot continue safely.

#Contracts and providers

a3s-test contract generate \
  --config tests/contracts/checkout.generate.acl \
  --output tests/contracts/checkout.draft.json

a3s-test contract review \
  --draft tests/contracts/checkout.draft.json \
  --review tests/contracts/checkout.review.acl \
  --output tests/contracts/checkout.acl \
  --audit tests/contracts/checkout.reviewed.json

contract generate writes a candidate draft only. contract review revalidates sources, review actions, and conflicts before publishing canonical ACL. Visual grounding and design review call deployment providers through agent ground and agent audit; both return advice without acting on the page.

#ACL and distributed runs

a3s-test check <suite.acl> --json
a3s-test run <suite.acl> --json
a3s-test distributed plan <distributed.acl> --compact
a3s-test distributed run <distributed.acl> --json

Remote workers use separate a3s.test.remote-worker/3 execution and a3s.test.remote-artifacts/1 artifact protocols. A request cannot select executables, applications, backends, credentials, or network policy. Deployment startup fixes those authorities.

check performs admission without starting a surface. run executes after admission and separates product failures, specification errors, infrastructure errors, and cleanup errors in its machine result. distributed plan matches worker capabilities before distributed run dispatches authenticated shards.

#Control-state ACL expectations

Action protocol revision 8 adds the following expect conditions:

expect "name" {
    target = label("Display name")
    value = "Ada"
}

expect "submit" { disabled = role("button", "Submit") }
expect "terms" { checked = label("Accept terms") }
expect "review" { selected = role("option", "Review") }

expect "status" {
    target = role("listbox", "Publication status")
    selected_values = ["review", "published"]
}

value and selected_values require a separate target. The boolean pairs are enabled/disabled, checked/unchecked, and selected/unselected. Expected selected values must be unique. Both sides are sorted and compared as an exact set; [] is admitted and means an observed empty selection.

A passing boolean state step returns this shape under output.data:

{
  "target": { "type": "role", "role": "button", "name": "Submit" },
  "state": "enabled",
  "expected": false,
  "actual": false
}

Value and selected-value outputs likewise contain target, expected, and actual; selected arrays use canonical order. stable_for_ms repeats the same typed assertion and adds the normal assertion and stability evidence.

Web reads live DOM state and gives native checkbox/radio properties priority over ARIA. GUI supports exact values only when CUA returned one, then rejects boolean and multi-selection state as test.driver.gui.assertion_unsupported. TUI supports visible terminal text only. A Page Context ref is resolved before dispatch; direct standalone refs cannot expose native option selection or multi-select arrays.

#Focus-ownership ACL expectations

Action protocol revision 13 adds four stable-target conditions.

expect "checkout-focused" { focused = role("button", "Checkout") }
expect "cancel-unfocused" { unfocused = testid("cancel") }
expect "dialog-owns-focus" { focus_within = role("dialog", "Checkout") }
expect "page-does-not-own-focus" { focus_outside = testid("page-shell") }

focused compares the target with the deepest active element observable through the current document and nested open shadow roots. focus_within additionally follows rendered flat-tree ancestry through assigned slots, DOM parents, and shadow hosts. The negative forms compare the same live evidence only after target resolution. A missing element never proves unfocused or focus_outside.

Semantic locators traverse open Shadow DOM and exclude accessibility-hidden composed ancestry, including hidden slot wrappers. CSS retains current-document query semantics. GUI and TUI fail closed without equivalent ownership evidence. Checked-in coverage includes 600/600 deterministic Web classifications, 200/200 sustained and 200/200 transient windows, plus 17 positive assertions and 11 negative or driver-error classifications in standalone Chromium.

#Live semantic-state ACL expectations

Action protocol revision 14 adds five independent positive/negative pairs.

expect "filters-open" { expanded = testid("filters") }
expect "pin-off" { unpressed = role("button", "Pin") }
expect "name-locked" { readonly = label("Display name") }
expect "email-required" { required = placeholder("Email") }
expect "email-invalid" { invalid = css("#email") }

The complete pairs are expanded/collapsed, pressed/unpressed, readonly/writable, required/optional, and invalid/valid. Native state wins where applicable: <details>.open, native read-only and required properties, and Constraint Validation when willValidate is true. ARIA fallback accepts exact booleans; aria-invalid additionally maps grammar and spelling to invalid. Mixed pressed state, unknown tokens, and absent state are unsupported rather than false.

writable does not imply enabled; combine both when editability is the requirement. A current Page Context ref may resolve to a stable locator before dispatch. Semantic locators cross open Shadow DOM and exclude accessibility-hidden ancestry, while CSS retains current-document semantics. GUI and TUI fail closed. Checked-in evidence covers 1,000/1,000 deterministic Web classifications, 100/100 sustained and 100/100 transient windows, plus 27 positive assertions and 17 negative or driver-error classifications in standalone Chromium.

#Rendered-text, ordered-sequence, and visible-count ACL expectations

Action protocol revision 9 binds expected copy to one target and observes the complete visible count produced by a stable locator. Revision 10 adds the exact ordered rendered-text vector.

expect "total-copy" {
    target = testid("total")
    rendered_text = "Total $42.00"
}

expect "visible-rows" {
    target = css("[data-row]")
    visible_count = 3
}

expect "line-items" {
    target = css("[data-line-item]")
    rendered_texts = ["Keyboard × 1", "Mouse × 2", "Shipping", "Shipping"]
}

expect "no-line-items" {
    target = css("[data-missing-line-item]")
    rendered_texts = []
}

expect "no-errors" {
    target = role("alert", "Checkout error")
    visible_count = 0
}

rendered_text requires exactly one visible target. It trims both ends, collapses each whitespace run to one space, and compares the normalized value exactly. A missing or ambiguous target remains a driver error; an observed mismatch is test.assert.rendered_text.

visible_count accepts a semantic or CSS locator and compares its complete visible cardinality as a non-negative integer. An empty match set is observed evidence for zero. ACL rejects ref() and visual_point() with test.spec.visible_count_target_unstable; neither describes a repeatable set. An invalid CSS selector remains test.driver.web.target_invalid, while an observed count mismatch is test.assert.visible_count.

rendered_texts accepts a stable semantic or CSS locator, normalizes every visible match independently, and compares the complete vector without sorting or deduplication. An empty match set is observed as []; order and repeated strings remain significant. ACL rejects refs and visual points with test.spec.rendered_texts_target_unstable. Expected and observed vectors are capped at 256 items at both ACL and Web driver boundaries. Invalid selectors and limit violations remain driver errors; an observed vector mismatch is test.assert.rendered_texts.

Both planes exclude zero-geometry elements. They do not claim viewport intersection or pixel-level occlusion. A current browser ref may identify the single rendered_text element, but cannot represent a visible_count or rendered_texts collection. GUI and TUI fail closed for all three conditions.

All three conditions accept stable_for_ms. A later scalar-text, ordered-vector, or count mismatch becomes test.assert.unstable; a driver failure keeps its original code. Revision 9 covers 600/600 deterministic scalar-text/count classifications. Revision 10 adds 600/600 ordered-vector classifications. Combined stability evidence covers 300/300 consistent and 300/300 transient windows, plus a real Chromium CLI suite with 12 positive observations, 12 negative classifications, three accepted and three rejected 100 ms windows, and no private runtime leak.

#Rendered-layout ACL expectations

Action protocol revision 11 compares the rendered geometry of two stable targets.

expect "checkout-below-summary" {
    target = testid("checkout")
    relative_to = role("region", "Order summary")
    layout = "below"
    tolerance_px = 1
    stable_for_ms = 300
    sample_interval_ms = 25
}

target, relative_to, and layout are required. Both targets accept role, text, test ID, label, placeholder, or CSS locators. ACL rejects ref() and visual_point() with test.spec.layout_target_unstable; each is bound to one observation and cannot be re-resolved through a stability window. Current Page Context refs remain usable after both resolve to stable locators. tolerance_px defaults to zero and accepts only integers through 1,024.

Web resolves both targets and captures both rectangles in one page evaluation. CSS uses visual rendered visibility, including an otherwise visible aria-hidden element. Semantic locators additionally exclude accessibility-hidden ancestry and traverse open Shadow DOM. A passing payload returns both targets, both rectangles, relation, tolerance, and matched = true.

GUI requires both frames in one fresh CUA snapshot. TUI returns an explicit unsupported error. Stability output retains the first and last complete dual-rectangle payloads; later resolution or geometry failure keeps driver ownership. The checked-in evidence covers 3,400/3,400 deterministic cases, 100/100 accepted sustained windows, 100/100 rejected transients, all 17 relations, 25 positive assertions, and 15 negative/error classifications in standalone Chromium with exact cleanup.

#Visual-viewport coverage and pointer-hit ACL expectations

Action protocol revision 12 distinguishes a target that intersects the visual viewport from one that pointer hit testing can reach. Revision 15 adds bounded coverage thresholds.

expect "checkout-in-view" {
    in_viewport = testid("checkout")
}

expect "checkout-mostly-visible" {
    target = testid("checkout")
    viewport_coverage_at_least = 80
}

expect "drawer-mostly-outside" {
    target = css("#drawer")
    viewport_coverage_at_most = 10
}

expect "checkout-pointer-hit" {
    pointer_reachable = role("button", "Checkout")
    stable_for_ms = 300
    sample_interval_ms = 25
}

in_viewport requires positive-area intersection. A partial target passes with an intersection_ratio between zero and one; a fully offscreen target or boundary-only contact fails. Coverage is intersection area divided by complete target area. viewport_coverage_at_least accepts 1 through 100; viewport_coverage_at_most accepts 0 through 99. The excluded endpoints would be unconditionally true. pointer_reachable samples a deterministic 3 by 3 grid over the clipped target rectangle and passes when at least one deep hit reaches the target or a composed-tree descendant. Coverage does not prove occlusion, and none of these forms proves enabled state, keyboard access, event handling, or product intent.

All forms accept stable role, text, test ID, label, placeholder, or CSS locators. ACL rejects refs and visual points, while a current Page Context ref may resolve to a stable locator before dispatch. Semantic targets traverse open Shadow DOM and exclude accessibility-hidden ancestry. CSS keeps visually rendered aria-hidden targets. Native hit testing makes a pointer-receiving transparent overlay block and makes a pointer-events: none overlay pass through.

A passing viewport payload carries both rectangles and the independently recomputed ratio. Coverage adds actual_percent, comparison, threshold_percent, and matched. A passing pointer payload adds all nine ordered sample coordinates and booleans plus sample_count and reachable_samples. GUI and TUI fail closed because their current protocols do not provide equivalent evidence. Checked-in evidence covers 1,000/1,000 base Core geometry cases plus 2,000/2,000 threshold cases, 4,000/4,000 Web protocol classifications, 300/300 sustained and 300/300 transient windows, and a standalone Chromium matrix with 37 passing assertions and 25 negative or driver-error classifications plus exact cleanup.

#Hidden ACL expectations

hidden asserts that a stable target locator has no visible match at the current observation. Both an absent target and a matching element without a rendered visible box satisfy the condition.

expect "dialog-closed" {
    hidden = role("dialog", "Checkout")
}

The ACL compiler stores the existing Action::Assert(Expectation::Visible(target)) plus a runner-owned hidden mode. This policy adds no action variant; the current protocol is revision 15 because of the typed expectations above. The runner dispatches a positive visibility probe and uses this contract.

A passing step exposes the following stable shape under output.data.

{
  "expected": "hidden",
  "visible": false,
  "target": {
    "type": "role",
    "role": "dialog",
    "name": "Checkout"
  },
  "probe_error": {
    "code": "test.assert.visible",
    "message": "target is not visible"
  }
}

Use a semantic or CSS locator supported by the selected surface. ref() and visual_point() fail admission because they identify observation-bound evidence; failure to resolve them could mean stale data rather than hidden UI. Web supports its semantic and CSS visibility targets. GUI supports its admitted semantic targets and keeps stale or ambiguous matches as driver errors. TUI does not currently support target visibility assertions.

expect hidden is an immediate assertion. Combine it with stable_for_ms when the product must remain hidden. A later visible sample then returns test.assert.unstable and retains the first hidden observation plus the visible counterexample. Use the wait form below when disappearance is the synchronization condition.

#Hidden ACL waits

wait "dialog-closed" {
    hidden = role("dialog", "Checkout")
}

The compiler stores the existing visible-target wait condition plus wait_mode = hidden; under current revision 15 it still reuses the earlier visible-action variant. Runner sends immediate read-only positive visibility assertions and polls every 50 ms only while visible evidence continues.

A matched delayed wait exposes this stable shape under output.data:

{
  "expected": "hidden",
  "visible": false,
  "first_visible": { "visible": true },
  "last_visible": { "visible": true },
  "probe_error": {
    "code": "test.assert.visible",
    "message": "target is not visible"
  },
  "wait": {
    "condition": "hidden",
    "outcome": "matched",
    "poll_interval_ms": 50,
    "max_probes": 1201,
    "probes": 3,
    "observed_ms": 101
  }
}

probes counts logical observations. Step attempts counts driver dispatches and can exceed it only for admitted retryable infrastructure failures. The same runner policy is used by normal suites and agent-run deterministic verification.

#Stable ACL expectations

stable_for_ms adds a bounded sampling policy to an ACL expect. It works with text, exact URL, visible-target, and hidden-target expectations on every surface whose driver supports the underlying expectation. It does not add a new action type or change a driver contract.

expect "settled-total" {
    visible = testid("order-total")
    stable_for_ms = 300
    sample_interval_ms = 25
}

The maximum planned work is ceil(stable_for_ms / sample_interval_ms) + 1 samples, including the initial observation. Admission rejects a plan above 1,001 samples. The runner starts the clock only after the initial sample passes and always samples once at the end of the requested window.

Stable-step JSON keeps the normal step fields and adds the following values under output.data.

The first false sample retains its original assertion code. A later false sample uses test.assert.unstable. Timeout and cancellation remain terminal test.run.* results and may have no stability payload because sampling did not complete.

#JSON and error contracts

Automation should pass --json and read stable error codes, state, and structured fields instead of parsing human help text.

See Troubleshooting for response steps. See the capability reference for complete functionality and authority boundaries.

#Exit codes

The first Ctrl+C requests cancellation and owned-surface cleanup. A second interrupt terminates only browser and CUA process boundaries and TUI process trees owned by the current process.

#Web capability summary

The Web driver supports navigation, semantic snapshots, click, hover, focus, fill and type, selection-scoped text insertion, check, select, double and context click, drag, key press, modifier wheel, and viewport control. Synchronization covers load, text, URL, positive visibility, bounded disappearance waits, exact or scoped focus ownership, live disclosure/toggle/read-only/required/validity state, and positive or hidden expectations. Evidence includes screenshots, accessibility trees, console output, page errors, HAR, Chrome traces, WebM video, and contained downloads.

Browser execution is headless by default. --headed is an explicit debugging option. Initial origin, --allow-origin, and explicit hostname exceptions constrain navigation and network access.