packages/cli/src/__tests__/daemon-cli.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { daemonCommand } from "../commands/daemon.js";
+import { devCommand } from "../commands/dev.js";
+import { daemonStartCommand } from "../commands/start.js";
+
+describe("nerve daemon command group", () => {
+  it("exposes start, stop, status, restart, and logs subcommands", () => {
+    const subs = daemonCommand.subCommands;
+    expect(subs).toBeDefined();
+    if (!subs) {
+      throw new Error("expected daemonCommand.subCommands");
+    }
+    expect(Object.keys(subs).sort()).toEqual(["logs", "restart", "start", "status", "stop"]);
+  });
+
+  it("shares the same start command object as top-level nerve start alias", () => {
+    const subs = daemonCommand.subCommands;
+    expect(subs?.start).toBe(daemonStartCommand);
+  });
+});
+
+describe("nerve dev", () => {
+  it("is a foreground dev command", () => {
+    expect(devCommand.meta?.name).toBe("dev");
+    expect(devCommand.meta?.description).toMatch(/foreground/i);
+  });
+});

packages/cli/src/cli.ts

@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 import { defineCommand, runMain } from "citty";
 
+import { daemonCommand } from "./commands/daemon.js";
+import { devCommand } from "./commands/dev.js";
 import { initCommand } from "./commands/init.js";
 import { logsCommand } from "./commands/logs.js";
 import { senseCommand } from "./commands/sense.js";
-import { startCommand } from "./commands/start.js";
+import { daemonStartCommand } from "./commands/start.js";
 import { statusCommand } from "./commands/status.js";
 import { stopCommand } from "./commands/stop.js";
 import { storeCommand } from "./commands/store.js";
@@ -17,7 +19,9 @@ const main = defineCommand({
   },
   subCommands: {
     init: initCommand,
-    start: startCommand,
+    daemon: daemonCommand,
+    dev: devCommand,
+    start: daemonStartCommand,
     stop: stopCommand,
     status: statusCommand,
     logs: logsCommand,

packages/cli/src/commands/daemon.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import { defineCommand } from "citty";
+
+import { logsCommand } from "./logs.js";
+import { daemonStartCommand, runDaemonStartCommand } from "./start.js";
+import { statusCommand } from "./status.js";
+import { runStopCommand, stopCommand } from "./stop.js";
+
+const daemonRestartCommand = defineCommand({
+  meta: {
+    name: "restart",
+    description: "Stop then start the nerve daemon",
+  },
+  async run() {
+    await runStopCommand();
+    await runDaemonStartCommand();
+  },
+});
+
+export const daemonCommand = defineCommand({
+  meta: {
+    name: "daemon",
+    description: "Manage the nerve background daemon",
+  },
+  subCommands: {
+    start: daemonStartCommand,
+    stop: stopCommand,
+    status: statusCommand,
+    restart: daemonRestartCommand,
+    logs: logsCommand,
+  },
+});

packages/cli/src/commands/dev.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import { defineCommand } from "citty";
+
+import { runForegroundKernelSession } from "../run-foreground-kernel.js";
+import { loadDaemonModule } from "../workspace-daemon.js";
+import { getNerveRoot } from "../workspace.js";
+
+export const devCommand = defineCommand({
+  meta: {
+    name: "dev",
+    description: "Run the nerve kernel in the foreground (development mode)",
+  },
+  async run() {
+    const nerveRoot = getNerveRoot();
+    const { createKernel } = await loadDaemonModule(nerveRoot);
+    await runForegroundKernelSession(nerveRoot, createKernel);
+  },
+});

packages/cli/src/commands/start.ts

@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
 
 import { defineCommand } from "citty";
 
-import { runForegroundKernelSession } from "../run-foreground-kernel.js";
-import { loadDaemonModule } from "../workspace-daemon.js";
 import {
   getLogPath,
   getNerveRoot,
@@ -52,15 +50,10 @@ function daemonBootstrapScript(): string {
     return bootstrapJs;
   }
   throw new Error(
-    `daemon-bootstrap.js not found next to CLI at ${bootstrapJs}. Build the CLI package (e.g. \`pnpm --filter @uncaged/nerve-cli build\`) before using background mode (\`nerve start -d\`).`,
+    `daemon-bootstrap.js not found next to CLI at ${bootstrapJs}. Build the CLI package (e.g. \`pnpm --filter @uncaged/nerve-cli build\`) before using \`nerve daemon start\`.`,
   );
 }
 
-async function runForeground(nerveRoot: string): Promise<void> {
-  const { createKernel } = await loadDaemonModule(nerveRoot);
-  await runForegroundKernelSession(nerveRoot, createKernel);
-}
-
 async function runDaemon(nerveRoot: string): Promise<void> {
   if (isRunning()) {
     const pid = readPidFile();
@@ -110,29 +103,20 @@ async function runDaemon(nerveRoot: string): Promise<void> {
 
   process.stdout.write(`✅ Nerve daemon started (pid ${pid}).\n`);
   process.stdout.write(`   Logs: ${logPath}\n`);
-  process.stdout.write("   Run `nerve stop` to stop.\n");
+  process.stdout.write("   Run `nerve daemon stop` (or `nerve stop`) to stop.\n");
 }
 
-export const startCommand = defineCommand({
+/** Background daemon only — use `nerve dev` for foreground mode. */
+export async function runDaemonStartCommand(): Promise<void> {
+  await runDaemon(getNerveRoot());
+}
+
+export const daemonStartCommand = defineCommand({
   meta: {
     name: "start",
-    description: "Start the nerve daemon",
+    description: "Start the nerve daemon in the background",
   },
-  args: {
-    daemon: {
-      type: "boolean",
-      alias: "d",
-      description: "Run as background daemon",
-      default: false,
-    },
-  },
-  async run({ args }) {
-    const nerveRoot = getNerveRoot();
-
-    if (args.daemon) {
-      await runDaemon(nerveRoot);
-    } else {
-      await runForeground(nerveRoot);
-    }
+  async run() {
+    await runDaemonStartCommand();
   },
 });

packages/cli/src/commands/stop.ts

@@ -15,44 +15,49 @@ async function waitForExit(pid: number, timeoutMs: number): Promise<boolean> {
   return false;
 }
 
+/** Core stop logic — also used by `nerve daemon restart`. */
+export async function runStopCommand(): Promise<void> {
+  const pid = readPidFile();
+  if (pid === null) {
+    process.stdout.write("⚠️ No PID file found — daemon may not be running.\n");
+    return;
+  }
+
+  if (!isRunning()) {
+    process.stdout.write("⚠️ Daemon is not running (stale PID file). Cleaning up.\n");
+    removePidFile();
+    return;
+  }
+
+  process.stdout.write(`Stopping nerve daemon (pid ${pid})…\n`);
+  try {
+    process.kill(pid, "SIGTERM");
+  } catch (e) {
+    const msg = e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e);
+    process.stderr.write(`❌ Failed to send SIGTERM: ${msg}\n`);
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+
+  const graceful = await waitForExit(pid, 10_000);
+  if (!graceful) {
+    process.stdout.write("⚠️ Daemon did not exit in 10s — sending SIGKILL.\n");
+    try {
+      process.kill(pid, "SIGKILL");
+    } catch {
+      // already dead
+    }
+  }
+
+  removePidFile();
+  process.stdout.write("✅ Daemon stopped.\n");
+}
+
 export const stopCommand = defineCommand({
   meta: {
     name: "stop",
     description: "Stop the nerve daemon",
   },
   async run() {
-    const pid = readPidFile();
-    if (pid === null) {
-      process.stdout.write("⚠️ No PID file found — daemon may not be running.\n");
-      return;
-    }
-
-    if (!isRunning()) {
-      process.stdout.write("⚠️ Daemon is not running (stale PID file). Cleaning up.\n");
-      removePidFile();
-      return;
-    }
-
-    process.stdout.write(`Stopping nerve daemon (pid ${pid})…\n`);
-    try {
-      process.kill(pid, "SIGTERM");
-    } catch (e) {
-      const msg = e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e);
-      process.stderr.write(`❌ Failed to send SIGTERM: ${msg}\n`);
-      process.exit(1);
-    }
-
-    const graceful = await waitForExit(pid, 10_000);
-    if (!graceful) {
-      process.stdout.write("⚠️ Daemon did not exit in 10s — sending SIGKILL.\n");
-      try {
-        process.kill(pid, "SIGKILL");
-      } catch {
-        // already dead
-      }
-    }
-
-    removePidFile();
-    process.stdout.write("✅ Daemon stopped.\n");
+    await runStopCommand();
   },
 });