@claude-flow/cli-core
Status: alpha (pre-release). Tracking ADR-100. Don't depend on this in production yet.
Lightweight core CLI surface for Claude Flow — memory + hooks commands only. Designed to load fast on a cold npx cache so plugin skills don't race Claude Code's 30 second MCP-startup timeout.
Why a separate package?
Issue #1748 #3 documented a silent failure mode for new users: npx claude-flow@latest mcp start from a cold npx cache regularly exceeds 30 seconds (1.8 MB / 999 files), Claude Code's MCP startup timeout fires, zero tools register, and the user observes "Ruflo is broken — no MCP tools available."
@claude-flow/cli-core is a ≤250 KB packed subset containing only what plugin skills actually call: memory store/list/retrieve/search/delete/init and the hooks family (route, model-outcome, post-edit, pre-task, etc.). On a cold cache, npx @claude-flow/cli-core@alpha memory store ... should complete in under 5 seconds — well under the timeout.
Install
# Pre-release alpha
npm install @claude-flow/cli-core@alpha
# Or just npx-invoke directly from a plugin Bash block
npx @claude-flow/cli-core@alpha memory store --key x --value 1 --namespace patterns
What's included
| Category | Commands |
|---|---|
memory | store, list, retrieve, search, delete, init, migrate, stats, configure, cleanup, compress, export, import |
hooks | route, pre-task, post-task, pre-edit, post-edit, pre-command, post-command, model-outcome, model-route, model-stats, worker-*, intelligence_*, plus 12 background-worker dispatchers |
What's NOT included (use @claude-flow/cli for these)
swarm,hive-mind,agent,task,coordination— multi-agent orchestrationneural,embeddings,intelligence— full ML surfacefederation,claims,aidefence— cross-installation featuresbrowser,wasm,rvf— sandbox + browser automationinit,migrate,doctor,daemon,deployment— lifecycle managementperformance,security,providers,plugins,config— admin surface
For any of these, install @claude-flow/cli@alpha (the metapackage that re-exports cli-core and lazy-loads everything else).
Compatibility
@claude-flow/[email protected] ships in lockstep with @claude-flow/[email protected]. Once promoted from alpha → latest, the two packages will continue to share the major.minor line.
Verification
# Cold cache test — clear npx cache first
rm -rf ~/.npm/_npx
time npx @claude-flow/cli-core@alpha memory store --key smoke --value test --namespace test
# Expected: <5 seconds wall-time on typical broadband
Documentation
- ADR-100 — cli-core split — design rationale
- MIGRATION.md — concrete diff + env-flag pattern for switching plugin scripts
- Issue #1748 — the bug this package addresses
- Issue #1760 — alpha tracking issue (status, benchmarks, fire-by-fire progress)
- Main
@claude-flow/cliREADME — full feature list
License
MIT