v3/@claude-flow/cli-core/README.md
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.
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.
# 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
| 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 |
@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 surfaceFor any of these, install @claude-flow/cli@alpha (the metapackage that re-exports cli-core and lazy-loads everything else).
@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.
# 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
@claude-flow/cli README — full feature listMIT