CLI Cheat Sheet
The Devplan CLI downloads specifications and starts a local coding workflow. Devplan MCP is the primary way to give your coding assistant workspace context; the CLI is also available from your project's implementation controls.
Start with the generated command
Open the implementation controls for the work you want to implement, choose the CLI option, and copy the command. It contains the workspace and work identifiers for that task or user story.
These examples show the command structure. Replace the example identifiers with the ones Devplan provides. Run devplan --help or a subcommand's --help to check your installed version.
Authentication
devplan auth
Authenticate in the browser:
devplan auth
Use devplan auth --force to sign in again.
Starting Implementation
devplan specs start
# Start a task with Claude Code
devplan specs start -c 123 -t task_abc123 -i claude
# Start a user story (the CLI calls this a feature)
devplan specs start -c 123 -f feature_abc123 -i claude
# Use an existing checkout
devplan specs start -c 123 -t task_abc123 -i claude --path /path/to/repo
Provide either --task (-t) or --feature (-f). Task mode prepares a repository worktree; feature mode can prepare the repositories referenced by the user story. The CLI downloads the specifications and launches the selected assistant with the workflow's starting instruction.
Use the assistant option offered by the generated command. For example, claude selects Claude Code and cursor-cli selects Cursor CLI.
devplan specs pull
Download specifications into the current folder without cloning a repository or opening an assistant:
devplan specs pull -c 123 -t task_abc123 -i claude
This also accepts --feature instead of --task, and --path to choose an existing output folder. Save any local edits to generated specification files before pulling again; matching generated files can be overwritten.
Workspace Management
devplan switch
Use devplan switch to select a local workspace and open it in an editor. devplan sw is an alias.
devplan list
Use devplan list to list local workspaces and copy a selected path. devplan ls is an alias.
The change indicators in these commands exclude untracked files. Use git status --short inside a checkout to inspect those too.
devplan clean
Run git status --short in the folder you plan to remove and save any work you need, including untracked files. Then run:
devplan clean
Select the folder carefully. Cleanup deletes it after confirmation. The CLI's extra warning about local changes excludes untracked files, so the absence of a warning does not mean the folder contains nothing worth keeping.
Other Useful Commands
devplan version
Run devplan version to see your installed version.
devplan update
For a Homebrew installation, update through Homebrew:
brew upgrade devplaninc/devplan/devplan
For a standalone build that supports self-update, run devplan update. See CLI releases for available versions.
Workspace Structure
Use the workspace path printed by the CLI. Default task worktrees live under ~/devplan/workspace/features/<project>/<task>/; user-story workspaces can contain multiple repositories. A custom workspace or --path changes the location.
Generated specifications live under specs in the prepared workspace. See Spec Driven Development for the input and output files.