Help Commands

Two help systems: mj-man in your terminal (offline, instant), and the operation reference below.

mj-man

After installing the terminal UX (scripts/shell/install-terminal-ux.sh), help is one command away:

mj-man              # overview
mj-man list         # all help topics
mj-man commands     # every operation (this page, in your terminal)
mj-man protocol     # the request-file format
mj-man safety       # the safety model
mj-man terminal     # mj-top, mj-observe-dash
mj-man troubleshooting
mj-man recovery
mj-man mj           # the mj command
mj-man render       # hosts and rendering
mj-man frames       # loop seams, golden frames
mj-man audit        # audit log, restore, handoff, audits
mj-man library      # search index and presets

Search inside any page with /, quit with q. Everything is local Markdown — no network, works on a plane.

Operations (46)

Run mj ops for the live list with required arguments marked *.

System

• system.probe — detect the macOS environment and native capabilities.
• system.doctor — report whether the runtime has its required core capabilities.
• system.describe — Capability Registry 2.0 plus Standard Library 1.0 metadata; lists all 56 operations.
• runtime.verify — verify the running runtime, version, protocol, optionally SHA-256.

Tier 0 Observer

• project.ingest — validate an MJ_PROJECT_SCRAPE_1 receipt and summarize it. → Tier 0 Observer
• expression.lint — static analysis over scraped expressions (E001–I001). → Tier 0 Observer
• plugin.audit — enumerate and hash an AE Plug-ins directory. → Tier 0 Observer
• project.snapshot — hash + versioned, never-overwriting copy of an .aep. → Tier 0 Observer

Hosts and rendering → Rendering

• host.detect — find After Effects / Cinema 4D 2024+, their CLIs, Redshift, Metal GPU.
• ae.render — render one comp to a new PNG-sequence folder with a receipt.
• c4d.render — render a Cinema 4D scene (Redshift or Physical) with a receipt.

Frame tools → Frame Tools

• loop.seams — rank the best start/end frames for a seamless loop.
• golden.record / golden.check — record and compare key frames to catch a changed look.

Protect work → Protect Work

• project.restore — snapshot back out as a new, hash-verified .aep.
• deps.graph — per-comp dependencies, missing footage, single points of failure.
• handoff.package — delivery folder with project, local footage, manifest and README.
• audit.verify — check the hash-chained request log.

Search, presets and audits → Search and Audits

• index.add / index.search / index.verify — local full-text index of your receipts.
• preset.add / preset.get — versioned, hash-addressed preset library.
• trace.asset — exact nested comp path to any asset, missing asset or font.
• audit.plugins — projects using an exact effect matchName, or the full inventory.

Project insight

• project.diff — what changed between two scrapes: comps, layers, expressions, footage, fonts, effects.
• project.health — a documented, versioned 0–100 score with the findings behind every lost point; format=record keeps a trend.

Plain-language wrappers for these are in mj Command; see Error Codes for what failures mean.

Files and assets

• file.inspect — basic file facts.
• file.hash — SHA-256 with source-stability checks.
• file.provenance — extended-attribute names only; values never requested.
• asset.manifest — single-asset identity record.
• asset.verify — compare an asset against expected identity evidence.
• search.candidate — advisory Spotlight-backed candidate search; never auto-relinks.

Images

• image.inspect — native image facts through ImageKit.
• image.derivative — staged, non-overwriting analysis derivative.
• image.stats / image.compare — pixel statistics and comparison (SL-M3).

Media

• media.inspect — conservative media metadata.
• media.timing — bounded local-only timing summary.
• media.frame — one bounded, non-overwriting local PNG frame derivative.

Storage & temp

• storage.preflight — filesystem / free-space / readability hints.
• volume.inspect — filesystem and volume facts.
• temp.create / temp.clean — MJ-owned temporary workspaces; clean deletes only ownership-proven ones.

Reports

• report.tech — native diagnostic receipt.
• package.create — ZIP derivative via native ditto; refuses overwrite.

Terminal tools

Tool	What
mj	Run any operation, recipes, completion → mj Command
mj-man	Offline help pages (above)
mj-top	Snapshot-only read-only system dashboard
tools/mj-observe-dash.zsh	btop-style Tier 0 observer dashboard → Dashboard
tools/watch-install.zsh / watch-uninstall.zsh	Watcher setup → Watcher