Command line

The libby CLI is the third client, and the one that needs no ZShooter code at all: because every daemon exposes typed keywords with discoverable metadata, the generic Libby CLI already speaks to the whole instrument.

Verbs

libby show     <group>.<scope>.<name>      # read (% wildcards in name)
libby modify   <group>.<scope>.<name>=V    # write (exact name)
libby list     <group>.<scope>.<pattern>   # enumerate keywords
libby describe <group>.<scope>.<name>      # metadata for one keyword

Against ZShooter:

$ libby show zsvis.motion.slitwidth
zsvis.motion.slitwidth = 1.0 arcsec

$ libby show zsvis.motion.is%
zsvis.motion.isconnected   = True
zsvis.motion.ismoving      = False
zsvis.motion.isreferenced  = True

$ libby modify zsvis.motion.slitwidth=0.7
zsvis.motion.slitwidth = 0.7 arcsec

$ libby describe zshouse.thermal.detectortemperature
zshouse.thermal.detectortemperature:
  type         float
  readonly     True
  units        K
  description  nIR detector temperature.

$ libby list zshouse.vacuum.%
zshouse.vacuum.dewarpressure
zshouse.vacuum.ionpumpcurrent
zshouse.vacuum.ionpumpstate

--json on any verb gives machine-readable output, which is what makes the CLI usable from shell scripts and from the night-log tooling.

Timeouts

The CLI reads timeout_s from keys.describe before issuing a modify, so slow operations get an appropriately long wait automatically. This is why Keywords and addressing requires every slow keyword to advertise it: a 40-second stage move with no declared timeout will appear to fail from the command line while succeeding in the hardware.

Configuration

The CLI reads ~/.libby/cli_config.yaml for transport and peer addressing. ZShooter ships site configurations for the sim, lab, and summit environments so that an engineer switching context changes one file rather than remembering addresses.

Use and limits of use

The CLI is the right tool for scripted engineering procedures, for commissioning measurements, for CI checks against a simulated instrument, and for the fastest possible answer to “what is that value right now”.

Like every other client it reaches daemons through the same keywords and the same validation, and its commands are logged the same way. It is expected to be used by someone who knows what the keyword they are writing does.

It is not an observing interface. Nominal observing goes through the sequencer, because the sequencer holds the state knowledge that keeps a night consistent.