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Version: MVP

Operator surface

4 min readReferenceUpdated 2026-05-21

What you'll find here

The read-only operator surface Craik ships, the formatter contracts behind each view, and the boundary between the CLI-first surface and a complete dashboard.

Craik chose a CLI-first operator surface for v0.7.0.

The shipped entrypoint is craik operator overview: a read-only, terminal-friendly surface backed by local-store queries and validated formatter contracts. A complete TUI or dashboard is post-MVP scope. See Post-MVP Scope.

Why CLI-first

Same terminal

Works where agents and operators already run Craik.

No service required

Inspects local SQLite state without starting a process.

Keeps review simple

Read-only workflows stay lightweight.

Avoids premature complexity

No browser, server, auth, or asset concerns before views are proven.

Future-compatible

Dashboard views can reuse the same formatter contracts.

Boundary

Read-only by default.

The v0.7.0 operator surface displays state from the local store and validated contracts. It must not mutate memory, approve grants, resolve contradictions, delete records, or execute plugins without an explicit future command and policy boundary.

Commands

The shared overview command prints the current project state grouped by operator question.

craik operator overview
craik operator overview --project project_docs
craik operator overview --section inbox
craik operator overview --json

--project scopes records that carry a project id or link to a task in that project. Global records without project or task scope remain visible because hiding them would imply a relationship Craik cannot prove from the persisted record.

The JSON payload is the same read-only snapshot used by the text view: project_id, read_only, sections, and notes. Every section names the navigation id, count, status, suggested command, backing contract kinds, and a short summary.

The CLI surface organizes views around operator questions. The first command is an overview; follow-on commands can reuse the same section ids and formatter contracts.

Overview

Project · active tasks · recent handoffs · blocked states.

Work Graph

Graph events · exports · dependencies · verification links.

Handoffs

Summaries · next steps · receipts · evidence · risks.

Receipts

Capability and plugin action records.

Inbox

Contradictions · delegations · context requests.

Evidence

References · assumptions · memory impact previews.

Quality

Quality scores · critic findings · red-team findings · gates.

Instructions

Sources · snapshots · distilled proposals · reviews.

Traps

Known traps · negative knowledge.

Run Deltas

Recovery and continuity changes.

Each view degrades cleanly when records are missing. Missing data is shown as unavailable state — never inferred.

Data sources

The initial surface reads from existing contracts and store helpers.

craik.handoff

craik.capability_receipt

craik.plugin_receipt

craik.work_graph_event

craik.contradiction_report

craik.evidence_reference

craik.assumption

craik.memory_impact_preview

craik.human_delegation_point

craik.context_request

craik.handoff_quality_score

craik.evidence_coverage_score

craik.runtime_critic_finding

craik.red_team_finding

craik.instruction_source

craik.distilled_instruction_proposal

craik.known_trap

craik.negative_knowledge

craik.run_delta

See the schema reference for the persisted field shapes of each contract.

Follow-on surfaces

Future TUI or dashboard work can reuse the overview snapshot and individual formatter contracts behind the same read-only boundary. Each new command or panel should have focused tests for formatting, empty-state behavior, project scoping, and links to the underlying contracts before it is described as operational.

What's next