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Humanet is currently under active development. Not all features are available yet.
ReferenceCLI Reference

Humanet CLI Reference

Official command-line tool for initializing and managing Humanet idea documentation.

Installation

Quick Use (No Installation)

npx create-humanet

Global Installation

npm install -g create-humanet

Requirements:

  • Node.js >= 18.0.0

Commands

humanet init

Initialize a new .humanet folder in your current directory with the standard structure.

Usage

# Interactive mode (recommended)
humanet init
 
# Non-interactive mode
humanet init --name "My Idea" \
  --tagline "A brief description" \
  --domains ai-ml dev-tools \
  --username myuser \
  --repo https://github.com/username/repo \
  --license CC-BY-4.0

Options

OptionAliasDescriptionDefault
--interactive-iInteractive mode with promptstrue
--name <name>-nIdea namePrompted
--tagline <tagline>-tOne-line descriptionPrompted
--domains <domains...>-dSpace-separated domainsPrompted
--username <username>-uGitHub usernamePrompted
--repo <url>-rRepository URLOptional
--license <license>-lLicense typeCC-BY-4.0

Example

humanet init --name "AI Code Review Assistant" \
  --tagline "Intelligent code review powered by GPT-4" \
  --domains ai-ml dev-tools \
  --username johndoe

humanet validate

Validate the structure and content of your .humanet folder.

Usage

# Basic validation
humanet validate
 
# Verbose output with detailed results
humanet validate --verbose

Options

OptionAliasDescription
--verbose-vShow detailed validation results

Checks Performed

The validator checks:

  • Required files exist (config.yml, problem_statement.md, idea.md, scope.md)
  • config.yml follows the JSON schema
  • YAML syntax is valid
  • No placeholder text remains
  • Files have minimum content (not empty)
  • Domain values are valid
  • License is recognized

Exit Codes

  • 0 — Validation passed
  • 1 — Validation failed

Example Output

$ humanet validate --verbose
 
Checking required files...
  config.yml exists
  problem_statement.md exists
  idea.md exists
  scope.md exists
 
Validating config.yml...
  Valid YAML syntax
  Follows schema
  All domains are valid
  License is recognized
 
Checking content...
  No placeholder text found
  All files have sufficient content
 
Validation passed! Your .humanet folder is ready.

humanet migrate

Migrate from legacy format to the current .humanet structure.

Usage

humanet migrate
 
# Verbose output
humanet migrate --verbose

Options

OptionAliasDescription
--verbose-vShow detailed migration steps

Status: Coming soon. This feature is planned for a future release.

What Gets Created

When you run humanet init, the following structure is created:

.humanet/
├── config.yml                    # Core metadata & configuration
├── config.schema.json            # JSON Schema for validation
├── README.md                     # Documentation guide
├── problem_statement.md          # Required: Problem definition
├── idea.md                       # Required: Solution description
├── scope.md                      # Required: Boundaries & success metrics
├── CHANGELOG.md                  # Idea evolution tracking
├── CONTRIBUTORS.md               # Attribution & roles
├── .gitignore                    # Ignore patterns
│
├── diagrams/                     # Visual documentation
│   ├── README.md
│   └── PLACEHOLDER.txt
│
├── research/                     # Supporting materials
│   ├── README.md
│   └── literature-review.md
│
├── discussions/                  # Decision logs & ADRs
│   ├── README.md
│   └── 001-tech-stack-selection.md
│
├── evaluations/                  # AI validation reports
│   └── README.md
│
└── templates/                    # Reusable templates
    ├── README.md
    ├── decision-record.md
    ├── meeting-notes.md
    └── research-summary.md

Available Domains

When initializing, you can choose from these domains:

DomainID
AI & Machine Learningai-ml
Blockchainblockchain
Climate Techclimate-tech
Developer Toolsdev-tools
Educationeducation
Financefinance
Healthcarehealthcare
Knowledge Managementknowledge-management
Productivityproductivity
Research Toolsresearch-tools
Social Impactsocial-impact
Web3web3
Otherother

License Options

Available licenses for your ideas:

LicenseDescription
CC-BY-4.0Attribution required (default)
CC-BY-SA-4.0Attribution + Share-alike
MITPermissive
UnlicensePublic domain
Apache-2.0Apache License

Configuration File

The config.yml file contains metadata about your idea:

humanet:
  version: "1.0"
  
  metadata:
    id: null  # Auto-generated when registered
    name: "Your Idea Name"
    tagline: "One-line description"
    created: "2026-02-16"
    updated: "2026-02-16"
  
  lifecycle:
    status: "provisional"
    provisional_deadline: "2026-03-18"
    last_evaluated: null
    evaluation_score: null
  
  domains:
    - ai-ml
    - dev-tools
  
  contributors:
    maintainers:
      - username: "yourusername"
        role: "creator"
        joined: "2026-02-16"
    collaborators: []
  
  evolution:
    parent: null
    forks: []
    branches: []
  
  repository:
    url: "https://github.com/username/repo"
    platform: "github"
  
  license: "CC-BY-4.0"

Environment Variables

The CLI respects the following environment variables:

VariableDescriptionDefault
HUMANET_API_URLPlatform API endpointhttps://api.humanet.dev
HUMANET_CLI_CONFIGCustom config path~/.humanetrc

Next Steps After Initialization

  1. Edit documentation files:

    • .humanet/problem_statement.md — Define the problem
    • .humanet/idea.md — Describe your solution
    • .humanet/scope.md — Set boundaries and metrics

  2. Validate your work:

    humanet validate

  3. Commit to Git:

    git add .humanet/
git commit -m "Initialize Humanet idea structure"
git push

  4. Register on platform:

    • Visit humanet.dev 
    • Connect your repository
    • Submit for validation

Troubleshooting

”Command not found: humanet”

If you installed globally but getting this error:

# Check npm global bin path
npm config get prefix
 
# Add to PATH (Linux/Mac)
export PATH=$PATH:$(npm config get prefix)/bin
 
# Or reinstall
npm install -g create-humanet

Validation Fails

Run with verbose flag to see details:

humanet validate --verbose

Common issues:

  • Missing required files
  • Empty or placeholder content
  • Invalid YAML syntax in config.yml
  • Invalid domain or license values

Contributing

Found a bug or have a feature request for the CLI?

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