agentsmesh generate

Generate target-specific config files from the canonical .agentsmesh/ directory. This is the primary command you run after editing canonical files.

Usage

agentsmesh generate [flags]

Flags

Flag	Description
--targets <csv>	Comma-separated list of target IDs to generate for. Defaults to all configured targets.
--dry-run	Preview changes without writing any files.
--check	Verify sync status only. Exit code 1 if out of sync.
--force	Bypass collaboration lock violations.
--refresh-cache	Re-fetch remote extends sources before generating.
--no-cache	Alias for --refresh-cache.

Examples

Generate for all configured targets

agentsmesh generate

Reads agentsmesh.yaml, loads all canonical sources, and writes output for each enabled target.

Generate for specific targets only

agentsmesh generate --targets claude-code,cursor

Only generates .claude/ and .cursor/ output, ignoring other configured targets.

Preview changes without writing

agentsmesh generate --dry-run

Shows a unified diff of what would change without writing any files. Useful before committing or during debugging.

CI check mode

agentsmesh generate --check

Exits 0 if generated files match the lock file. Exits 1 if drift is detected. Use this in CI pipelines instead of agentsmesh check when you want the full generation path to be verified.

Force through locks

agentsmesh generate --force

Bypasses collaboration.lock_features restrictions. Use when you intentionally need to update locked features like mcp or permissions.

Refresh remote extends

agentsmesh generate --refresh-cache
agentsmesh generate --no-cache   # alias

Forces a re-fetch of all remote extends sources. Without this flag, AgentsMesh uses the local cache at ~/.agentsmesh/cache/.

What generate does

1. Load config — parse agentsmesh.yaml, merge agentsmesh.local.yaml, validate schema.
2. Load canonical sources — read .agentsmesh/, resolve extends (cache or remote), load installed packs, merge everything.
3. Generate per target — for each enabled target, run target-specific generators for rules, commands, agents, skills, MCP, hooks, ignore, and permissions.
4. Rewrite references — internal .agentsmesh/ file paths are rewritten to target-relative paths.
5. Resolve collisions — detect overlapping output paths, prefer native over embedded.
6. Write output — create target directories, write all files, update the lock file.
7. Clean stale files — remove previously generated files no longer in the output set.

Output locations

Target	Output directory
claude-code	.claude/
cursor	.cursor/
copilot	.github/
gemini-cli	.gemini/
cline	.cline/
codex-cli	AGENTS.md
windsurf	.windsurf/
continue	.continue/
junie	.junie/

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success — all files generated.
1	Error or drift detected (with --check).