CLI Commands

Reference for loom and loom-ui command-line tools.

loom

The headless pipeline runner for batch execution and automation.

Basic Usage

# Run full pipeline
loom pipeline.yml

# Preview commands without executing
loom pipeline.yml --dry-run

Command Reference

Option	Description
--dry-run	Preview commands without executing
--step NAME [NAME ...]	Run specific step(s) only
--from NAME	Run from a step onward (includes all subsequent steps)
--include NAME [NAME ...]	Include optional step(s)
--set KEY=VALUE [...]	Override parameter values
--var KEY=VALUE [...]	Override variable values
--extra "ARGS"	Pass extra arguments to a step
--parallel	Enable parallel execution (overrides config)
--sequential	Force sequential execution (overrides config)
--max-workers N	Maximum parallel workers (default: CPU count)
--clean	Move all output data to trash
--clean-list	List files that would be cleaned (preview only)
--permanent	Permanently delete instead of trash (use with --clean)
-y, --yes	Skip confirmation prompts
--list	List all steps in the pipeline
--investigate	Show step interface (inputs/outputs/args); use with --step

Examples

# Run full pipeline
loom pipeline.yml

# Preview without executing
loom pipeline.yml --dry-run

# Run specific steps
loom pipeline.yml --step extract classify

# Run from a step onward
loom pipeline.yml --from classify

# Include optional steps
loom pipeline.yml --include debug_visualize

# Override parameters
loom pipeline.yml --set backend=local threshold=25.0

# Override variables
loom pipeline.yml --var video=other.mp4

# Pass extra arguments to a step
loom pipeline.yml --step extract --extra "--debug --verbose"

# Run steps in parallel
loom pipeline.yml --parallel

# Run in parallel with limited workers
loom pipeline.yml --parallel --max-workers 4

# Force sequential even if config says parallel
loom pipeline.yml --sequential

# Clean all data and re-run
loom pipeline.yml --clean -y
loom pipeline.yml

# Permanently delete instead of trash
loom pipeline.yml --clean --permanent -y

# Preview what would be cleaned
loom pipeline.yml --clean-list

# List all steps in a pipeline
loom pipeline.yml --list

# Inspect a step's interface (inputs, outputs, args)
loom pipeline.yml --step compute_stats --investigate

loom-ui

The visual editor for building and running pipelines interactively.

Basic Usage

# Open a pipeline
loom-ui pipeline.yml

# Browse pipelines in a directory
loom-ui experiments/

# Create a new pipeline
loom-ui --new

Command Reference

Option	Description
--port PORT	Server port (default: 8000)
--host HOST	Server host (default: 127.0.0.1)
--no-browser	Don't auto-open browser
--new	Create a new empty pipeline
--tasks-dir DIR	Custom tasks directory

Examples

# Open existing pipeline
loom-ui pipeline.yml

# Browse all pipelines in a folder
loom-ui experiments/

# Custom port and host
loom-ui pipeline.yml --port 8080 --host 0.0.0.0

# Headless mode (no auto-open)
loom-ui pipeline.yml --no-browser

# Create new pipeline
loom-ui --new

Workspace Mode

When pointing loom-ui at a directory, it enters workspace mode:

loom-ui experiments/

A pipeline browser appears in the sidebar, letting you:

• Browse all .yml pipelines in the directory
• Double-click to switch between pipelines
• Get prompted to save unsaved changes before switching

Environment

Both tools require:

• Python 3.11+

All relative paths in pipeline configs are resolved relative to the directory containing the YAML file, so your paths work correctly regardless of where you invoke loom.