> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.heylua.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # lua status > One-shot diagnostics of the CLI, credential, project, and per-primitive sync state, as text or stable JSON `lua status` (alias `lua describe`) reports the state of the CLI install, your credential, the current project, and how each local primitive compares with the server, in one run. It reads only; nothing is written locally or on the server. *Verified against lua-cli 3.33.0.* ## Synopsis ```bash theme={null} lua status [--json] lua describe [--json] ``` ## Description The report has these sections: `environment` (CLI version and channel, Node, OS, install method, API and auth base URLs, which `LUA_*` overrides are set), `updates` (current and latest CLI version), `auth`, `project`, one `primitives` entry per kind (skills, webhooks, triggers, jobs, preprocessors, postprocessors, MCP servers, devices, device triggers, voices, workflows), `persona`, `backup`, `telemetry`, `warnings`, and `hints`. The command degrades instead of failing. Outside a project, `project.inProject` is `false` and `primitives` is empty. Without a usable credential, `auth.authenticated` is `false`, `auth.serverReachable` says whether the API answered, and the server side of every comparison is skipped. A section that cannot be gathered adds a line to `warnings` rather than aborting. The exit code is 0 in all of these cases, so automation must read the fields, not the exit code. For each primitive kind, `local` lists the entries in `lua.skill.yaml`, `server` lists what the agent has, and `diffs` gives one status per local entry: `synced` (local version equals the active server version), `ahead` (local is newer; push it, then `lua version create` and `lua version promote`, or `lua deploy `), `behind` (local is older; run [`lua sync`](/reference/cli/sync)), or `not deployed` (registered without an active version, or no local version). MCP servers have no versions and are `synced` when present. `orphans` lists active server entries with no local counterpart, each with a `cleanupCommand`; orphaned preprocessors and postprocessors are marked `critical` because they run on every message. `auth.source` names where the credential came from: `environment` for the `LUA_API_KEY` variable, `stored` for the credentials file, or `renewable session` for an email sign-in. A scoped API key adds `credentialClass: "typed-personal"` and reports `email` and `userId` as `null`. `persona.status` is `synced`, `drift`, or `unknown`; `backup.status` is `synced`, `out-of-sync`, `never-compiled`, or `unknown`. `hints` lists follow-up commands derived from the report (`lua update`, `lua auth configure`, orphan cleanup, `lua push backup`, `lua sync`); it is empty when `LUA_NO_HINTS` is set. ## Arguments None. ## Options | Option | Description | Default | | -------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | | `--json` | Print the report as one line of JSON with `schemaVersion: 1`, suppressing all progress output. | off | ## Output The JSON report, formatted for readability and trimmed to two primitive kinds; the project's `lua.skill.yaml` had lost its postprocessor row, so the server's active postprocessor appears as an orphan: ```json Output theme={null} { "schemaVersion": 1, "command": "status", "generatedAt": "2026-09-12T21:40:55.755Z", "environment": { "cliVersion": "3.33.0", "channel": "latest", "nodeVersion": "v26.5.0", "platform": "darwin", "arch": "arm64", "osRelease": "24.6.0", "installMethod": "homebrew-or-npm-global", "execPath": "/opt/homebrew/Cellar/node/26.5.0_1/bin/node", "configDir": "/Users/me/.lua-cli", "apiBase": "https://api.heylua.ai", "authBase": "https://auth.heylua.ai", "envOverrides": { "LUA_API_URL": null, "LUA_AUTH_URL": null, "LUA_API_KEY": "not set", "LUA_TELEMETRY": null, "LUA_NO_HINTS": null } }, "updates": { "current": "3.33.0", "latest": "3.33.0", "available": false, "lastCheckedAt": "2026-09-12T09:20:35.347Z", "fromCache": true }, "auth": { "authenticated": true, "source": "renewable session", "email": "user@example.com", "userId": "user_…", "organizations": [ { "id": "org_…", "name": "Claude Plugin E2E" } ], "serverReachable": true, "reachabilityMs": 9136 }, "project": { "inProject": true, "rootDir": "/Users/me/helpdesk-triage", "configPath": "/Users/me/helpdesk-triage/lua.skill.yaml", "agentId": "agent_…", "agentName": "helpdesk-triage", "manifest": { "found": true, "primitiveCount": 7 } }, "primitives": [ { "kind": "skill", "displayName": "skills", "local": [ { "name": "tickets", "version": "1.0.3", "entityId": "…" } ], "server": [ { "name": "tickets", "activeVersion": "1.0.3", "active": true } ], "diffs": [ { "name": "tickets", "localVersion": "1.0.3", "serverVersion": "1.0.3", "status": "synced" } ], "orphans": [] }, … { "kind": "postprocessor", "displayName": "postprocessors", "local": [], "server": [ { "name": "ticket-footer", "activeVersion": "1.0.3", "active": true } ], "diffs": [], "orphans": [ { "name": "ticket-footer", "cleanupCommand": "lua postprocessors delete --postprocessor-name \"ticket-footer\"", "critical": true } ] }, … ], "persona": { "status": "synced" }, "backup": { "status": "out-of-sync" }, "telemetry": { "enabled": true, "envOverride": false }, "warnings": [], "hints": [ { "command": "lua postprocessors delete --postprocessor-name \"ticket-footer\"", "reason": "Remove orphan postprocessors \"ticket-footer\" (causes errors)" }, { "command": "lua push backup", "reason": "Sync source backup" } ] } ``` An orphan entry has `name`, `cleanupCommand`, and `critical` only; the server version is in the kind's `server` list. `warnings` is an array of strings, each prefixed with the section that failed (`config:`, `auth:`, `updates:`, `primitives:`, `persona:`, `backup:`, `telemetry:`) or `Failed to fetch server state for :`. A `lua.skill.yaml` that does not parse is reported there and the command still exits 0: ```json Output theme={null} { "project": { "inProject": false, … }, "warnings": [ "config: missed comma between flow collection entries (2:10)\n\n 1 | agent: [unclosed\n 2 | agentId: x\n--------------^" ], "hints": [] } ``` Outside a project the `project`, `primitives`, `persona`, and `backup` sections degrade to: ```json Output theme={null} { "project": { "inProject": false, "rootDir": null, "configPath": null, "agentId": null, "agentName": null, "manifest": { "found": false, "primitiveCount": 0 } }, "primitives": [], "persona": { "status": "unknown" }, "backup": { "status": "unknown" }, "warnings": [], "hints": [] } ``` ## Examples Print the human-readable report: ```bash theme={null} lua status ``` Confirm the credential works in CI, then list every primitive that is not synced: ```bash theme={null} lua status --json --ci | jq -e '.auth.authenticated' lua status --json --ci | jq '[.primitives[].diffs[] | select(.status != "synced")]' ``` Print the commands the report recommends: ```bash theme={null} lua status --json | jq -r '.hints[].command' ``` ## Exit codes | Code | Meaning | | ---- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `0` | Report printed, including when unauthenticated, outside a project, or with entries in `warnings`. | | `1` | An unexpected failure escaped every section; the `✖` line says what. | ## See also * [Automate releases in CI](/ship/ci-and-automation) — `--json` and `--ci` in CI * [Read logs and debug](/ship/logs-and-debugging) * [`lua sync`](/reference/cli/sync) — resolve the drift this report shows * [`lua version`](/reference/cli/version) — `lua version status` compares against the active version instead * [Environment variables](/reference/cli/environment-variables) — `LUA_API_KEY`, `LUA_NO_HINTS`, `LUA_TELEMETRY`