aura tools

List, inspect, or execute tools.

Syntax

aura tools [name] [args...]

Description

Three modes of operation:

1. List all tools — aura tools — shows all available tools with descriptions
2. Inspect a tool — aura tools Read — shows tool schema, usage, and examples
3. Execute a tool — aura tools Read path=main.go — runs the tool with arguments

Arguments can be passed as key=value pairs or as JSON. The format is auto-detected: if the argument starts with {, it’s parsed as JSON; otherwise as key=value pairs. Use --raw to force JSON parsing.

Flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
--json		false	Output as structured JSON
--raw		false	Force JSON parsing of arguments
--ro	-R	false	Apply read-only sandboxing
--ro-paths	-O		Additional read-only paths for sandboxing
--rw-paths	-W		Additional read-write paths for sandboxing
--headless	-H	false	No printouts during sandbox setup
--with-mcp		false	Connect to MCP servers and include their tools
--mcp-servers			Only connect to named MCP servers (implies --with-mcp)

Plus all global flags.

Plugin Behavior

aura tools loads plugins and registers plugin tools (custom tools like Gotify, Notepad are fully available). However, plugin hooks (BeforeToolExecution, AfterToolExecution, etc.) do not fire — aura tools calls Execute() directly, bypassing the injector pipeline. Built-in features that live inside Execute() (like bash.rewrite) still apply.

Examples

# List all tools
aura tools

# Inspect the Read tool
aura tools Read

# Execute with key=value pairs
aura tools Read path=main.go line_start=1 line_end=10

# Execute with JSON
aura tools Read '{"path": "main.go"}'

# Execute with sandboxing
aura tools --ro Read path=/etc/passwd

# Force JSON parsing
aura tools Read --raw '{"path": "main.go"}'

# JSON output for scripting
aura tools --json

# List all tools including MCP
aura tools --with-mcp

# Execute an MCP tool
aura tools --with-mcp mcp__context7__resolve-library-id query="go testing" libraryName="go"

# Only connect to specific MCP servers
aura tools --mcp-servers context7 --mcp-servers github