CLI overview

EV Desktop installs the ev command. Use it to start reviews, choose their scope, inspect review state, and add findings or evidence from an agent or script.

Run ev <command> --help for the complete options supported by your installed version.

Common commands

Command	Purpose
ev review	Start a review or choose its scope interactively.
ev list	List recent reviews for this project. Add --all for all known projects.
ev context	Render review findings, comments, decisions, or metadata as Markdown or JSON.
ev comment add	Add an anchored or general comment, optionally with attachments.
ev comment update	Resolve, dismiss, or reopen one or more comments.
ev evidence add	Add image evidence to a review.
ev skills	List, inspect, or create reviewer skills.
ev agent	Install or manage the coding-agent ev-review workflow.
ev config	Inspect or change EV configuration.

Start a review

ev review -b origin/main --desktop

Scope options

Option	Reviews…
-b, --base <ref>	The current workspace from its merge base with a branch or ref.
--from <ref>	The current workspace directly against an exact ref.
--from <base> --to <tip>	An exact committed range.
-c, --commit <sha>	One commit against its parent.
-w, --working-copy	Uncommitted changes against HEAD.
--stdin	A unified diff supplied on standard input.

See Choose a review scope for examples and the difference between a base branch and an exact ref.

Output and reviewer options

Option	Purpose
--desktop	Open the review in EV Desktop.
-s, --stream	Run headlessly and emit newline-delimited JSON for an agent or script.
--auto	Select reviewer skills from the changed files.
--skill <name>	Run a specific reviewer skill.
-i, --instructions <text>	Add guidance for the reviewer.
--include <glob>	Limit the review to matching paths.
--exclude <glob>	Exclude matching paths.

Read review state

Render the latest review as Markdown:

ev context

Read only unresolved findings from a specific review as JSON:

ev context --review rev-abc --show findings --unresolved --format json

Use ev list to find a review ID.

Add feedback and evidence

Use ev comment add for feedback anchored to a file, line, or existing comment. Use ev comment update to record a finding’s status. Use ev evidence add for review-level image evidence.

See Findings and decisions and Work with evidence for the corresponding Desktop workflow and command examples.