## Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: [/docs/llms.txt](/content/docs/llms.txt)

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

The `qa` CLI drives [Mo](/content/docs/mo/index/index.html), Momentic’s AI QA engineer, from a terminal or a coding agent. Use it to start a session from a brief, read Mo’s output, answer questions, move files in and out of the hosted sandbox, and open a tunnel so Mo can test an application on your machine. For a task-oriented walkthrough, read [Use the Mo CLI](/content/docs/mo/cli/index.html).

## Start a session

Sign in, then run the npm package with instructions in plain language. You need Mo access in your Momentic organization and the Node.js version listed under [Install](/content/docs/cli-reference/mo/overview#install/index.html):

```
npx qa login
npx qa start "Test the checkout flow on https://preview.example.com."
```

Quote multiword instructions so the shell passes them as one argument. If you installed the CLI, use `qa start <instructions>` instead. A bare URL works without `start`: `qa https://preview.example.com`.

## Install

Install the npm package and run `qa`:

```
npm install -g qa
qa --help
```

The package is `qa`, and the command is `qa` on every install channel. You can also run `npx qa --help`. Releases before 0.18 named the command and the installed file `mo`; see [Troubleshoot the install](/content/docs/cli-reference/mo/overview#troubleshoot-the-install/index.html) if a `mo` remains on your PATH. The npm launcher requires Node.js 22.12 or later in the 22.x series, or Node.js 24 or later. It supports macOS ARM64/x64, Linux ARM64/x64 (glibc and musl), and Windows x64. Linux musl requires `libstdc++`. Keep optional dependencies enabled. To install the standalone binary without Node.js, run:

```
curl -fsSL https://cli.momentic.ai/qa | sh
```

The installer writes `qa` to `$HOME/.local/bin` on Linux and macOS (x86_64 and arm64). Run it again to update. Set `MO_VERSION` to pin a version or `MO_INSTALL_DIR` to install somewhere else.

## Troubleshoot the install

If `npm install -g qa` fails with `EEXIST`, a file named `qa` already exists in npm’s global bin directory. Check `ls -la $(npm prefix -g)/bin` and remove the stale entry. Do not pass `--force`; it would overwrite the file. `qa` 0.17.x also installed a `mo` command. Updating with `npm install -g qa@latest` removes it automatically. An older standalone install may still use `$HOME/.local/bin/mo`. Run `mo upgrade`, then check `qa --version`. If `qa` is still missing, run `mo upgrade` again. The first run uses the old updater and can leave the new binary named `mo`; the second run uses the new updater to rename it to `qa`. It removes `mo` when it can. If the binary is already on the latest release, the rename does not download it again. If more than one `mo` or `qa` is on your `PATH`, the first one runs. For example, a standalone `qa` in `$HOME/.local/bin` can shadow the npm install. Run `qa doctor` to list every matching executable and the one that wins, or `which -a mo qa` to see the order. In a shell that already ran the old command, run `hash -r` so it forgets the old location. `npx mo` is not Momentic. The `mo` package on npm is a different project. Use `npx qa`.

## Commands

- **login**  
  Sign in and save an API key, or sign out.
- **start**  
  Create a session from a brief.
- **send**  
  Send a message to a session.
- **read**  
  Read new output from a session.
- **wait**  
  Wait for a session and its sub-agents to finish.
- **status**  
  Get a session snapshot with findings.
- **report**  
  Export a report to files.
- **cost**  
  Get AI and runtime cost line items for a session.
- **stop**  
  Stop the active turn.
- **archive**  
  Archive a session.
- **download**  
  Copy a file from the session sandbox.
- **upload**  
  Copy a local file into the session sandbox.
- **tunnel**  
  Let Mo reach applications available from this machine.
- **skills**  
  Install the Momentic skills for your coding agent.
- **version**  
  Print the installed version and check for updates.
- **upgrade**  
  Replace the installed Mo CLI binary with the latest release.
- **licenses**  
  Print licenses for bundled executables.
- **doctor**  
  Print diagnostics for the installation and PATH.

## Global flags

These flags are shared by several commands. Check `qa <command> --help` for the flags a command accepts; for example, `login` accepts `--server` but does not accept `--api-key.

--api-key <key>  
string  
Momentic API key. Defaults to the value saved by `qa login` in `~/.momentic/auth.json`. Env: `MOMENTIC_API_KEY`.

--server <server>  
string  
Momentic server URL. Defaults to the server saved by `qa login`, then to `https://api.momentic.ai`. Env: `MOMENTIC_SERVER`.

--log-level <level>  
string  
One of `debug`, `info`, `warn`, or `error`. Defaults to `info`. Place it before the command name.

## Output

Session commands print machine-readable output so a script or coding agent can chain them: `start`, `send`, `status`, and `tunnel` print JSON, and `upload` and `download` print a single path. `read` prints Mo’s messages as plain text unless you pass `--json`. Status lines such as `Mo is still working.` go to stderr.

## Session IDs

Starting a session with `qa start <message>` prints a `sessionId`. Every later command takes that ID, either as a positional argument (`qa read <session-id>`) or as `--session-id` (`qa send`, `qa upload`, `qa download`). You can also copy the ID from the session URL in the Momentic dashboard.

## Environment variables

| Variable | Purpose |
| --- | --- |
| `MOMENTIC_API_KEY` | Auth token. Overrides the key saved by `qa login`. |
| `MOMENTIC_SERVER` | Override the API host. |
| `MOMENTIC_ARTIFACTS_DIR` | Default directory for `qa download` and parent directory for `qa report` when `--output` is not passed. |
| `MO_VERSION` | Version for the installer script to install. |
| `MO_INSTALL_DIR` | Directory for the installer script to write `qa` into. |

## Errors

A command that fails on an error such as invalid arguments, a missing credential, an API failure, or a broken local environment exits with a non-zero code, prints the reason, and writes one machine-readable line to stderr that a CI job or coding agent can parse without scraping the human output:

```
mo-error: {"code":"MO_AUTH_REQUIRED","group":"auth","retry":"no","attribution":"user-action","message":"..."}
```

`code` is a stable `MO_*` identifier. `group` is one of `args`, `auth`, `api`, `env`, `run`, or `internal`. `retry` is `yes`, `no`, or `case-by-case`. `attribution` says who owns the fix: `user-action` for input or credentials, `user-env` for the local machine or project configuration, `product` for a Momentic bug, or `unknown`. A command that reports a result through its own exit code, such as `qa doctor` finding a problem, does not write this line. `--help` and `--version` exit `0`.

## Notes

- The CLI shares `~/.momentic/auth.json` with `momentic` and `momentic-mobile`. Signing in with any one of them signs in all three.
- `read --timeout` and `send --wait` accept `0` or a duration such as `500ms`, `30s`, or `2m`, up to a maximum of `290s`.
- Command errors exit `1` and print the reason to stderr. `qa wait` also exits `2` when Mo needs input or `4` when the session was stopped. The waiting commands (`read`, `send --wait`, `wait`, and `tunnel start`) exit `130` when you interrupt them with Ctrl+C.