CLI Internals
Protocols and Payloads
Runtime payload shapes, normalized events, and server-facing chunk semantics.
This page describes the contract level, not every field of every implementation detail.
Runtime Output Model
The CLI receives structured output from the runtime and forwards it to the server as chunk records.
Each chunk persists:
- a chunk type
- raw payload data
- ordering and timing information
Why Payload Contracts Matter
The web UI relies on normalized chunks to render:
- assistant text
- reasoning traces
- tool invocations
- runtime warnings
- status notices
Runtime-Specific Separation
Payload rules should stay inside runtime-specific subsystems instead of leaking runtime conditionals into generic orchestration code.
Current State
Claude payloads are the current source of truth.
Codex payload documentation belongs here once the runtime is implemented end to end.