Command line

tcc is the Trusted Codes command line. It ships with the desktop client and does the same work the desktop window does — show your code, verify three words, manage connections, seal content — from a terminal.

It is one binary. Everything below is a subcommand of it.

tcc code show
tcc verify amber cargo lantern

Who It Is For

People who already live in a terminal, and machines.

If you want a code on screen and nothing else, the desktop window and the phone are quicker. tcc earns its place when you want to script something, run Trusted Codes on a server with no display, pipe a result into another tool, or give an AI assistant access to your codes through the local daemon.

Every command accepts --json, so output can be parsed rather than read.

How It Relates to the Desktop Window and the Phone

All three are clients of the same account. There is no separate command line account, no separate set of connections, and no separate code.

The desktop window and tcc are the same program. On a desktop install they share one keychain, one local cache and — when the desktop app is running — one background process. Run tcc code show while the window is open and the command talks to the running instance rather than starting its own.

The phone is a separate device on the same account. Registering this computer does not de-register your phone; both hold their own device key and both compute the same words.

tcc is part of the desktop client, so an account whose plan does not include the desktop application cannot use it. The first command you run says so.

The Interactive Prompt

Run tcc with no subcommand and it opens a prompt instead of exiting:

tcc
tcc> code show
tcc> exit

Inside the prompt you type the subcommands without the tcc in front. help lists them, clear clears the screen, exit (or Ctrl-D) leaves. History is kept between sessions.

Where to Start

Sign in first — see Signing in. After that, Codes and verification covers the day-to-day commands, and The daemon covers running tcc as a background service. Command reference lists every verb.