@cisstech/node-lens-cli

The nls command. It runs your app with NodeLens attached and serves the MCP server for AI agents. It is a local dev tool, so install it as a dev dependency alongside the core server and the dashboard, which it pulls in for you:

npm install -D @cisstech/node-lens-cli     # yarn: yarn add -D @cisstech/node-lens-cli

Run it through your package runner (npx for npm or pnpm, yarn for Yarn) so it resolves the local install. See the root README for the full quick start, including which plugins to add.

nls monitor

Starts your app with the OpenTelemetry SDK and NodeLens loaded, then prints the dashboard URL once the app is listening.

npx nls monitor --mode backend node app.js
npx nls monitor --mode backend npm start
npx nls monitor --mode frontend npm run dev    # inject the dashboard into a dev server

| Option | Purpose | |--------|---------| | --mode <backend\|frontend> | Instrument a backend process, or inject the UI into a frontend dev server. Required. | | --cwd <path> | Working directory to run the command in. Defaults to the current directory. |

Setup note. Add process.env.NODE_LENS_MONITOR = 'true' as the first line of your entry file. The CLI may launch your app through npm/yarn/nx, and this flag tells NodeLens to attach to your actual app process rather than the launcher.

nls mcp

Runs a Model Context Protocol server that gives an AI agent read-only access to the running session's data. See the MCP guide.

npx nls mcp [--cwd <path>]

--cwd (or $NODE_LENS_CWD) sets where to look for the session; otherwise it searches up from the current directory.