Interactive shell

shell starts a captive prompt that runs cryptnox-id subcommands without the program-name prefix — type piv info, not cryptnox-id piv info — and loops until you leave. It is built for desktop use: point a shortcut at it and card management opens as a small console, no terminal habits required.

$ cryptnox-id shell
cryptnox-id interactive shell. Type a command without the 'cryptnox-id' prefix (e.g. 'piv info').
  help            show available commands
  <command> -h    help for a command
  clear           clear the screen
  exit / quit     leave the shell

cryptnox-id> readers
...
cryptnox-id> piv info
...
cryptnox-id> exit

Only this CLI’s own commands run — it is not an operating-system shell; ls or dir are unknown commands here.

Built-ins and keys

Input	Effect
help	List the available commands (same as --help).
<command> -h	Help for one command, e.g. piv -h.
clear	Clear the screen.
exit / quit	Leave the shell.
Ctrl-C	Cancel the current line; the shell stays open.
Ctrl-D (end of input)	Leave the shell.

Arguments follow shell quoting rules (--subject "CN=Test User" works); an unbalanced quote is reported and the prompt returns. Command history and line editing are available where Python’s readline exists (Linux, macOS).

Global options carry in

Global options passed when launching the shell apply to every command run inside it — --reader, --json, --verbose, --apdu-log, --dry-run, --yes, --timeout, --no-color:

$ cryptnox-id --reader 1 --json shell

Every command in that session now targets reader 1 and prints JSON.

Each line is its own invocation, with a fresh card session per command — exactly as if run from the OS prompt (the SCP03 admin channel is per-command). A failing command prints its error and returns to the prompt; it never ends the shell.

Desktop shortcut (Windows)

Create a shortcut whose target is the installed binary with the shell argument, e.g.:

C:\...\Scripts\cryptnox-id.exe shell

Double-clicking it opens the captive prompt directly. fido … commands need Administrator rights on Windows, but the shortcut does not have to be elevated: when it isn’t, the CLI offers to re-run the command as Administrator — approve the UAC prompt and the result is shown back in your window (see Quick start: a passkey on the card). Starting the shortcut elevated once avoids the per-command prompts.

Piped input

Without a terminal the shell reads commands line by line from standard input, so short sequences can be scripted:

$ printf 'readers\npiv info\n' | cryptnox-id shell