# Overview

Everything the console does, the command line does too — they drive the same
bench and see the same state, so a device started from the console can be
stopped from a terminal. Two programs:

| Program | Runs on | Page |
|---|---|---|
| `plesty-server` | the bench PC — installed with the application | [`plesty-server`](plesty-server.md) |
| `plesty-bench` | any other machine — `uv tool install plesty-bench` | [`plesty-bench`](plesty-bench.md) |

Where a bench keeps its state, and every file it reads, is in
[Files and settings](files.md).

## Options every `plesty-server` command takes

```bash
plesty-server [--home DIR] [-f FILE] [-q] COMMAND …
```

| Option | Means |
|---|---|
| `--home DIR` | The bench home. Without it: the fleet file's `home:`, then `PLESTY_SERVER_HOME`, then `~/.plesty/server`. |
| `-f`, `--fleet FILE` | The fleet file. Without it: `./fleet.yaml`, then `<home>/fleet.yaml`, then the fleet the console opened last (`<home>/last-fleet`). |
| `-q`, `--quiet` | Only print results, no progress lines. |

Progress goes to stderr and results to stdout, so a command can be piped.

Because of the last step of the fleet lookup, a command run from any directory
acts on the fleet the console has open — which is usually what you want, and
worth knowing when it is not.

## Environment variables

| Variable | Effect |
|---|---|
| `PLESTY_SERVER_HOME` | The bench home, when neither `--home` nor the fleet file's `home:` names one. |
| `PLESTY_BENCH_TOKEN` | The agent's shared secret — on the bench for `agent` and `fleet run --agent`, on your machine for `plesty-bench`. |
| `PLESTY_BENCH` | The bench a `plesty-bench` command talks to; `-b` overrides it. |
| `PLESTY_SERVER_AUTO_GIT=0` | Do not fetch a portable `git` on a Windows bench that has none; report instead. |
| `PLESTY_SERVER_VERSION` | For `install.sh`: the release to install, overriding the one it was built for. |

The variables the bench **sets** for the device servers and experiment runs it
starts are listed in [Files and settings](files.md#environment-variables).