CLI Reference

The spindle command-line tool for reasoning about defeasible logic theories.

Installation

cargo install --path crates/spindle-cli

Synopsis

spindle [OPTIONS] <FILE>
spindle <COMMAND> [OPTIONS] <FILE>

Commands

reason (default)

Perform defeasible reasoning on a theory.

spindle examples/penguin.dfl
spindle reason examples/penguin.dfl

validate

Check syntax without reasoning.

spindle validate examples/penguin.dfl

Output on success:

Valid DFL theory.

Output on error:

Error at line 5: could not parse: invalid => syntax

stats

Show theory statistics.

spindle stats examples/penguin.dfl

Output:

Theory Statistics:
  Facts:       2
  Strict:      1
  Defeasible:  4
  Defeaters:   1
  Superiority: 1
  Total rules: 8

Options

--scalable

Use the scalable DL(d||) algorithm instead of standard DL(d).

spindle --scalable large-theory.dfl

Recommended for theories with:

• More than 1000 rules
• Complex conflict resolution
• Long inference chains

--positive

Show only positive conclusions (+D, +d).

spindle --positive examples/penguin.dfl

Output:

+D bird
+D penguin
+d bird
+d penguin
+d -flies

File Format Detection

The CLI auto-detects format by extension:

Exit Codes

Examples

Basic Reasoning

# Reason about a theory
spindle penguin.dfl

# Same with explicit command
spindle reason penguin.dfl

Validate Before Reasoning

spindle validate theory.dfl && spindle theory.dfl

Compare Algorithms

# Standard algorithm
spindle theory.dfl > standard.txt

# Scalable algorithm
spindle --scalable theory.dfl > scalable.txt

# Compare (should be identical for correct theories)
diff standard.txt scalable.txt

Scripting

#!/bin/bash
for file in theories/*.dfl; do
    echo "Processing $file..."
    if spindle validate "$file"; then
        spindle --positive "$file"
    else
        echo "Invalid: $file"
    fi
done

Environment Variables

SPINDLE_LOG=debug spindle theory.dfl