CLI Reference

Sheriff provides a command-line interface for starting the MCP server and checking status.

Commands

start

Start the MCP server using stdio transport:

java -jar sheriff-mcp-1.0.2-all.jar start

The server runs in the foreground and communicates via stdin/stdout (MCP stdio transport). It uses two-phase startup: the MCP transport begins listening immediately, while database initialization happens in the background. Tool calls received before initialization completes return a retry error.

status

Show current session status:

sheriff status

Output (when a SARIF file is loaded):

SARIF: qodana.sarif.json
Loaded: 2026-03-01T10:30:00
Issues: 136 total, 115 fixed, 2 skipped, 19 remaining

Output (when no SARIF file is loaded):

No SARIF file loaded

--version

Show version information:

sheriff --version
# Sheriff 1.0.2

--help

Show help:

sheriff --help

Output:

Usage: sheriff [-hV] [COMMAND]
AI work queue manager for static analysis issues

Commands:
  start   Start the MCP server
  status  Show Sheriff status

Options:
  -h, --help      Show this help message and exit.
  -V, --version   Print version information and exit.

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	General error
2	Invalid arguments

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
LOG_LEVEL	Logging level	INFO

Log files are rotated automatically: 10MB max per file, 3 days retention, 50MB total cap.

State Directory

Sheriff stores its state in .sheriff/ (relative to working directory):

.sheriff/
├── sheriff.mv.db       # H2 database with issues and progress
├── sheriff.log         # Application logs
└── sheriff.*.log.gz    # Rotated log archives

Clearing State

To reset Sheriff and start fresh:

rm -rf .sheriff/

Then reload your SARIF file.