Project Management with acctl

acctl Command Reference

acctl is the command-line tool for managing AutoCore projects. Here is a complete reference of all commands:

Creating and Cloning Projects

# Create a new project
acctl new my_machine

# Clone a project from a remote server
acctl clone 192.168.1.100 my_machine

# List all projects on a server
acctl clone 192.168.1.100 --list

Deploying

# Full deploy workflow
acctl push project
acctl codegen
acctl push control --start
acctl push www

# Download a project from the server
acctl pull --extract

Control Program Lifecycle

Monitoring

Code Generation

Configuration

Variable Management

Sending Commands

# Read a variable
acctl cmd gm.read --name motor_speed

# Write a variable
acctl cmd gm.write --name motor_speed_setpoint --value 1500

# Send a command to a module
acctl cmd modbus.status
acctl cmd system.get_domains

# Create a new project on the server
acctl cmd system.new_project --project_name my_machine

Working with Multiple Projects

Each AutoCore server can host multiple projects, but only one is active at a time. Think of it like multiple PLC programs on a single controller — you choose which one runs.

# See all projects and which is active
acctl status

# Switch to a different project
acctl switch other_project --restart

# Create a new project directly on the server
acctl cmd system.new_project --project_name new_machine

Deploying to a Remote Server

If your AutoCore server is on a different machine (e.g., the actual production controller):

# Step 1: Set the target server
acctl set-target 192.168.1.100

# Step 2: Verify the connection
acctl status

# Step 3: Deploy
acctl push project
acctl push control --start
acctl push www

# Step 4: Monitor remotely
acctl logs --follow

All acctl commands after set-target will communicate with the remote server.

To override the target for a single command:

acctl --host 192.168.1.200 status

Importing and Exporting Variables

For large projects, you may find it easier to manage variables in a spreadsheet. acctl can export and import variables as CSV:

# Export current variables to CSV
acctl export-vars --output variables.csv

# Edit the CSV in your spreadsheet application...

# Import the modified variables back
acctl import-vars --input variables.csv

The CSV format has these columns: name, type, direction, link, description, initial.