Command Line

Launching

java -jar tenon-alpha-<platform>.jar [design.tenon]

A file argument opens that design on launch, which is also what the desktop launcher uses when you open a .tenon file from your file manager.

Headless export

Produce a job's CAM bundle without opening the window:

tenon --export <design.tenon> --out <dir> [--3d]

Both flags are required together. --3d additionally writes the 3D output.

The bundle is identical to what Export job… writes — per-panel cut and engrave SVGs plus maplecam-setup.txt — so this is the way to regenerate jobs in a script: after changing a shared component, or to rebuild a folder of designs against new stock.

Environment

VariableEffect
TENON_API_URLAttach to an external tenon-server instead of self-hosting. The app never stops a server it attached to.
XDG_CONFIG_HOMEWhere the recent-files list lives; defaults to ~/.config.

Driving the API directly

The app self-hosts its server on port 8788, and that API is the same one the UI uses — there is no private back channel. A design open in the window can be listed, edited and exported over HTTP while you watch it update.

That makes scripted and agent-driven use a first-class path rather than an afterthought: anything the interface can do, a curl can do.