glacier explain

Synopsis. Print a boxed explanation for a Glacier marker, exit code, or config key.

Other commands: vibe version generate lint test init new completions

Argument

glacier explain <topic>
glacier explain --list

<topic> is one of:

• a marker name: +glacier:command, +glacier:mock, +glacier:positional, etc.
• an exit code: 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 130, 143
• a config key: github.repo, versioncheck.cache_ttl, versioncheck.enabled, versioncheck.strict, banner.show_on_help

Flags

Flag	Default	Description
--list	false	Print all available topics grouped by category and exit.

Examples

Explain an exit code:

glacier explain 66

Explain a marker:

glacier explain +glacier:command

Explain a config key:

glacier explain versioncheck.cache_ttl

List all available topics:

glacier explain --list

Look up without typing the full slug (did-you-mean kicks in for close matches):

glacier explain verison  # suggests "versioncheck.enabled" or exit codes

What it does under the hood

explain reads from an embedded embed.FS of pre-rendered topic files at cmd/glacier/internal/explain/topics/<slug>.md. The files are generated at build time by cmd/glacier/internal/explaingen. When the topic is found, it is rendered inside a term.Box with rounded corners; the title kaomoji reflects the category (ʕ•_•ʔ for markers, ʕ× ×ʔ for exit codes, ʕ⌐■-■ʔ for config keys). When the topic is not found, Levenshtein distance up to 2 produces a "did you mean?" suggestion. --list prints all topics to stdout grouped by category with no box rendering.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Topic found and printed, or --list completed
1	stdout write failure
2	Unknown topic (with did-you-mean hint when available)

See also

• glacier version - uses the explain topic for exit 68
• glacier lint - uses the explain topic for exit 65
• glacier test - uses the explain topic for exit 66
• glacier completions