man-fm.txt

FM(1)			    General Commands Manual			 FM(1)

NAME
     fm – command-line interface for Apple Foundation Models

SYNOPSIS
     fm [-h] command [options]

DESCRIPTION
     fm is a command-line interface for Apple Foundation Models. It generates
     responses from Apple's on-device language model, counts tokens, generates
     JSON generation schemas, checks model availability, and hosts a Chat
     Completions API server.

     Run 'fm <command> --help' for detailed help on an individual command.

COMMANDS
     respond
	     Generate a response to a prompt.

     chat    Start an interactive chat session.

     count-tokens
	     Count the tokens in a prompt, instructions, or transcript.

     schema  Generate a JSON generation schema.

     serve   Start a Chat Completions API server for Foundation Models.

     available
	     Check model availability.

     license
	     Show and agree to the Legal Notice & Terms.

MODELS
     system  On-device Apple Foundation Model (default).

GLOBAL OPTIONS
     -m, --model <model>
	     Model to use: system (default).

     -h, --help
	     Show help information.

RESPOND OPTIONS
     -i, --instructions <text>
	     Instructions for the model to follow.

     --schema <file>
	     Path to a JSON schema file, or an inline JSON schema string.

     --text <text>
	     Text segment to include in the prompt.

     --image <path>
	     Path to an image to include in the prompt.

     --resume <file>
	     Continue an earlier conversation by loading a saved transcript,
	     so the model picks up with its previous turns as context.

     --save-transcript <file>
	     Save the session transcript to a file after responding. An
	     absolute path is used as-is; a bare filename is saved in the
	     current directory.

     --[no-]stream
	     Stream the output as it is generated (default: on).

     -g, --greedy
	     Use greedy sampling.

     -v, --verbose
	     Print verbose output.

     --use-case <case>
	     System model use case: general or content-tagging.

     --guardrails <level>
	     System model guardrail level: default or
	     permissive-content-transformations.

CHAT OPTIONS
     -r, --resume <session>
	     Resume a saved chat session.

     --continue
	     Continue the most recent chat session.

     -i, --instructions <text>
	     Instructions for the model.

     --set-default-model <model>
	     Persist <model> as the default for future fm chat sessions.

COUNT-TOKENS OPTIONS
     --transcript <file>
	     Path to a saved transcript to count. Its turns are counted as a
	     framed conversation. A bare prompt is counted as raw content
	     instead.

     -q, --quiet
	     Print only the integer count (automatic when stdout is piped or
	     redirected).

SERVE OPTIONS
     --host <address>
	     Host address to bind to (TCP mode).

     --port <port>
	     Port to listen on, 1-65535 (TCP mode).

     --socket <path>
	     Unix domain socket path (socket mode).

SCHEMA
     fm schema object generates a JSON generation schema for an object type.
     Each --string, --integer, --double, or --boolean starts a new property;
     follow it with --description, --optional, and/or --array to annotate it.
     Use dot notation (a.b) in property names to nest objects.

     fm schema object --help documents the full property-declaration syntax.

LICENSE
     The first time you run fm you must agree to the Apple Foundation Models
     CLI Legal Notice & Terms. fm displays them and asks whether you agree;
     answer 'yes' or 'y' to agree. Any other response disagrees and fm exits
     with status 69 without running the command.

     fm license is the one command that is never gated, since it is how you
     review the terms and agree to them.

     Agreeing applies to every user on the machine, so it must be run as a
     privileged user: run 'sudo fm license'.

     Run 'sudo fm license' to review and agree, 'fm license --show' to print
     the terms without being prompted, and 'fm license --status' to report
     whether the machine has agreed.

FILES
     ~/.fm/sessions/
	     Saved chat sessions and transcripts.

     ~/.fm/config.json
	     Per-user settings, including the default model.

EXAMPLES
     Generate a response with the on-device model:

	   fm respond 'What is Swift?'

     Stream a response as it is generated:

	   fm respond --stream 'Summarize this article'

     Start an interactive chat with custom instructions:

	   fm chat --instructions 'You are a coding assistant'

     Count the tokens in a prompt:

	   fm count-tokens 'Hello world'

     Generate a JSON schema for an object type:

	   fm schema object --name Person --string name --int age

SEE ALSO
     Foundation Models framework documentation:
     https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundationmodels

Darwin				 June 8, 2026				 FM(1)