---
title: tapesctl
description: The tapesctl reference.
editUrl: https://github.com/papercomputeco/tapesctl/tree/main/docs
sourceRepo: papercomputeco/tapesctl
sourcePath: docs/
lastUpdated: 2026-08-14
---

Reference pages for tapesctl, synced at build time from
[papercomputeco/tapesctl](https://github.com/papercomputeco/tapesctl). Each page is owned by
that repo, so a behavior change and its documentation land in the same
pull request there.

- [tapesctl](/docs/tapesctl/introduction/) — The command-line client for tapes — what it does, the two server ports it talks to, and a first capture and read.
- [How capture works](/docs/tapesctl/capture/) — The two capture lanes, which harness uses which mechanism, what attribution means, and why the session id start prints is not the one read commands take.
- [Command reference](/docs/tapesctl/commands/) — Every tapesctl command with its flags, environment equivalents, exit codes, and error families.
- [Configuration](/docs/tapesctl/configuration/) — How tapesctl resolves a server URL, the config.toml schema, and every file and directory it reads or writes.
- [Cassettes](/docs/tapesctl/cassettes/) — The command surface your tapes deployment serves, discovered at runtime — how it is generated, how it is cached, and how to call it.
- [Troubleshooting](/docs/tapesctl/troubleshooting/) — The failures that actually happen — a capture that landed nowhere, a session id that 404s, a missing server URL, and plugin conflicts.