@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+---
+'@object-ui/cli': minor
+---
+
+**BREAKING (`@object-ui/cli`):** four commands are retired: `objectui create`, `objectui lint`, `objectui test` and `objectui studio`. There is no alias window and no placeholder: the CLI now refuses each as an unknown command (objectui#11500).
+
+(The bump is `minor` by this repo's release model: objectui's major follows the `@objectstack` family major, and its own breaking changes ship as `minor` with the breaking semantics stated here.)
+
+- FROM `objectui create plugin NAME` TO `npm create @object-ui/plugin NAME`, the package's own initializer (`@object-ui/create-plugin`). `plugin` was the only type `create` accepted, so `create` itself goes.
+- FROM `objectui lint` and `objectui test` TO your project's own ESLint and Vitest (or whichever linter and test runner it declares), run directly.
+- FROM `objectui studio` TO nothing published. Contributors to the objectui monorepo run `pnpm --filter console dev`.
+
+**Why.** Each of the four could only fail. `create plugin` looked for its generator one directory too high, so it exited 1 with a "Cannot find module" error in a checkout and in an installed copy alike, and wrote nothing. `lint` and `test` ran ESLint and Vitest inside the temp app `objectui dev` generates, which declares neither tool and has no lint config and no tests, so they failed on every run, and they reported the setup error as lint findings or failed tests. `studio` started this monorepo's console app rather than the local project its documentation promised, and outside the monorepo it exited 1 with "Console app not found in workspace".
+
+**Corrected alongside, each to what the command does:**
+
+- `objectui analyze` with no `dist/` directory now exits non-zero with an error naming the missing `dist/`. It used to print a warning, then "Analysis complete", and exit 0.
+- `objectui init NAME --template UNKNOWN` now refuses the template before it creates the `NAME` directory. It used to exit 1 and leave an empty `NAME` directory behind, which the next `init NAME` then refused as already existing.
+- `objectui doctor`'s help no longer says it fixes issues. It reports and changes no file. The CLI docs no longer promise a Node version check it never ran.
+- The CLI docs no longer say `objectui serve` lacks `--no-open`. It has always accepted it, as `dev` does.
+
+**What changes at the command line.** `objectui create plugin my-widget`, `objectui lint`, `objectui test` and `objectui studio` now exit non-zero with commander's unknown-command error and write nothing. `objectui --help` no longer lists them. The CLI docs and the package README drop their sections, and the docs name the plugin initializer.
+
+**Clause-②: yes.** The published CLI's accept set narrows: four commands it used to accept are now refused, and `analyze` without `dist/` now exits non-zero. No exported symbol moves; none of these commands is part of the package's exports.
@@ -6,8 +6,7 @@ description: "Standalone command-line interface for building ObjectUI applicatio
 # ObjectUI CLI
 
 `@object-ui/cli` is a standalone command-line tool for scaffolding, developing,
-building, linting, testing, and validating ObjectUI applications driven by
-JSON or YAML schemas.
+building, and validating ObjectUI applications driven by JSON or YAML schemas.
 
 It is **not** an oclif plugin — it ships its own `objectui` binary just like
 `vite`, `next`, or `astro`.
@@ -73,7 +72,7 @@ objectui dev --port 8080 --no-open
 ### `objectui serve [schema]`
 
 Legacy alias of `dev`, kept for older scripts. Same positional argument and
-`-p`/`-h` flags as `dev` (no `--no-open`).
+flags as `dev`, `--no-open` included.
 
 ### `objectui build [schema]`
 
@@ -105,34 +104,6 @@ objectui start --port 8080 --dir build
 | `-h, --host <host>` | `0.0.0.0` | Host to bind |
 | `-d, --dir <dir>` | `dist` | Directory to serve |
 
-### `objectui lint`
-
-Lint the generated application code with ESLint.
-
-```bash
-objectui lint --fix
-```
-
-| Flag | Description |
-|---|---|
-| `--fix` | Automatically fix issues |
-
-### `objectui test`
-
-Run the application's tests with Vitest.
-
-```bash
-objectui test --watch
-objectui test --coverage
-objectui test --ui
-```
-
-| Flag | Description |
-|---|---|
-| `-w, --watch` | Watch mode |
-| `-c, --coverage` | Generate a coverage report |
-| `--ui` | Vitest UI |
-
 ### `objectui generate <type> <name>` (alias `g`)
 
 Generate new resources.
@@ -278,26 +249,28 @@ failing exit code on a document that does not validate.
 
 ### `objectui doctor`
 
-Diagnose common environment issues (Node version, deps, config sanity).
+Diagnose common project setup issues: `package.json` and its React and
+Tailwind dependencies, the Tailwind PostCSS plugin and CSS entry, and
+`tsconfig.json`. It reports only and changes no file.
 
-### `objectui studio`
+### `objectui analyze`
 
-Launch the visual designer (`@object-ui/plugin-designer`) against the local
-project.
+Analyze the built application's bundle: the total, JavaScript and CSS sizes of
+`dist/` in the current directory (where `objectui build` writes by default),
+and its ten largest files. No flags. With no `dist/` to analyze, it exits
+non-zero.
 
-### `objectui create plugin <name>`
+## Scaffolding a plugin
 
-Scaffold a new ObjectUI plugin via `@object-ui/create-plugin`.
+A plugin is scaffolded by its own initializer, `@object-ui/create-plugin`, not
+by this CLI:
 
 ```bash
-objectui create plugin my-awesome-widget
+npm create @object-ui/plugin my-awesome-widget
 ```
 
-### `objectui analyze`
-
-Analyze the built application's bundle: the total, JavaScript and CSS sizes of
-`dist/` in the current directory (where `objectui build` writes by default),
-and its ten largest files. No flags.
+See [Create Plugin](/docs/utilities/create-plugin) for where to run it and what
+it writes.
 
 ## Schema file format
 
 
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # @object-ui/cli
 
-> Standalone CLI for **Object UI** — scaffold, develop, build, lint, test and validate
+> Standalone CLI for **Object UI** — scaffold, develop, build and validate
 > JSON/YAML schema-driven applications.
 
 ```bash
@@ -87,24 +87,6 @@ objectui start --port 8080 --dir build
 
 Legacy alias of `dev` (kept for older scripts).
 
-### `objectui lint`
-
-Lint the generated application code via ESLint.
-
-```bash
-objectui lint --fix
-```
-
-### `objectui test`
-
-Run the application's tests via Vitest.
-
-```bash
-objectui test --watch
-objectui test --coverage
-objectui test --ui
-```
-
 ### `objectui generate <type> <name>` (alias `g`)
 
 Generate new resources (`resource`/`object`, `page`, `plugin`).
@@ -120,7 +102,7 @@ type matches, the report names the nearest few of the accepted values instead of
 listing all of them. See the
 [docs](https://www.objectui.org/docs/utilities/cli) for worked output.
 
-### `objectui check`, `objectui doctor`, `objectui studio`, `objectui analyze`, `objectui create plugin <name>`
+### `objectui check`, `objectui doctor`, `objectui analyze`
 
 Utility commands — see `objectui --help`.
 
 
@@ -23,25 +23,23 @@ const PKG_PATH = resolve(__dirname, '../../package.json');
 
 /**
  * The commands the CLI declares. The enumeration pin below holds this list
- * equal to the built CLI's `--help`, both directions (objectui#11496). `add` is
- * deliberately absent: it was retired, and the bin refuses it as an unknown
- * command. The CLI docs give each of these a `### objectui NAME` heading; keep
- * them in step by hand, because nothing in this file reads the docs.
+ * equal to the built CLI's `--help`, both directions (objectui#11496). `add`
+ * (objectui#11496) and `create`, `lint`, `test` and `studio` (objectui#11500)
+ * are deliberately absent: they were retired, and the bin refuses each as an
+ * unknown command. The CLI docs give each of these a `### objectui NAME`
+ * heading; keep them in step by hand, because nothing in this file reads the
+ * docs.
  */
 const SUBCOMMANDS = [
   'serve',
   'dev',
   'build',
   'start',
   'init',
-  'lint',
-  'test',
   'generate',
   'doctor',
-  'studio',
   'check',
   'validate',
-  'create',
   'analyze',
 ] as const;
 
@@ -237,15 +235,26 @@ describe('@object-ui/cli bin', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  // objectui#11500. `doctor` was described as "Diagnose and fix common issues",
+  // and it fixes nothing: it reads the project and reports. Asserts the kind of
+  // claim, not the wording.
+  it('doctor --help does not claim to fix anything (objectui#11500)', () => {
+    const res = run(['doctor', '--help']);
+    expect(res.code, res.stderr || res.stdout).toBe(0);
+    // Commander prints `Usage: …`, a blank line, then the description paragraph.
+    const description = res.stdout.split(/\n\s*\n/)[1] ?? '';
+    // Lit control: the paragraph that was read is not empty.
+    expect(description.trim()).not.toBe('');
+    expect(description).not.toMatch(/\bfix/i);
+  });
+
   describe('flag contracts (locked-in by docs)', () => {
     const cases: Array<[string, RegExp[]]> = [
       ['dev',      [/-p, --port <port>/, /-h, --host <host>/, /--no-open/]],
-      ['serve',    [/-p, --port <port>/, /-h, --host <host>/]],
+      ['serve',    [/-p, --port <port>/, /-h, --host <host>/, /--no-open/]],
       ['build',    [/-o, --out-dir <dir>/, /--clean/]],
       ['start',    [/-p, --port <port>/, /-h, --host <host>/, /-d, --dir <dir>/]],
       ['init',     [/-t, --template <template>/]],
-      ['lint',     [/--fix/]],
-      ['test',     [/-w, --watch/, /-c, --coverage/, /--ui/]],
       ['generate', [/<type> <name>/]],
       ['validate', [/\[schema\]/]],
     ];
@@ -319,6 +328,50 @@ describe('@object-ui/cli bin', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  // objectui#11500. Four commands that could only fail are retired with no
+  // placeholder, so the bin must REFUSE each one the way it refuses a command it
+  // never declared:
+  //  - `create plugin NAME` resolved its generator one directory too high and
+  //    never found it. `plugin` was `create`'s only type, so `create` goes
+  //    whole; `npm create @object-ui/plugin` is the package's own initializer.
+  //  - `lint` / `test` ran ESLint / Vitest in the temp app `dev` generates,
+  //    which declares neither toolchain, so they failed by construction.
+  //  - `studio` launched this monorepo's console, not the local project, and
+  //    failed outside the monorepo.
+  // PATH is emptied for these runs. A retired command that came back would then
+  // fail at its first external tool instead of starting a dev server or a
+  // toolchain from inside this suite, and the stderr assertion still turns red.
+  // The control is the same directory answering a declared command.
+  describe('the retired create, lint, test and studio commands are refused (objectui#11500)', () => {
+    const runWithoutPath = (args: string[], cwd: string) => {
+      const res = spawnSync(process.execPath, [CLI_BIN, ...args], {
+        cwd,
+        encoding: 'utf-8',
+        env: { ...process.env, PATH: '' },
+        timeout: 60_000,
+      });
+      return { code: res.status ?? -1, stdout: res.stdout ?? '', stderr: res.stderr ?? '' };
+    };
+
+    const cases: Array<[string, string[]]> = [
+      ['create', ['create', 'plugin', 'probe-widget']],
+      ['lint', ['lint']],
+      ['test', ['test']],
+      ['studio', ['studio']],
+    ];
+    it.each(cases)('exits non-zero with the unknown-command error on `%s`, and writes nothing', (name, args) => {
+      const work = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), `objectui-cli-${name}-retired-`));
+      const res = runWithoutPath(args, work);
+      expect(res.code, res.stdout + res.stderr).not.toBe(0);
+      expect(res.stderr).toContain(`unknown command '${name}'`);
+      expect(tree(work)).toEqual([]);
+
+      const control = run(['g', 'page', 'Probe'], { cwd: work });
+      expect(control.code, control.stdout + control.stderr).toBe(0);
+      expect(tree(work)).toEqual(['pages', 'pages/probe.json']);
+    });
+  });
+
   // objectui#11496, the family close-out over every command and flag. `analyze
   // --render-performance` printed the same fixed list of tips and ticks in any
   // directory, a built project or an empty one, and analysed nothing. It is
@@ -350,6 +403,18 @@ describe('@object-ui/cli bin', () => {
       expect(res.stdout).not.toMatch(/render performance/i);
     });
 
+    // objectui#11500. With no `dist/`, analyze printed a warning, then "Analysis
+    // complete", and exited 0, so a script read an analysis that never happened
+    // as a pass.
+    it('exits non-zero without dist/, and claims no analysis (objectui#11500)', () => {
+      const work = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'objectui-cli-analyze-nodist-'));
+      const res = run(['analyze'], { cwd: work });
+      expect(res.code, res.stdout + res.stderr).not.toBe(0);
+      expect(res.stderr).toContain('dist/');
+      expect(res.stdout).not.toMatch(/analysis complete/i);
+      expect(tree(work)).toEqual([]);
+    });
+
     it('lists neither flag in analyze --help', () => {
       const res = run(['analyze', '--help']);
       expect(res.code, res.stderr).toBe(0);
@@ -406,6 +471,21 @@ describe('@object-ui/cli bin', () => {
       expect(res.code, res.stdout + res.stderr).toBe(0);
     });
 
+    // objectui#11500. `init NAME -t nope` exited 1 but left an empty NAME
+    // directory behind, so the next `init NAME` was refused as "already exists".
+    // The control is the same directory scaffolding with a real template.
+    it('refuses an unknown template before creating the directory (objectui#11500)', () => {
+      const dir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'objectui-cli-init-unknown-template-'));
+      const res = run(['init', 'probe-app', '-t', 'nope'], { cwd: dir });
+      expect(res.code, res.stdout + res.stderr).not.toBe(0);
+      expect(res.stderr).toMatch(/unknown template/i);
+      expect(tree(dir)).toEqual([]);
+
+      const control = run(['init', 'probe-app', '-t', 'simple'], { cwd: dir });
+      expect(control.code, control.stdout + control.stderr).toBe(0);
+      expect(existsSync(join(dir, 'probe-app', 'app.json'))).toBe(true);
+    });
+
     it('scaffolds a project with the simple template', () => {
       for (const f of [
         'app.json',