The instrument

Back up first. Nord Sound Manager makes a full backup, and it must be closed before nord can connect, since it keeps the USB connection to itself. What is supported says which instruments have been tested.

nord device status                      # what the instrument holds; --json for scripts
nord device info                        # what is attached
nord device geometry                    # its partitions, banks and slots
nord device recover                     # release a session an interrupted run left open

nord program list                       # every occupied slot
nord program focus                      # what the panel has loaded
nord program get 7:4                    # print the summary
nord program get 7:4 -o patch.ne5p      # or save the file
nord program put patch.ne5p 7:4 --yes   # send a file to a slot
nord program move 8:13 7:16 --yes
nord program duplicate 7:2 7:3 --yes
nord program rename 6:13 "Warm Pad" --yes
nord program delete 7:50 7:49 --yes
nord program select 2:12                # load it on the panel
nord program info 7:4                   # size, format, name, checksum
nord program deps 7:4                   # the piano and sample it uses, by name

The same verbs work on setlist, sample and piano. live takes get, info, deps and edit, and settings takes get, info and edit.

Before anything changes

A command that changes the instrument reads the slot first, says what it is about to do, and asks:

$ nord program duplicate 7:2 7:3
duplicating "Africa Split" from bank 7 slot 2 to bank 7 slot 3 — OVERWRITING "Squabble B"
proceed? [y/N]

move reports a swap rather than an overwrite, because the instrument exchanges the two slots and nothing is lost. It also lists the set lists that point at the program, since the instrument updates them to follow it. put names the slot after the file.

--yes skips the question. Without a terminal to ask on, the command stops with refusing to proceed without --yes. There is no --force, and nothing skips the read.

What a write does

The instrument does not overwrite an occupied slot in place, so a put into one deletes the old sound first. nord first saves the old sound in the working directory as a file such as nord-rescued-7-50.ne5p, and puts it back if the write fails. The file is deleted once the slot holds what it should. If the write and the put-back both fail, or nord is stopped partway, the file stays, and put takes it straight back. Live slots and settings are the exception: the instrument overwrites those in place.

While the old sound is read, its file is named nord-rescued-7-50.ne5p.partial. It takes its own name only once it is complete, and the slot is not touched before then. A .partial file left by a stopped nord can be deleted.

--rescue-dir <DIR>, or NORD_RESCUE_DIR, saves the old sound in another folder. Without a folder it can write to, nord leaves the slot alone.

put checks that the file is intact before it touches the instrument.

Every command closes its session even when it fails, so an error cannot leave the instrument stuck on its progress screen. If a run is interrupted, the next command may say the instrument answered out of step. nord device recover releases the session it still holds.