diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2b7d56e..4cb6704 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 node_modules/
 src/ui/dist/
 src/ui/node_modules/
+site/
 __pycache__/
 *.pyc
 .DS_Store
diff --git a/docs/reference.md b/docs/reference.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..319b332
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/reference.md
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+# Command-line reference
+
+The pipeline can be scripted instead of run through the UI. The core step is
+`propose_sublineages.py` (the AutoLin algorithm); it reads a UShER MAT and writes the
+proposed lineages. Run it in the image with the repo mounted:
+
+```bash
+docker run --rm -v "$PWD":/data -w /data ghcr.io/corbett-lab/linolium bash -lc '
+  source /opt/conda/etc/profile.d/conda.sh && conda activate taxalin
+  python /app/autolin/propose_sublineages.py -i tree.pb -o annotated.pb \
+    -d proposed.tsv -l labels.tsv'
+```
+
+The app runs it with `-m 10 -t 1 -u 0.95 -f 0 -d … -l …` (plus `-r` when Recursive is on).
+
+## Options
+
+**Input / output**
+
+| Flag | Description |
+|------|-------------|
+| `-i`, `--input` | UShER MAT protobuf to annotate (required) |
+| `-o`, `--output` | Write the annotated protobuf here |
+| `-d`, `--dump` | Write the proposed sublineages as a table |
+| `-l`, `--labels` | Write lineage↔sample associations (formatted for `matUtils annotate -c`) |
+| `-v`, `--verbose` | Print progress |
+
+**Lineage criteria**
+
+| Flag | Default | Description |
+|------|---------|-------------|
+| `-m`, `--minsamples` | 10 | Minimum sample weight for a proposed lineage |
+| `-t`, `--distinction` | 1 | Minimum mutations distinguishing a lineage from its parent |
+| `-u`, `--cutoff` | 0.95 | Stop adding serial lineages once this fraction of samples is covered |
+| `-f`, `--floor` | 0 | Minimum score to report a lineage |
+| `-r`, `--recursive` | off | Recursively propose sublineages within proposals |
+| `-c`, `--clear` | off | Clear existing annotations before starting |
+
+**Scope**
+
+| Flag | Description |
+|------|-------------|
+| `-a`, `--annotation` | Propose only within this lineage and its sublineages |
+| `-p`, `--samples` | Restrict to samples in this file (`sample weight` per line) |
+
+**Weighting and translation** (advanced)
+
+| Flag | Description |
+|------|-------------|
+| `-w`, `--mutweights` | Per-mutation weights file (2–3 columns: mutation, weight, [node]) |
+| `-y`, `--aaweights` | Per-amino-acid-change weights; requires `--gtf` and `--reference` |
+| `-g`, `--gene` | Consider only mutations in this gene; requires `--gtf` and `--reference` |
+| `-s`, `--missense` | Consider only missense mutations; requires `--gtf` and `--reference` |
+| `--gtf` | GTF for translation (use with `--reference`) |
+| `--reference` | Reference FASTA for translation (use with `--gtf`) |
+
+## Formats
+
+**Input** — a [UShER](https://usher-wiki.readthedocs.io/) Mutation Annotated Tree
+protobuf (`.pb` or `.pb.gz`).
+
+**Outputs**
+
+| File | Contents |
+|------|----------|
+| `-o` protobuf | the tree with proposed `auto.*` lineages annotated |
+| `-d` table | one row per proposed lineage (parent, node id, score, size) |
+| `-l` table | sample-to-lineage assignments |
+
+The app additionally produces the Taxonium display file (`.jsonl.gz`), an annotated
+`.pb.gz` (re-uploadable for further curation), and a sample-to-lineage `.tsv`.
diff --git a/mkdocs.yml b/mkdocs.yml
index 1405de5..2d35aa4 100644
--- a/mkdocs.yml
+++ b/mkdocs.yml
@@ -35,4 +35,5 @@ extra_css:
 nav:
   - Home: index.md
   - Usage Guide: usage.md
+  - Command-line Reference: reference.md
   - Development: development.md