diff --git a/src/cli/index.ts b/src/cli/index.ts
index 1f9cdb4..b59cdc0 100644
--- a/src/cli/index.ts
+++ b/src/cli/index.ts
@@ -317,7 +317,7 @@ async function run(args: Args): Promise<number> {
       return commandUse(args);
     case 'sync': {
       const sync = await import('../client/sync.ts');
-      const sub = args.positional[1] ?? 'status';
+      const sub = args.positional[0] ?? 'status';
       const server = flagString(args, 'server', 's');
       const options = { ...(server !== undefined ? { server } : {}), userAgent: userAgent() };
       const force = Boolean(args.flags['force']);
diff --git a/test/cli-sync.test.ts b/test/cli-sync.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c692dfb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/cli-sync.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { registerHooks } from 'node:module';
+import { test } from 'node:test';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import { VERSION } from '../dist/config.js';
+import { calls } from './fixtures/cli-sync.ts';
+
+const entry = new URL('../dist/cli/index.js', import.meta.url);
+const fixture = new URL('./fixtures/cli-sync.ts', import.meta.url);
+const statusOutput = 'here   never synced\nboard  nothing yet\n';
+const savedOutput = 'Saved revision 7: the boards you use.\n';
+const plannedOutput = 'added    boards.json\nWould take revision 7; nothing written.\n';
+const cases = [
+  { argv: ['sync'], method: 'status', options: {}, stdout: statusOutput },
+  { argv: ['sync', 'status'], method: 'status', options: {}, stdout: statusOutput },
+  { argv: ['sync', 'save'], method: 'save', options: { force: false }, stdout: savedOutput },
+  { argv: ['sync', 'load'], method: 'load', options: { force: false, dryRun: false }, stdout: 'Loaded revision 7.\n' },
+  { argv: ['sync', 'revisions'], method: 'revisions', options: {}, stdout: '   7  2026-09-15 00:00  fixture  42 bytes\n' },
+  { argv: ['sync', 'unknown-action'], method: null, options: {}, stdout: '', exitCode: 1,
+    stderr: 'Unknown: agenticjobs sync unknown-action. Try status, save, load or revisions.\n' },
+  { argv: ['sync', 'save', '--force'], method: 'save', options: { force: true }, stdout: savedOutput },
+  { argv: ['sync', 'load', '--dry-run'], method: 'load', options: { force: false, dryRun: true }, stdout: plannedOutput },
+  { argv: ['sync', 'load', '--force', '--dry-run'], method: 'load', options: { force: true, dryRun: true }, stdout: plannedOutput },
+];
+
+test('compiled CLI dispatches settings sync subcommands and flags', async (t) => {
+  // Redirect only this CLI import. The compiled entry point and parser run
+  // unchanged; other tests can still import the real sync module.
+  const hooks = registerHooks({
+    resolve(specifier, context, nextResolve) {
+      if (specifier === '../client/sync.js' && context.parentURL?.startsWith(`${entry.href}?`)) {
+        return { url: fixture.href, shortCircuit: true };
+      }
+      return nextResolve(specifier, context);
+    },
+  });
+  t.after(() => hooks.deregister());
+  const fetch = t.mock.method(globalThis, 'fetch', async () => {
+    throw new Error('Unexpected network request in sync dispatch test');
+  });
+
+  // Sequential subtests restore process state before reporting their results.
+  for (const [index, example] of cases.entries()) {
+    await t.test(example.argv.join(' '), async (t) => {
+      const argv = process.argv;
+      const exitCode = process.exitCode;
+      t.after(() => {
+        process.argv = argv;
+        process.exitCode = exitCode;
+        calls.length = 0;
+      });
+      calls.length = 0;
+      process.argv = [process.execPath, fileURLToPath(entry), ...example.argv];
+      process.exitCode = 0;
+      let stdout = '';
+      let stderr = '';
+      t.mock.method(process.stdout, 'write', (chunk) => { stdout += String(chunk); return true; });
+      t.mock.method(process.stderr, 'write', (chunk) => { stderr += String(chunk); return true; });
+
+      // A fresh URL reruns the actual top-level CLI for each invocation.
+      await import(`${entry.href}?sync-dispatch=${index}`);
+
+      assert.equal(process.exitCode, example.exitCode ?? 0, 'exit code');
+      assert.deepEqual([...calls], example.method === null ? [] : [{
+        method: example.method,
+        options: { userAgent: `agenticjobs-cli/${VERSION}`, ...example.options },
+      }], 'selected sync operation and options');
+      assert.equal(stdout, example.stdout, 'stdout');
+      assert.equal(stderr, example.stderr ?? '', 'stderr');
+      assert.equal(fetch.mock.callCount(), 0, 'no network requests');
+    });
+  }
+});
diff --git a/test/fixtures/cli-sync.ts b/test/fixtures/cli-sync.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd16764
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/cli-sync.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import type { SyncOptions } from '../../dist/client/sync.js';
+
+type Options = SyncOptions & { force?: boolean; dryRun?: boolean };
+export const calls: { method: string; options: Options }[] = [];
+
+export async function syncStatus(options: Options) {
+  calls.push({ method: 'status', options });
+  return { marker: null, drifted: [], behind: false };
+}
+
+export async function syncSave(options: Options) {
+  calls.push({ method: 'save', options });
+  return { status: 'saved', revision: 7 };
+}
+
+export async function syncLoad(options: Options) {
+  calls.push({ method: 'load', options });
+  return options.dryRun
+    ? { status: 'planned', revision: 7, plan: [{ status: 'added', path: 'boards.json' }] }
+    : { status: 'loaded', revision: 7, added: [], directoriesAdded: [] };
+}
+
+export function syncContext(options: Options) {
+  return { client: { async revisions() {
+    calls.push({ method: 'revisions', options });
+    return [{ revision: 7, savedAt: '2026-09-15T00:00:00.000Z', host: 'fixture', size: 42 }];
+  } } };
+}