> levels of state

This is the crux for me. Command naming is completely unrelated to and unindicative of state.

It feels like surely there's an opportunity for the basic CRUD operations to be collapsed down into a standard "{action} {source} {target}" style.

There will be nuances, specifically around branching, but the basics should be basic. As opposed to a Swiss Army knife, where you have to pull out the scissors and squeeze them three times before you can unfold and use the blade.