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Starting the CLI

Run the following command from the project root:
npm run cli

First run

On first launch you will be prompted for a username.
1

Enter a username

Type a username and press Enter. Usernames must:
  • Contain only letters, numbers, _, and -
  • Be at least 2 characters long
  ●  Username: alice_01
2

Session created

A default session named session-1 is created and made active. The session header shows your username, session label, session ID, and message count.
Returning users are recognised by their stored username. All previous sessions are restored automatically at login. Chat history is stored locally in a SQLite database and never sent to a remote server.

Command reference

Every command starts with :. Anything that does not start with : is treated as a query and sent to the RAG pipeline.
CommandDescription
:helpPrint the command reference.
:ingest <path> [institution] [course]Embed a document into the knowledge base.
:sessionsList all sessions with labels and last-active timestamps.
:new [label]Create a new session and switch to it immediately.
:switch <n>Switch to session number n (1-indexed, as shown by :sessions).
:historyShow the full chat history for the active session.
:docsList all documents ingested in the active session.
:clearDelete all chat messages in the active session.
:q / :quitExit Quark.
(any other text)Send as a query to the RAG pipeline.

Ingesting a file with a path that contains spaces

Wrap the file path in double quotes when it contains spaces:
:ingest "/path/with spaces/file.pdf" MIT biology
The institution argument defaults to "Default" when omitted. The course argument is optional. See Document ingestion for the full ingestion reference.

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