CLI Reference

The public command surface returned by ctxe --help. Internal service and diagnostic entrypoints are intentionally not documented here.

ctxe <command> --help
ctxe --version

Output formats

Commands that expose -f, --format accept:

human — readable terminal output (default)
json — stable structured output
compact — one-line-per-entry, pipe-friendly output

Format is not a global flag. It is available only on the commands listed with --format below.

Authentication

Start browser-based OAuth for the CTXE Server. Without a provider override, the browser shows a Google/GitHub chooser.

ctxe login
ctxe login --provider github
ctxe login --format json

--provider <PROVIDER>google or github; chooser if omitted

-f, --formathuman, json, or compact

ctxe whoami

Show the currently authenticated identity.

ctxe whoami
ctxe whoami --format json

-f, --format accepts human, json, or compact.

ctxe logout

Revoke the server session and remove local credentials.

ctxe logout

ctxe index

Incrementally parse a workspace, update its local index, and run configured embedding and enrichment phases.

ctxe index [OPTIONS] [PATH]

ctxe index .
ctxe index ./project --dry-run
ctxe index ./project --force --format json

PATHWorkspace path (default: current directory)

--forceRe-index all discovered files and ignore cached hashes

--dry-runShow the local plan without writing or calling external APIs

--progressForce progress output on stderr

--no-progressSuppress progress output on stderr

-f, --formathuman, json, or compact

ctxe status

Read index health and counts without migrating or modifying the workspace index.

ctxe status [OPTIONS] [PATH]

ctxe status .
ctxe status ./project --format json

PATHWorkspace path (default: current directory)

-f, --formathuman, json, or compact

ctxe ask

Investigate an indexed workspace with semantic retrieval, indexed text search, graph expansion, and evidence synthesis.

ctxe ask [OPTIONS] <QUERY>

ctxe ask "How does authentication work?"
ctxe ask "Find callers of UserService" --effort high
ctxe ask "Summarize the indexing pipeline" --format json

QUERYQuestion or investigation objective

--effort <EFFORT>min (3 rounds), medium (6), or high (48); configured default if omitted

--fullInclude planner diagnostics in JSON output

--progressForce progress output on stderr

--no-progressSuppress progress output on stderr

-f, --formathuman, json, or compact

ctxe config

Inspect built-in defaults and manage targeted global or workspace overrides. No config file is required. Workspace overrides live at .ctxe/config.toml; global overrides live at ~/.ctxe/config.toml.

Command	Options	Purpose
`config get <KEY>`	—	Get one effective value by dot-path
`config set <KEY> <VALUE>`	`--global`	Write a TOML literal or bare string
`config unset <KEY>`	`--global`	Remove a value from the selected layer
`config list`	`--section <SECTION>`	List effective values with source annotations
`config show`	`--format`	Show merged config with secrets redacted
`config path`	—	Show config file paths and existence

ctxe config get ask_v4.effort
ctxe config set ask_v4.effort medium
ctxe config list --section ask_v4
ctxe config show --format json

ctxe daemon

Manage supervised background indexing and durable workspace watch intent. Watching is independent from accepted catalog membership; lifecycle commands do not accept workspace paths.

Command	Purpose
`daemon watch <PATH>`	Request durable, idempotent watch intent for a workspace
`daemon unwatch <PATH>`	Stop watching while preserving catalog membership, derived data, and source files
`daemon list [--format]`	List desired daemon watches
`daemon status [--format]`	Show service, process, readiness, and workspace state
`daemon enable [--now]`	Enable persistent autostart; optionally start and wait for readiness
`daemon disable [--now]`	Disable autostart; optionally stop the current process
`daemon start`	Start through the installed service manager and wait until ready
`daemon stop`	Gracefully stop without changing autostart
`daemon restart`	Preflight, stop, and restart through the service manager

ctxe daemon watch ./project
ctxe daemon enable --now
ctxe daemon status --format json
ctxe daemon list
ctxe daemon unwatch ./project
ctxe daemon disable --now

ctxe workspace

Run destructive lifecycle operations for accepted catalog workspaces. This is separate from daemon watch intent.

ctxe workspace remove <PATH>

ctxe workspace remove .
ctxe workspace remove /path/to/project

workspace remove removes recorded CtxE artifacts and catalog membership for the workspace. It preserves source files, workspace configuration, global configuration, and unrelated workspace state, and it can resume an interrupted cleanup.

ctxe serve

Start the local HTTP API for non-MCP clients. Only loopback bind addresses are accepted.

ctxe serve
ctxe serve --host 127.0.0.1 --port 4591

--host <HOST>Loopback host (config default: 127.0.0.1)

--port <PORT>Listen port (config default: 4590)

ctxe mcp

Start the MCP server over stdio. MCP clients launch this command as a subprocess.

ctxe mcp

ctxe dashboard

Launch the local web dashboard and open it in a browser by default.

ctxe dashboard
ctxe dashboard --port 25007 --no-open

--port <PORT>Dashboard port (default: 25006)

--no-openDo not open a browser automatically

Maintenance commands

ctxe community

Rebuild or inspect the community detection index for the current workspace. Choose one action; neither accepts a path operand.

ctxe community --rebuild
ctxe community --stats

ctxe generate-chunk-type-exemplars

Generate the authenticated server-backed exemplar artifact used by chunk classification.

ctxe generate-chunk-type-exemplars [OPTIONS] [PATH]

ctxe generate-chunk-type-exemplars .
ctxe generate-chunk-type-exemplars . --output data/exemplars.json

PATHWorkspace path (default: current directory)

--catalog-dir <DIR>Exemplar catalog directory

-o, --output <PATH>Artifact JSON path (default: data/chunk_type_exemplars.json under the workspace)

ctxe classify-chunks

Classify missing or stale embedded chunks. Use --all to reclassify every active embedded chunk.

ctxe classify-chunks [OPTIONS] [PATH]

ctxe classify-chunks . --all --limit 1000

PATHWorkspace path (default: current directory)

--allReclassify every active embedded chunk

--limit <N>Maximum chunks to classify

-f, --formathuman, json, or compact

ctxe classify-report

Show the persisted chunk-type classification distribution.

ctxe classify-report [OPTIONS] [PATH]

ctxe classify-report . --format json

PATH defaults to the current directory. -f, --format accepts human, json, or compact.

ctxe version

Show version and build information.

ctxe version
ctxe version --format json

-f, --format accepts human, json, or compact.