📜 Askimo Command Reference

This document lists all available Askimo commands, their purpose, parameters, and usage examples.

Command Modes

Askimo supports two modes of operation:

🖥️ Interactive Mode (REPL)

Start the interactive shell by running askimo without arguments. Commands use the :keyword format:

askimo
askimo> :help
askimo> :models

⚡ Non-Interactive Mode (CLI)

Run commands directly from your terminal using the --flag format:

askimo --help
askimo --models
askimo --tools

🔗 Composite Commands

You can combine multiple non-interactive commands in a single invocation. Commands are executed in the order they appear:

# Configure provider and multiple parameters at once
askimo --set-provider openai --set-param api_key sk-abc123 --set-param model gpt-4

# Set provider and check available models
askimo --set-provider ollama --models

# Configure multiple parameters
askimo --set-param temperature 0.7 --set-param max_tokens 2000

# Combine informational commands
askimo --list-providers --list-tools --version

This is especially useful for scripting and automation, allowing you to configure the entire environment with a single command.

Available Commands

Commands Available in BOTH Modes

The following commands work in both interactive (:keyword) and non-interactive (--flag) modes:

  • :help / --help - Show available commands
  • :config / --config - Show current provider, model, and settings
  • :providers / --providers - List all supported model providers
  • :set-provider / --set-provider - Set the current model provider
  • :models / --models - List available models for the current provider
  • :params / --params - Show current model parameters or list available param keys
  • :set-param / --set-param - Set a model parameter
  • :tools / --tools - List all available tools
  • :version / --version - Show detailed version and build information

Non-Interactive Mode Only Commands

The following commands are only available in non-interactive mode (CLI flags):

  • --create-recipe - Create a provider-agnostic recipe from a YAML template
  • --recipes - List all registered recipes in ~/.askimo/recipes
  • --delete-recipe - Delete a registered recipe

Interactive Mode Only Commands

The following commands are only available in interactive mode:

  • :clear - Clear the current chat memory
  • :copy - Copy the last AI response to the clipboard
  • :create-project - Create a project, auto-start Postgres+pgvector, and index the folder
  • :projects - List all saved Askimo projects
  • :project - Activate a saved project (sets scope and enables RAG)
  • :delete-project - Delete a saved project and drop its pgvector embedding table
  • :sessions - List all saved sessions
  • :new-session - Start a new chat session
  • :resume-session - Resume a previous chat session
  • :agent - Enable agent mode for autonomous task execution

Command Reference

:help / –help

Description:
Display all available commands and their short descriptions.

Syntax:

# Interactive mode
:help

# Non-interactive mode
askimo --help

Example (Interactive):

askimo> :help
Available commands:
  :help           - Show available commands
  :config         - Show the current provider, model, and settings
  :models         - List available models for the current provider
  ...

Example (Non-interactive):

$ askimo --help
Available commands (non-interactive mode):
  --help             - Show available commands
  --config           - Show the current provider, model, and settings
  --models           - List available models for the current provider
  ...

:clear

Description:
Clear the chat history for the current session.
This does not reset provider, model, or session parameters - only the conversation context is removed.

Availability: Interactive mode only

Syntax:

:clear

:copy

Description:
Copy the last AI response to your system clipboard.
This is useful for quickly pasting the output into another application without manually selecting it.

Availability: Interactive mode only

Syntax:

:copy

:params / –params

Description:
Display the current session parameters, including:

  • Active provider
  • Selected model
  • All configurable parameters available for :set-param / --set-param

Syntax:

# Interactive mode
:params
:params --list

# Non-interactive mode
askimo --params
askimo --params --list

Example:

askimo> :params --list
Available parameter keys for gpt-4o (OPENAI):
  model (String) – Model name to use (e.g., gpt-4, llama3)
  style (Enum(precise|balanced|creative)) – Output style (determinism vs. creativity)
  verbosity (Enum(short|normal|long)) – Controls response length/cost
  api_key (String) – OpenAI API key

Notes:

  • The list under “Available parameters” shows what can be changed with :set-param or --set-param
  • Parameter names and defaults may vary depending on the active provider

:set-param / –set-param

Description:
Set a parameter for the current AI provider.
Available parameters depend on the provider and can be viewed using :params or --params.

Syntax:

# Interactive mode
:set-param <name> <value>

# Non-interactive mode
askimo --set-param <name> <value>

Parameters:

  • <name> - Name of the parameter (e.g., model, style)
  • <value> - New value to assign to the parameter

Example:

# Interactive mode
askimo> :set-param model gpt-4o

# Non-interactive mode
$ askimo --set-param model gpt-4o

:config / –config

Description:
Display the current Askimo configuration values.

Syntax:

# Interactive mode
:config

# Non-interactive mode
askimo --config

Example:

askimo> :config
🔧 Current configuration:
  Provider:    OPENAI
  Model:       gpt-4o
  Settings:
    apiKey:      sk-pr***
    presets: Presets(style=BALANCED, verbosity=NORMAL)

:providers / –providers

Description:
List all AI providers supported by Askimo.

Syntax:

# Interactive mode
:providers

# Non-interactive mode
askimo --providers

Notes:

  • The list may vary depending on your installation and configuration
  • Use :set-provider <name> or askimo --set-provider <name> to switch to one of the available providers

:set-provider / –set-provider

Description:
Switch to a different AI provider for the current session.

Syntax:

# Interactive mode
:set-provider <provider_name>

# Non-interactive mode
askimo --set-provider <provider_name>

Notes:

  • Switching providers may change the available parameters and models
  • After switching, you can use :models or --models to see available models for the new provider

:models / –models

Description:
List all models available for the current provider.
The list is retrieved dynamically based on the active provider’s settings.

Syntax:

# Interactive mode
:models

# Non-interactive mode
askimo --models

Notes:

  • The available models depend on the provider and your local/remote configuration
  • Use :set-param model <model_name> or --set-param model <model_name> to change the active model for the session

:create-project

Description: Create a new Askimo project, automatically start a Postgres database with pgvector extension using Testcontainers, and index the specified folder for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).

Availability: Interactive mode only

Syntax:

:create-project -n <project-name> -d <project-folder>

Parameters:

  • -n, --name - Name of the project to create
  • -d, --dir, --folder - Path to the project folder to index

Example:

askimo> :create-project -n myapp -d /Users/john/projects/myapp

Notes:

  • The project name must be unique
  • The folder path must exist and be a directory
  • A Postgres+pgvector container will be started automatically if not already running
  • All project files will be indexed for RAG-enabled chat

:projects

Description: List all saved Askimo projects registered in your configuration.

Availability: Interactive mode only

Syntax:

:projects

Example:

askimo> :projects
📚 Projects:
  1. myapp  →  /Users/john/projects/myapp
  2. webapp  →  /Users/john/projects/webapp

:project

Description: Activate a previously saved Askimo project by name. This sets the project scope and enables RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) for the session.

Availability: Interactive mode only

Syntax:

:project <project-name>

Parameters:

  • <project-name> - Name of the saved project to activate

Example:

askimo> :project myapp

Notes:

  • The project must have been previously created with :create-project
  • Postgres+pgvector will be started automatically if not already running
  • RAG will be enabled for the active project

:delete-project

Description: Delete a saved project from the Askimo registry (~/.askimo/projects.json) and drop its pgvector embedding table from the database, or delete all projects at once.

Availability: Interactive mode only

Syntax:

:delete-project <project-name>
:delete-project --all

Parameters:

  • <project-name> - Name of the project to delete
  • --all - Delete all saved projects and their embeddings

Examples:

# Delete a specific project
askimo> :delete-project myapp

# Delete all projects
askimo> :delete-project --all

Notes:

  • This action removes the project(s) from the registry and deletes all indexed embeddings
  • The original project folders remain untouched
  • When using --all, you’ll see a list of all projects before confirmation
  • This operation cannot be undone

–create-recipe

Description: Create a provider-agnostic recipe from a YAML template file. Recipes are reusable prompt templates that can be used across different AI providers.

Availability: Non-interactive mode only

Syntax:

askimo --create-recipe [name] -f <file.yml>
askimo --create-recipe [name] -i

Parameters:

  • [name] - Optional name for the recipe (can also be specified in the YAML file)
  • -f, --file - Path to the YAML template file
  • -i, --interactive - Create recipe interactively with guided prompts

Example:

$ askimo --create-recipe myrecipe -f ~/templates/code-review.yml

Notes:

  • If the name is not provided as an argument, it must be specified in the YAML file’s name: field
  • The recipe will be saved to ~/.askimo/recipes/
  • Use askimo -r <recipe-name> to run the recipe from the command line

–recipes

Description: List all registered recipes stored in ~/.askimo/recipes.

Availability: Non-interactive mode only

Syntax:

askimo --recipes

Example:

$ askimo --recipes
📦 Registered recipes (3)
────────────────────────────
code-review - Review code for bugs and improvements
documentation - Generate documentation for code
refactoring - Suggest refactoring improvements

–delete-recipe

Description: Delete a registered recipe from ~/.askimo/recipes, or delete all recipes at once.

Availability: Non-interactive mode only

Syntax:

askimo --delete-recipe <name>
askimo --delete-recipe --all

Parameters:

  • <name> - Name of the recipe to delete
  • --all - Delete all registered recipes

Examples:

# Delete a specific recipe
$ askimo --delete-recipe myrecipe

# Delete all recipes
$ askimo --delete-recipe --all

Notes:

  • You will be prompted to confirm the deletion
  • When using --all, you’ll see a list of all recipes before confirmation
  • This operation cannot be undone

:tools / –tools

Description: List all available tools that can be used in recipes and by the AI agent. This includes tools from GitTools and LocalFsTools.

Syntax:

# Interactive mode
:tools

# Non-interactive mode
askimo --tools

Example:

$ askimo --tools
🔧 Available Tools
──────────────────────────────

📦 GitTools
  • branch
    Current branch name
  • commit
    Write .git/COMMIT_EDITMSG and run git commit -F -
  • stagedDiff
    Unified diff of staged changes (git diff --cached)
  • status
    Concise git status (-sb)

📦 LocalFsTools
  • readFile
    Read text file from path
  • writeFile
    Write text file to path
  • runCommand
    Run shell commands in a persistent terminal...
  • searchFileContent
    Search for text content within files in a directory...
  • searchFilesByGlob
    Search for files by name/pattern with smart matching...
  (and more...)
  
──────────────────────────────
Total: 14 tools

Notes:

  • Tools are organized by their provider class (GitTools, LocalFsTools)
  • Each tool shows its name and description
  • These tools can be invoked by recipes or used by AI agents during code generation

:sessions

Description: List all saved chat sessions for the current provider and model.

Availability: Interactive mode only

Syntax:

:sessions

Example:

askimo> :sessions
💬 Saved Sessions:
  1. [2025-11-06 14:30] Session with 15 messages
  2. [2025-11-05 09:15] Session with 8 messages
  3. [2025-11-04 16:45] Session with 23 messages

Notes:

  • Sessions are saved automatically during interactive chat
  • Each session is tied to a specific provider and model combination
  • Use :resume-session to continue a previous conversation

:new-session

Description: Start a new chat session, clearing the current conversation history and creating a fresh context.

Availability: Interactive mode only

Syntax:

:new-session

Example:

askimo> :new-session
✨ Started new session

Notes:

  • This command clears the current conversation context
  • The previous session is saved and can be resumed later with :resume-session
  • Provider, model, and configuration settings are preserved

:resume-session

Description: Resume a previous chat session by selecting from your saved sessions.

Availability: Interactive mode only

Syntax:

:resume-session
:resume-session <session-id>

Parameters:

  • <session-id> - Optional session ID to resume directly

Example:

# Interactive selection
askimo> :resume-session
💬 Saved Sessions:
  1. [2025-11-06 14:30] Session with 15 messages
  2. [2025-11-05 09:15] Session with 8 messages
Select session to resume [1-2]:

# Direct resume
askimo> :resume-session 1

Notes:

  • If no session ID is provided, you’ll be prompted to select from available sessions
  • Resuming a session loads all previous messages and context
  • Sessions are specific to the provider and model they were created with

:agent

Description: Enable agent mode for autonomous task execution. In agent mode, the AI can use available tools to complete complex tasks independently.

Availability: Interactive mode only

Syntax:

:agent <task-description>

Parameters:

  • <task-description> - Description of the task you want the agent to accomplish

Example:

askimo> :agent Analyze the git repository, find all TODO comments, and create a summary report
🤖 Agent mode activated
📋 Task: Analyze the git repository, find all TODO comments, and create a summary report
🔧 Using tools: searchFileContent, readFile, writeFile
...
✅ Task completed. Report saved to TODO-summary.md

Notes:

  • Agent mode allows the AI to autonomously use tools like searchFileContent, runCommand, readFile, etc.
  • The agent will break down complex tasks into steps and execute them
  • You can see which tools the agent is using in real-time
  • Use :tools to see all available tools the agent can use

:version / –version

Description: Show detailed version and build information for Askimo.

Syntax:

# Interactive mode
:version

# Non-interactive mode
askimo --version

Example:

$ askimo --version
Askimo v0.2.0
Build: 2025-11-06
Commit: a1b2c3d
Platform: macOS (arm64)