Getting Started with Askimo

After installing Askimo, choose a provider and a model, then start chatting. Askimo saves your settings locally, so you won’t need to repeat these steps next time.

👉 If you don’t choose a model, Askimo will use the default for that provider (except Ollama).

Quick start (works the same for any provider)

askimo> :setprovider <ollama|openai|gemini|xai>
askimo> :models            # see models available for that provider
askimo> :setparam model <model-id> # optional if a default exists
askimo> "Hello! Summarize this text."

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Using Ollama (local models)

1. Install Ollama (see ollama.com)
2. Pull a model, for example gpt-oss:20b:

   ollama pull gpt-oss:20b
   

3. In askimo

   askimo> :setprovider ollama
   askimo> :models          # shows local models (e.g., llama3)
   askimo> :setparam model gpt-oss:20b
   askimo> "Explain Redis caching in simple terms."
   

If :models is empty, pull one with ollama pull <name> and try again.

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Using OpenAI

1. Get an API key → https://platform.openai.com/api-keys
2. Configure Askimo and chat:

   askimo> :setprovider open_ai
   askimo> :setparam api_key sk-...
   askimo> :models          # e.g., gpt-4o, gpt-4o-mini
   askimo> "Explain Redis caching in simple terms."
   

   📌 Default model: gpt-4o

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Use Gemini (Google)

1. Get an API key → https://aistudio.google.com
2. Configure and chat:

   askimo> :provider gemini
   askimo> :setparam api_key <your-gemini-key>
   askimo> :models                         # e.g., gemini-1.5-pro, gemini-1.5-flash
   askimo> "Give me five CLI productivity tips."
   

   📌 Default model: gemini-2.5-flash

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Use X AI (Grok)

1. Get an API key → https://x.ai
2. Configure and chat:

   askimo> :setprovider x_ai
   askimo> :setparam api_key <your-xai-key>
   askimo> :models                         # e.g., grok-2, grok-2-mini (examples)
   askimo> :setparam model grok-3-mini
   askimo> "What's new in Java 21?"
   

   📌 Default model: grok-4

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Switch any time

You can switch providers/models on the fly; Askimo remembers your last choices.

askimo> :setprovider ollama
askimo> :setparam model mistral 
askimo> :setprovider openai                # defaults to gpt-4o