Relay Knowledge CLI

Workflow

Use the compiled relay-knowledge binary as the control surface. Resolve the
executable before the first operation. Prefer JSON output for automation and
read command metadata before issuing unfamiliar commands.

Treat large cold repository indexing as a status-driven workflow, not a single
long foreground wait. repo index can return a code-index task id and can also
start a bounded foreground worker attempt before rendering its response. If the
command runner times out before JSON is captured, recover through
repo status <alias> --format json and inspect active_task, checkpoint counters, and
freshness before retrying. If a managed platform service is already draining
the code-index queue, poll status and do not start a competing worker. If no
managed service is draining work and status shows a running task after the
command runner killed a foreground attempt, inspect lease_expires_at_ms and
checkpoint timestamps and wait for lease recovery before retrying. When
repo status or the repo index response shows a queued or retrying code-index
task, run bounded single-shot repo index-worker --task-id <task-id> --format json attempts, then re-check status. Use repo update and
index refresh according to their foreground completion result and status
diagnostics; do not wait for task ids those commands do not expose, and do not
replace task leases with unmanaged loops.

Prefer the bundled assets binary for the current operating system, CPU, and
active command runner whenever it exists and version --format json succeeds.
Released skill packages include Linux x64 and Windows x64 binaries at
assets/linux-x86_64/relay-knowledge and
assets/windows-x86_64/relay-knowledge.exe. Use the published PATH install
only when the bundled asset is missing, not executable, fails its version check,
has no matching OS or CPU architecture, has no matching shell boundary, the
Linux host is older than the glibc 2.31 baseline, or the user explicitly asks
for the system-installed binary. Version comparisons are diagnostic only; do
not choose a newer PATH binary over a working bundled asset by default.

The command examples below use relay-knowledge as readable shorthand for the
resolved executable. When the bundled asset is selected, substitute that asset
path for relay-knowledge while keeping the same arguments.

Use the command form that matches the active shell. Do not run the Windows
bundled asset from POSIX shells. That includes bash, sh, zsh, fish, and WSL bash
unless the command intentionally crosses into a Windows shell boundary. On
POSIX, check only the POSIX asset first and fall back to PATH only when that
asset is unusable:

/absolute/path/to/relay-knowledge-cli/assets/linux-x86_64/relay-knowledge version --format json
command -v relay-knowledge
relay-knowledge version --format json

If the Linux asset fails before printing JSON with an error that mentions
GLIBC_, treat the bundled asset as incompatible with that host and use a
published install path built for the host instead of retrying the same asset.

$relayKnowledge = "C:\absolute\path\to\relay-knowledge-cli\assets\windows-x86_64\relay-knowledge.exe"
& $relayKnowledge version --format json
Get-Command relay-knowledge
relay-knowledge version --format json

set "RELAY_KNOWLEDGE=C:\absolute\path\to\relay-knowledge-cli\assets\windows-x86_64\relay-knowledge.exe"
"%RELAY_KNOWLEDGE%" version --format json
where.exe relay-knowledge
relay-knowledge version --format json

relay-knowledge help --format json
relay-knowledge help repo query --format json

Do not use source-checkout build artifacts or source builds as an installation
path. This skill is intended to operate published installs only. If the binary
is missing, install it from a published channel first: prefer a verified GitHub
Release archive, or use cargo install relay-knowledge from crates.io when
Cargo is the selected published package channel.

Before downloading a binary from GitHub Releases or crates.io, tell the user to
configure a proxy when their network requires one. Prefer standard
HTTPS_PROXY, HTTP_PROXY, and NO_PROXY environment variables, and preserve
those settings for checksum verification and follow-up diagnostics.

Do not use this skill for MCP setup, and do not start or configure MCP from this
skill. If a task asks for MCP, Streamable HTTP, resources, prompts, sessions, or
protocol tools, use the project MCP documentation or a separate MCP skill
instead.

For repository knowledge navigation contracts, use
references/knowledge-map-workflows.md. Prefer relay-knowledge map commands
to create, read, update, delete, validate, and route the shared
.knowledge/knowledge-map.yaml contract. Do not hand-edit the YAML unless the CLI is
unavailable and the user explicitly asks for manual repair.

When the user asks for a test, smoke check, or reproduction that should not
touch existing runtime state, set an explicit temporary RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_HOME
and clean it up after the scenario. Prefer local deterministic retrieval
backends for isolated tests so smoke checks do not depend on external embedding
services.

POSIX shells:

export RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_HOME="$(mktemp -d /tmp/relay-knowledge-skill.XXXXXX)"
export RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_SEMANTIC_BACKEND=local
export RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_VECTOR_BACKEND=local

PowerShell:

$env:RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_HOME = Join-Path $env:TEMP ("relay-knowledge-skill-" + [guid]::NewGuid())
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $env:RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_HOME | Out-Null
$env:RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_SEMANTIC_BACKEND = "local"
$env:RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_VECTOR_BACKEND = "local"

cmd.exe:

set "RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_HOME=%TEMP%\relay-knowledge-skill-%RANDOM%-%RANDOM%"
mkdir "%RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_HOME%"
set "RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_SEMANTIC_BACKEND=local"
set "RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_VECTOR_BACKEND=local"

If each command runs in a fresh shell or tool call, pass these environment
variables inline on every relay-knowledge invocation rather than relying on a
previous export to persist. Prefer the tool's environment map when it is
available. Otherwise choose one temporary absolute path for the scenario,
substitute it into every command, and include the shell-specific assignments in
the same command invocation.

POSIX per-command invocation:

mkdir -p /tmp/relay-knowledge-skill-example && \
  RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_HOME=/tmp/relay-knowledge-skill-example \
  RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_SEMANTIC_BACKEND=local \
  RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_VECTOR_BACKEND=local \
  relay-knowledge status --format json

PowerShell per-command invocation:

$relayKnowledgeHome = Join-Path $env:TEMP "relay-knowledge-skill-example"; New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $relayKnowledgeHome | Out-Null; $env:RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_HOME = $relayKnowledgeHome; $env:RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_SEMANTIC_BACKEND = "local"; $env:RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_VECTOR_BACKEND = "local"; relay-knowledge status --format json

cmd.exe per-command invocation:

if not exist "%TEMP%\relay-knowledge-skill-example" mkdir "%TEMP%\relay-knowledge-skill-example" && set "RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_HOME=%TEMP%\relay-knowledge-skill-example" && set "RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_SEMANTIC_BACKEND=local" && set "RELAY_KNOWLEDGE_VECTOR_BACKEND=local" && relay-knowledge status --format json

Remove the temporary directory after capturing the test result.

Readiness

Check whether the resolved CLI works, then inspect runtime configuration and
live health:

relay-knowledge version
relay-knowledge setup doctor --format json
relay-knowledge health --format json
relay-knowledge service doctor --format json

On Windows, run the same diagnostics through the resolved executable.

Run live diagnostics with a command timeout when the host shell supports one,
and report timeout as a diagnostic finding instead of waiting indefinitely. On
Linux or hosts with GNU coreutils, timeout is acceptable:

timeout 20s relay-knowledge health --format json
timeout 20s relay-knowledge service doctor --format json
timeout 20s relay-knowledge audit query --limit 50 --format json

On default macOS shells where GNU timeout is not installed, use the command
runner's timeout setting if available. If only shell text is available, use a
short POSIX watchdog for each diagnostic:

relay-knowledge health --format json &
relay_knowledge_pid=$!
( sleep 20; kill "$relay_knowledge_pid" 2>/dev/null ) &
relay_knowledge_watchdog=$!
wait "$relay_knowledge_pid"
relay_knowledge_status=$?
kill "$relay_knowledge_watchdog" 2>/dev/null
exit "$relay_knowledge_status"

For online install or upgrades, prefer the official release path first and
Cargo second:

cargo install relay-knowledge
relay-knowledge version check --format json

version check only reports available stable versions. It must not replace the
binary automatically. Follow installer or package-manager policy for the actual
upgrade.

Code Repository Graph

For repository questions, make the index state explicit before querying. Use a
short alias and narrow scope when the user provides relevant paths or languages.
For code-structure, code-query-kind, or repository relationship prompts, use the
graph-backed CLI surfaces before raw text search:

• repo query --kind ... for code graph retrieval tied to symbols, definitions,
  references, calls, imports, or SBOM dependency facts.
• repo software --kind ... for repository-wide software graph projections:
  dependencies, SDK/API usage, files, topics, relationships, build, IaC, design,
  or all slices together.
• repo feature-flags for configuration-driven feature flags and guarded-code
  relationships.

Treat kind values as command-local. Do not pass repo software kinds to
repo query, do not pass repo query kinds to repo software, and do not use
index refresh kinds (bm25, semantic, vector), worker kinds
(embedding, ocr, vision, extractor), or knowledge-map source kinds
(repo, file, doc, config, db, ci, runtime, wiki,
monitoring) as repository query kinds.

repo query --kind Code Retrieval

Choose the command-local query kind from the user's intent:

• hybrid: natural-language discovery, broad concepts, or ambiguous code
  questions.
• symbol: symbol, class, function, method, type, or constant name lookup.
• definition: definitions, declarations, implementations, and API locations.
• references: references, usages, and "where is this used" questions.
• callers: incoming call edges and "who calls this" questions.
• callees: outgoing call edges and "what does this call" questions.
• imports: import, include, module, and dependency edges.
• sbom: package-manager dependency inventory from indexed manifests and
  lockfiles.

Use references/cli-workflows.md for deeper recipes, but keep this selection
rule: if the user names a supported kind, use it directly. If the intent is
unclear, start with --kind hybrid, then narrow to symbol, definition,
references, callers, callees, imports, or sbom based on the returned
evidence. For call-chain questions, expand callers or callees step by step from
the known symbol and report when the CLI exposes only bounded one-hop call
edges.

relay-knowledge repo register /path/to/repo \
  --alias core \
  --path src \
  --format json

relay-knowledge repo scope preview core --ref HEAD --format json
relay-knowledge repo index core --ref HEAD --format json
relay-knowledge repo status core --format json

Use repo status after cold full indexing because initial indexing may return a
durable background task handle or may time out before the response is captured.
In non-interactive agent sessions where a long-running platform service is not
already draining the queue, run one or more explicit single-shot worker
attempts with the task id returned by repo index or shown by repo status:

relay-knowledge repo index-worker --task-id <task-id> --format json
relay-knowledge repo status core --format json

repo index-worker --format json always returns a parseable result. When no
eligible task is available it reports claimed=false and task=null.
--format streaming-json emits started, item, and completed events, with
the worker result in the item.payload. Each worker attempt still uses durable
leases, checkpoints, retry backoff, and the single-writer indexing boundary.
Query only an indexed ref:

relay-knowledge repo query core \
  --query retry_policy \
  --kind hybrid \
  --ref HEAD \
  --path src \
  --language rust \
  --freshness wait-until-fresh \
  --limit 10 \
  --format json

repo software --kind Software Graph

Use repo software when the user asks for graph relationships or a repository
overview beyond one symbol-level code query:

• dependencies: package and manifest dependency facts.
• sdks: SDK/API usage and unresolved external target metadata.
• files: file roles and indexed source/document surfaces.
• topics: documentation and source topics discovered from indexed evidence.
• relationships: cross-domain relationships between files, topics, configs,
  dependencies, SDK/API usages, build targets, IaC resources, and design facts.
• build: build target and build-manifest facts.
• iac: infrastructure-as-code resource facts.
• design: design documentation and design element facts.
• all: all software graph slices for repository overviews or when the user
  asks for "everything" about the software graph.

For prompts like "show graph relationships", "what relates these modules",
"dependency paths", "software architecture map", or "代码图关系", prefer
--kind relationships first. Use --kind all when the user asks for a broad
inventory that should include relationship context and all supporting slices.

relay-knowledge repo software core \
  --kind relationships \
  --ref HEAD \
  --freshness wait-until-fresh \
  --limit 100 \
  --format json

Feature Flags and Impact

For feature flag, config gate, environment-variable gate, settings gate,
gray-release switch, or guarded-code prompts, use the separate
repo feature-flags command. Do not invent repo query --kind feature_flag;
feature flags are indexed graph facts, not a normal query kind.

relay-knowledge repo feature-flags core \
  --query checkout \
  --ref HEAD \
  --path src \
  --limit 20 \
  --format json

repo feature-flags reads feature flag facts and FTS documents from the indexed
scope. It must not recursively scan source at query time. After adding or
fixing feature flag extraction rules, run repo index or repo update before
expecting new facts in this command.

For diff-aware work, index the head snapshot first and then run:

relay-knowledge repo update core --base main --head HEAD --format json
relay-knowledge repo impact core --base main --head HEAD --limit 100 --format json
relay-knowledge repo report core --format markdown

Use grep, ripgrep, rg, or other plain text search only as a fallback after
the CLI is unavailable, the target scope cannot be indexed, the supported
query/software kinds cannot express the request, or the user explicitly needs
raw text or regex matching instead of graph semantics. Do not start with grep
or rg for code kind or graph relationship queries.

Knowledge Graph

For non-code evidence, ingest scoped text, refresh derived indexes when needed,
and query with freshness metadata:

relay-knowledge ingest --source docs \
  --content "Rust async services isolate blocking SQLite work" \
  --entity Rust \
  --format json

relay-knowledge query SQLite \
  --source docs \
  --freshness wait-until-fresh \
  --limit 10 \
  --format json

relay-knowledge index refresh --kind bm25 --format json
relay-knowledge graph inspect --format json

Troubleshooting

If a command fails, prefer its JSON error when present; otherwise read the
stderr or text error exactly and avoid guessing hidden state. Run diagnostics
in this order:

relay-knowledge status --format json
relay-knowledge setup doctor --format json
relay-knowledge health --format json
relay-knowledge service doctor --format json
relay-knowledge audit query --limit 50 --format json

For empty code results, verify repo status, the queried ref, path/language
filters, and --kind. Use --kind hybrid before narrowing. For stale graph
results, use --freshness wait-until-fresh or run index refresh explicitly.

For deeper command recipes, read references/cli-workflows.md.