The CLI
Install open-knowledge-cloud from the desktop app, sign in, and work with brains from a terminal.
open-knowledge-cloud reads and changes your brains from a terminal or a script. It offers the same tools as the MCP server, one command per tool.
Install
The CLI comes with the OpenKnowledge Cloud desktop app.
On Windows, the app's installer puts open-knowledge-cloud on your PATH. Open a new terminal window and run open-knowledge-cloud --help.
On macOS and Linux:
- In the desktop app, open Settings, then Agent connections.
- On the Terminal command
open-knowledge-cloudrow, click Add. - Open a new terminal window and run
open-knowledge-cloud --help.
Add puts the command in ~/.open-knowledge-cloud/bin and adds a short block to your shell startup files (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc and the like) that puts it on your PATH. When the row reads Outdated, click Update. Remove takes it away again.
Sign in
While the desktop app is open and signed in, the CLI uses its sign-in. To use the CLI with the app closed, sign it in on its own:
open-knowledge-cloud loginThis opens a browser sign-in. The CLI keeps its credentials in your operating system's keychain.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
open-knowledge-cloud login | Sign the CLI in to OpenKnowledge Cloud, independently of the app. |
open-knowledge-cloud logout | End the CLI's own sign-in. |
open-knowledge-cloud status | Show whether you are signed in, and whether this app version works with OpenKnowledge Cloud. |
Main commands
open-knowledge-cloud projects
open-knowledge-cloud exec --project example-workspace/example-project 'ls'
open-knowledge-cloud exec --project example-workspace/example-project 'cat notes/plan.md'
open-knowledge-cloud search --project example-workspace/example-project --query 'onboarding'
open-knowledge-cloud upload ./diagram.png --project example-workspace/example-project
open-knowledge-cloud open notes/plan.md --project example-workspace/example-project| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
projects | List the brains you can reach, with the name and scope/name to pass as --project. |
exec | Run one quoted shell command against a brain's files, such as cat, ls, grep, sed -i or mv. |
search | Full-text search across a brain. |
upload <file> | Add a local file to a brain and print its path. |
open [path] | Open a brain, page or folder in the OpenKnowledge Cloud app. |
properties, versions, comments, links, skills | The same tools as on the MCP server; see What the connector can do. |
members, invitations, share, shared_with_me, skill_registry | Account and sharing tools, the same as on the MCP server. |
update | Ask the running app to check for an update and install it. |
uninstall | Remove what OpenKnowledge Cloud added to this computer, such as the command links and the MCP entries in your AI tools. |
Put options before the quoted exec command. Every command takes --help, and each tool input is a flag of the same name, such as --query or --op.path. --schema prints a command's exact input schema.
Choose a brain
A command works on the brain you name with --project. Use a name or scope/name from open-knowledge-cloud projects. When you run the CLI from a terminal the app opened for a brain, or inside a folder synced with one, it uses that brain without --project.