Quickstart¶
From a fresh install to an AI tool reading your context.
The installer offers to do this for you
install.sh and install.ps1 end by offering to run contextd init. Everything below is that same wizard, done by hand.
1. Pick a mode¶
A guided setup: choose a mode, and every option is explained as you select it.
| Mode | For | Needs |
|---|---|---|
| solo | One person, one machine | Nothing |
| client | Joining a team | A server URL and an API token from its admin |
| server | Hosting for a team | A machine others can reach |
The wizard asks for your identity, offers a starting template from the catalog, lets you pick a storage backend, and wires the AI tools it finds. It finishes by listing every file it created and what each one is for.
Changed your mind later:
For CI and scripts, the subcommands take flags instead:
2. Wire your AI tools¶
In any project directory:
This writes each detected tool's session-start file — CLAUDE.md, .cursor/rules/contextverse.mdc, .github/copilot-instructions.md, AGENTS.md and so on — pointing at your space.
contextd plugin list # what is detected, and how
contextd plugin install # (re)wire specific clients
contextd plugin refresh # fetch community integrations
See how delivery works per client below.
3. Write some context¶
The space is ordinary Markdown. Edit it however you like — contextd also has an editor that records a version each time you save:
contextd file edit identity/me.md # opens $EDITOR, saves a new vN
contextd file list # every tracked file with its version
contextd file history identity/me.md # who changed it, and when
contextd file get identity/me.md -v 2 # read an older version
Prefer a full-screen view:
4. Check your work¶
How context reaches each tool¶
The slots are not equal, and contextd does not pretend they are:
| Client | Slot | Nature |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | SessionStart hook in settings.json |
Live — re-reads the space every session |
| Cursor | .cursor/rules/contextverse.mdc |
Snapshot, refreshed on activate |
| Windsurf | .windsurfrules |
Snapshot |
| GitHub Copilot | .github/copilot-instructions.md |
Snapshot |
| opencode | AGENTS.md, marked block |
Snapshot; your own content in that file is preserved |
| MCP clients | contextd mcp serve (stdio) |
Live tools |
ChatGPT and other closed web UIs¶
They expose no slot, so delivery is manual:
Nothing detected?¶
contextd asks which tools you actually use and wires those. It never guesses silently.
Server quickstart¶
Headless or over SSH:
contextd init server --noui --non-interactive \
--data-dir /srv/contextverse --space team --admin admin
The bootstrap admin token is printed once and also written to <data-dir>/auth/bootstrap_admin.token. It expires on its own — copy it, delete that file, then issue a long-lived one.
Add a teammate:
contextd user add alice
contextd user role alice contributor
contextd user reset-token alice # prints a token once — give it to Alice
Manage its spaces:
More in Server and Auth & ACL.
Client quickstart¶
Alice, with the URL and the token she was given:
Or just contextd init and pick client — the wizard verifies the token before writing anything, and lets her choose from the spaces it can actually see.
Then:
contextd pull # get the latest
contextd activate # wire her AI tools
contextd push # publish her changes
contextd daemon start # optional: poll and pull in the background
contextd daemon install # or have it start at login
Looking around your own space¶
Once there is context in it, these are the everyday commands:
contextd search "deploy" # find text — paths and contents
contextd graph # the map your documents already describe
contextd graph --broken # links that point at nothing
contextd freshness check # what has gone stale, and who owns it
contextd tui # the same, in a terminal UI
contextd ui # or in a browser, on demand — Ctrl-C to stop
Where to go next¶
- CLI reference — every command,
--jsonoutput, exit codes - Server — configuration, TLS, webhooks, audit
- Auth & ACL — policies and path rules
- Deploy — Docker, Helm, systemd, launchd