CLI Reference

Lifecycle

Command	Description
abmind install	First-time setup of ~/.abmind (creates dirs, DB, templates)
abmind update	Build current checkout, stage new release, flip symlink
abmind rollback [--to <version>]	Flip current symlink to a prior release
abmind doctor [--fix]	Health check — permissions, DB, ollama, templates. --fix auto-corrects.
abmind status	Show lifecycle status (version, lock state, symlink target)
abmind install-host <host>	Install hooks into a host CLI (kiro, claude, gemini, codex)
abmind install-host <host> --uninstall	Remove hooks from a host CLI

Memory Operations

Command	Description
abmind recall --translated "keywords"	Search memories (multi-stage recall pipeline)
abmind store --translated "content"	Store a new extracted memory
abmind edit --id <id> [--content-en "..."]	Edit an existing memory's fields
abmind ingest <file>	Ingest a document into memory (extracts facts)
abmind embed	Batch-embed all memories missing embeddings
abmind expand --id <id>	Look up source messages by memory ID
abmind wake-up	Print current wake-up context (core identity + recent state)
abmind bundle	Print full session bundle (SOUL + profile + notes + memory tools)
abmind retro-extract	Extract facts from retrospective/consolidation files
abmind migrate-openclaw	Import OpenClaw session transcripts (.jsonl format)

Sleep

Command	Description
abmind sleep [--level <l>]	Run a sleep cycle. Levels: basic, budget, normal, ultimate
abmind sleep-state	Show sleep candidates as JSON (what would be processed)
abmind sleep-apply [--promote] [--demote] [--dry-run]	Promote/demote memories based on fitness
abmind sleep-report	Generate dream report (summary of last sleep)

Sleep flags

Flag	Effect
--level <l>	Depth: basic (fast, minimal), budget (light), normal (standard), ultimate (thorough)
--dry-run	Gather state + build prompts, print to stdout, skip LLM calls
--verbose	Detailed logging at each step
--force	Run housekeeping even if no new messages since last sleep

Secrets

Command	Description
abmind list-secrets	Show SECRET (class 3) memory metadata — no content, no decryption
abmind encrypt-secrets	Encrypt existing classification=3 rows that aren't yet encrypted
abmind rekey --old-key <path>	Re-encrypt all encrypted memories with a new key

Backup & Restore

Command	Description
abmind backup [--database] [--output <path>]	Create encrypted backup
abmind restore --input <path> [--mode merge|replace]	Restore from encrypted backup

See backup.md for full options and examples.

MCP Server

abmind mcp

Starts an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server on stdio. Exposes tools:

• memory_recall — search memories
• memory_store — store a new memory
• memory_edit — edit an existing memory
• memory_status — show memory stats
• memory_wakeup — get wake-up context

Works with any MCP client (Cursor, Windsurf, Continue, Zed, etc.).

Hooks (Host Integration)

Used by Kiro CLI, Claude Code, and Gemini CLI for automatic memory integration:

Command	Hook point	Description
abmind hook-wakeup	Session start (agentSpawn)	Inject wake-up context into new session
abmind hook-recall	Before prompt (userPromptSubmit)	Recall relevant memories for the current message
abmind hook-store	Session end (stop)	Record the conversation turn
abmind hook-preToolUse	Before tool execution	Security gate — blocks direct DB writes
abmind hook-postToolUse	After tool execution	Captures tool context for memory extraction
abmind hook-doctor	Manual	Diagnose hook config, errors, active sidecars

Global flags

These work with any subcommand:

Flag	Effect
--help	Show usage for the subcommand

Environment

All commands respect ABMIND_HOME (default: ~/.abmind). See configuration.md for the full env var reference.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Error (message printed to stderr)