CLI Reference
How to think about the CLI
Conduit is a local knowledge base plus an MCP server surface for AI clients. Most people live in four command families:
conduit kb ... for ingestion, sync, and search.conduit mcp ... for MCP status/config and client wiring.Ops commands like conduit status, conduit doctor, and conduit service ... for health and lifecycle.
Optional conduit kb kag-... for knowledge graph build and queries.
If you're brand new, start with Quickstart: /docs/quickstart .
Common workflows (copy/paste)
1) Install sanity checks
conduit --version conduit status conduit doctor Install details and prerequisites: /docs/install
2) KB: add sources
# Add a docs folder conduit kb add ~/Documents/my-project --name "My Project Docs"
# Add a code repo conduit kb add ~/code/my-repo --name "My Repo"
# List sources conduit kb list Quickstart context: /docs/quickstart
3) KB: build vectors (RAG sync)
# Sync all sources (builds full-text + vectors) conduit kb sync
# Reset vectors if needed (slow, use sparingly) conduit kb sync --rebuild-vectors First sync is usually the slowest. Quickstart: /docs/quickstart
4) KB: search / query
# Hybrid search (default) conduit kb search "how does authentication work"
# Semantic search conduit kb search "user login security" --semantic
# Keyword search conduit kb search "OAuth2 client_id" --fts5 Quickstart search flow: /docs/quickstart
5) KAG (optional): build + query
KAG is slower and heavier. Use it only when you need multi-hop, entity/relationship reasoning.
conduit kb kag-sync conduit kb kag-query "Kubernetes" conduit kb kag-query "authentication" --entities OAuth,JWT --max-hops 2 KAG guidance: /docs/kag
6) MCP: confirm server + generate config
# Check MCP status and capabilities conduit mcp status
# Auto-configure a supported client (default: Claude Code) conduit mcp configure
# See detected clients and config paths conduit client list
# KB MCP server (launched by clients) conduit mcp kb Client-specific guidance: /docs/mcp
7) Ops: logs / reset / uninstall pointers
# Service lifecycle conduit service status conduit service start conduit service stop
# Diagnostics conduit doctor
# MCP logs conduit mcp logs
# Connector instance logs conduit logs < instance-i d >
# Uninstall (see install doc for details) conduit uninstall Troubleshooting guidance: /docs/troubleshooting
Command index (structured table)
For the full Command Suite and flags, see the upstream CLI index: CLI Command Index .
Setup
Conduit Command What it does When you use it Link conduit setupRun the interactive setup wizard First-time setup or reconfiguration Install conduit doctorRun diagnostics Troubleshooting health issues Troubleshooting conduit install-depsInstall runtime dependencies Manual installs or missing deps CLI index
Dependencies (deps)
Conduit Command What it does When you use it Link conduit deps statusCheck dependency status Verify Podman/Docker/Ollama CLI index conduit deps install <dependency>Install a specific dependency Fix a missing dependency CLI index conduit deps validate <dependency> <path>Validate custom binary paths Custom installs CLI index
Service
Conduit Command What it does When you use it Link conduit service installInstall daemon as a service After install Admin conduit service startStart the daemon service Recovery/startup Admin conduit service stopStop the daemon service Maintenance Admin conduit service statusCheck daemon service status Troubleshooting Admin conduit service removeRemove daemon service Cleanup/reset Admin
Instance (connectors)
Conduit Command What it does When you use it Link conduit installInstall a connector instance Add a new MCP connector MCP conduit create <package-id>Create a connector instance Create without starting MCP conduit listList connector instances See what's installed MCP conduit start <id>Start an instance Run a connector MCP conduit stop <id>Stop an instance Pause a connector MCP conduit remove <id>Remove an instance Cleanup MCP conduit logs <id>View instance logs Debug a connector MCP conduit audit <id>Show instance audit logs Advanced security review CLI index
Client
Conduit Command What it does When you use it Link conduit client listList detected AI clients See config locations MCP conduit client bind <id>Bind instance to a client Enable tools in a client MCP conduit client unbind <id>Remove a client binding Disable tools in a client MCP conduit client bindings <id>List bindings for an instance Validate MCP wiring MCP
Knowledge Base (kb)
Conduit Command What it does When you use it Link conduit kb add <path>Add a KB source Start ingestion Quickstart conduit kb listList KB sources Check what's indexed Quickstart conduit kb syncSync sources and build vectors After adding/changing docs Quickstart conduit kb search <query>Search the KB Validate retrieval Quickstart conduit kb statsKB statistics Inspect scale/health CLI index conduit kb remove <id>Remove a source Cleanup Quickstart conduit kb migrateMigrate to vector store Legacy KB migration CLI index
Knowledge Graph (kag)
Conduit Command What it does When you use it Link conduit kb kag-syncExtract entities/relations Build the graph KAG conduit kb kag-statusShow extraction status Track KAG progress KAG conduit kb kag-query <query>Query the knowledge graph Multi-hop reasoning KAG conduit kb kag-retryRetry failed extractions Recovery KAG conduit kb kag-dedupeDeduplicate entities Improve graph quality KAG conduit kb kag-vectorizeVectorize entities Hybrid entity search KAG
MCP
Conduit Command What it does When you use it Link conduit mcp configureAuto-configure MCP in clients Quick wiring MCP conduit mcp statusMCP status and capabilities Validate MCP setup MCP conduit mcp kbRun KB MCP server Client launches this MCP conduit mcp stdio --instance <id>Run MCP over stdio for an instance Custom MCP wiring MCP conduit mcp logsShow MCP logs Debug MCP MCP
Ollama
Conduit Command What it does When you use it Link conduit ollama statusShow Ollama status Semantic/KAG health CLI index conduit ollama modelsList installed models Verify model availability CLI index conduit ollama pull <model>Download a model Install missing models CLI index conduit ollama warmupPreload models Reduce cold starts CLI index
Qdrant
Conduit Command What it does When you use it Link conduit qdrant installInstall Qdrant container Enable semantic search Install conduit qdrant startStart Qdrant Restore semantic search Troubleshooting conduit qdrant stopStop Qdrant Maintenance Troubleshooting conduit qdrant statusCheck Qdrant status Debug vectors Troubleshooting conduit qdrant attachEnable semantic search Attach to running daemon CLI index conduit qdrant purgeClear vectors Reset vector store CLI index
FalkorDB
Conduit Command What it does When you use it Link conduit falkordb installInstall FalkorDB container Enable KAG graph Install conduit falkordb startStart FalkorDB Restore KAG Troubleshooting conduit falkordb stopStop FalkorDB Maintenance Troubleshooting conduit falkordb statusCheck FalkorDB status Debug KAG Troubleshooting
Config
Conduit Command What it does When you use it Link conduit configShow config Review settings CLI index conduit config get <key>Read a config value Inspect a setting CLI index conduit config set <key> <value>Set a config value Update settings CLI index conduit config unset <key>Remove a config value Reset a setting CLI index
System
Conduit Command What it does When you use it Link conduit statusDaemon health check When things feel off Troubleshooting conduit statsDaemon statistics Inspect usage CLI index conduit backupBackup data Before risky changes CLI index conduit uninstallUninstall Conduit Deprovisioning Install conduit eventsStream daemon events Debug sync/indexing CLI index
Permissions
Conduit Command What it does When you use it Link conduit permissions <instance-id>Manage instance permissions Advanced access control CLI index
Tips that prevent pain
If search returns nothing, you probably forgot conduit kb sync.
If semantic results are empty, check conduit doctor and confirm Qdrant + Ollama are healthy.
If you see partial sync warnings, try conduit kb sync --rebuild-vectors.
For MCP issues, run conduit mcp status and restart your client.
If a file type is missing, check your install and known issues: /docs/troubleshooting .
Related pages