CLI Reference

All commands support --json for machine-readable output and -v / --verbose for debug logging.

Quick Reference

palaia init [--agent NAME]                           Initialize store
palaia write "text" [--type TYPE] [--tags a,b]       Save knowledge
palaia query "search" [--type TYPE] [--project P]    Search by meaning
palaia get <id> [--from N] [--lines N]               Read entry
palaia list [--tier T] [--type T] [--status S]       List entries
palaia edit <id> [--status done] [--title T]         Edit entry
palaia status                                         System health
palaia doctor [--fix]                                 Diagnose + fix
palaia upgrade                                        Update palaia
palaia ui [--port] [--no-browser]                     WebUI explorer
palaia prune [--agent] [--tags] [--dry-run]           Selective cleanup
palaia project create|list|show|write|query|...      Projects
palaia memo send|inbox|ack|broadcast|gc              Messaging
palaia priorities [block|unblock|set|list-blocked]   Injection control
palaia curate analyze|apply                           Knowledge curation
palaia gc [--aggressive] [--budget]                  Garbage collection
palaia config list|get|set|set-chain|set-alias|...   Configuration
palaia detect                                         Provider detection
palaia warmup                                         Pre-build index
palaia embed-server [--socket] [--daemon]             Embedding server
palaia mcp-server [--read-only]                       MCP server
palaia ingest <source> [--project P]                  Document indexing
palaia sync export|import                             Git-based exchange
palaia package export|import|info                     Portable packages
palaia process list|run                               Process tracking
palaia lock|unlock                                    Project locks
palaia instance set|get|clear                         Session identity
palaia migrate [--format F]                           Import from other systems
palaia skill                                          Print SKILL.md

Core Commands

`palaia init`

Initialize a .palaia store.

Flag	Default	Description
`--agent`	auto-detect	Agent name
`--path`	`.`	Target directory
`--isolated`	—	Use isolated stores per agent
`--reset`	—	Reset config to defaults (preserves entries)
`--capture-level`	—	Auto-capture level: `off`, `minimal`, `normal`, `aggressive`

`palaia write`

Save structured knowledge.

Arg/Flag	Default	Description
`text`	(required)	Memory content
`--type`	`memory`	Type: `memory`, `process`, `task`
`--scope`	`team`	Scope: `private`, `team`, `public`
`--tags`	—	Comma-separated tags
`--title`	auto-extract	Short title
`--project`	—	Project name
`--agent`	—	Agent name
`--status`	—	Task: `open`, `in-progress`, `done`, `wontfix`
`--priority`	—	Task: `critical`, `high`, `medium`, `low`
`--assignee`	—	Task assignee
`--due-date`	—	Task due date (ISO-8601)
`--instance`	—	Session identity

`palaia query`

Search using hybrid BM25 + semantic ranking.

Arg/Flag	Default	Description
`query`	(required)	Search text
`--limit`	`10`	Max results
`--all`	—	Include COLD tier
`--type`	—	Filter: `memory`, `process`, `task`
`--project`	—	Filter by project
`--status`	—	Filter: `open`, `in-progress`, `done`, `wontfix`
`--priority`	—	Filter: `critical`, `high`, `medium`, `low`
`--assignee`	—	Filter by assignee
`--instance`	—	Filter by session
`--before`	—	Created before (ISO timestamp)
`--after`	—	Created after (ISO timestamp)
`--cross-project`	—	Search all projects
`--rag`	—	Output as RAG context block
`--agent`	—	Agent for scope filtering

`palaia get`

Read a specific entry.

Arg/Flag	Default	Description
`path`	(required)	Entry UUID or short prefix
`--from`	—	Start at line number (1-indexed)
`--lines`	—	Number of lines to return
`--agent`	—	Agent for scope filtering

`palaia list`

List entries in a tier.

Flag	Default	Description
`--tier`	`hot`	Tier: `hot`, `warm`, `cold`
`--all`	—	All tiers
`--type`	—	Filter by type
`--project`	—	Filter by project
`--tag`	—	Filter by tag (repeatable, AND logic)
`--scope`	—	Filter by scope
`--agent`	—	Filter by agent
`--status`	—	Filter by status
`--priority`	—	Filter by priority
`--assignee`	—	Filter by assignee
`--instance`	—	Filter by session
`--before`	—	Created before (ISO)
`--after`	—	Created after (ISO)
`--cross-project`	—	List across all projects

`palaia edit`

Edit an existing entry.

Arg/Flag	Default	Description
`entry_id`	(required)	Entry UUID or short prefix
`text`	—	New content
`--tags`	—	New tags (replaces)
`--title`	—	New title
`--type`	—	Change type
`--status`	—	Set status
`--priority`	—	Set priority
`--assignee`	—	Set assignee
`--due-date`	—	Set due date
`--agent`	—	Agent for scope enforcement

System Commands

`palaia status`

Show system health, entry counts, backend type, vector search method, embed-server status, and upgrade command.

`palaia doctor`

Flag	Default	Description
`--fix`	—	Auto-fix detected issues

Detects and fixes:

Missing or broken embedding chains
Orphaned entries on disk with empty database (e.g. after backup restore)
Stale embedding indexes
Version mismatches
Unread memos

`palaia upgrade`

Update palaia to latest version. Auto-detects install method, preserves extras, runs doctor, upgrades OpenClaw plugin.

`palaia ui`

Launch the local WebUI memory explorer in the browser. Requires pip install 'palaia[ui]'.

Flag	Default	Description
`--port`	8384	Port to bind (auto-fallback if busy, tries +10)
`--no-browser`	off	Don't auto-open the browser

Binds to 127.0.0.1 only (no auth). Features: browse/search/create/edit/delete entries, manual/auto-capture highlighting, task post-it sidebar, doctor health banner.

`palaia prune`

Selective cleanup of auto-captured entries.

Flag	Description
`--agent NAME`	Remove entries by specific agent
`--tags TAG,...`	Remove entries with matching tags
`--protect-type TYPE`	Never delete entries of this type
`--dry-run`	Preview what would be removed

`palaia detect`

Show available embedding providers, embed-server status, and sqlite-vec availability.

`palaia warmup`

Pre-compute embeddings for all entries. Run after provider changes.

Project Management

`palaia project create`

Arg/Flag	Description
`name`	Project name
`--description`	Project description
`--default-scope`	Default scope for entries
`--owner`	Project owner

`palaia project list`

Flag	Description
`--owner`	Filter by owner

`palaia project show <name>`

`palaia project write`

Arg/Flag	Description
`name`	Project name
`text`	Memory content
`--scope`, `--agent`, `--tags`, `--title`	Same as `palaia write`

`palaia project query`

Arg/Flag	Description
`name`	Project name
`query`	Search text
`--limit`	Max results (default: 10)

`palaia project set-scope <name> <scope>`

`palaia project set-owner <name> [owner]`

Flag	Description
`--clear`	Remove owner

`palaia project delete <name>`

Messaging

`palaia memo send`

Arg/Flag	Default	Description
`to`	(required)	Recipient agent
`message`	(required)	Message body
`--priority`	`normal`	`normal` or `high`
`--ttl-hours`	`72`	TTL in hours
`--agent`	—	Sender agent

`palaia memo broadcast`

Arg/Flag	Default	Description
`message`	(required)	Message body
`--priority`	`normal`	`normal` or `high`
`--ttl-hours`	`72`	TTL in hours
`--agent`	—	Sender agent

`palaia memo inbox`

Flag	Description
`--all`	Include read memos
`--agent`	Agent name

`palaia memo ack`

Arg/Flag	Description
`memo_id`	Memo ID (or `--all`)
`--all`	Acknowledge all unread
`--agent`	Agent name

`palaia memo gc`

Clean up expired memos.

Injection Priorities

`palaia priorities`

Simulate injection for a query.

Arg/Flag	Default	Description
`query`	—	Query to simulate
`--agent`	—	Agent name
`--project`	—	Project name
`--limit`	`10`	Max entries
`--all`	—	Include cold tier

`palaia priorities block <entry_id>`

Flag	Description
`--agent`	Block only for this agent
`--project`	Block only for this project

`palaia priorities unblock <entry_id>`

Same flags as block.

`palaia priorities set <key> <value>`

Flag	Description
`--agent`	Set for this agent only
`--project`	Set for this project only

Keys: recallMinScore, maxInjectedChars, tier, typeWeight.process, etc.

`palaia priorities list-blocked`

Flag	Description
`--agent`	Agent scope
`--project`	Project scope

`palaia priorities reset`

Flag	Description
`--agent`	Reset this agent's overrides
`--project`	Reset this project's overrides

Knowledge Management

`palaia gc`

Flag	Description
`--dry-run`	Preview without changes
`--budget`	Enforce `max_entries_per_tier` and `max_total_chars` limits

`palaia curate analyze`

Flag	Description
`--project`	Filter by project
`--agent`	Filter by agent
`--output`	Output report path

`palaia curate apply <report>`

Flag	Description
`--output`	Output package path

`palaia ingest`

Arg/Flag	Default	Description
`source`	(required)	File, URL, or directory
`--project`	—	Target project
`--scope`	`private`	Scope for ingested entries
`--tags`	—	Extra tags
`--chunk-size`	`500`	Words per chunk
`--chunk-overlap`	`50`	Overlap words
`--dry-run`	—	Preview without storing

Configuration

`palaia config list`

`palaia config get <key>`

`palaia config set <key> <value>`

`palaia config set-chain <providers...>`

palaia config set-chain openai fastembed bm25

`palaia config set-alias <from> <to>`

palaia config set-alias default alice

`palaia config get-aliases`

`palaia config remove-alias <from>`

Infrastructure

`palaia embed-server`

Flag	Default	Description
`--socket`	—	Unix socket transport
`--daemon`	—	Detached background process (requires `--socket`)
`--idle-timeout`	`0`	Auto-shutdown after N seconds idle
`--stop`	—	Stop running daemon
`--status`	—	Check if running

`palaia mcp-server`

Flag	Default	Description
`--root`	auto-detect	Path to `.palaia` directory
`--read-only`	—	Disable write operations

Data Exchange

`palaia sync export`

Flag	Description
`--remote`	Git remote URL
`--branch`	Branch name
`--output`	Local output directory
`--project`	Export only this project
`--agent`	Agent for scope filtering

`palaia sync import <source>`

Flag	Description
`--dry-run`	Preview without writing

`palaia package export <project>`

Flag	Description
`--output`	Output file path
`--types`	Comma-separated types to include

`palaia package import <file>`

Flag	Default	Description
`--project`	—	Override target project
`--merge`	`skip`	Strategy: `skip`, `overwrite`, `append`
`--agent`	—	Agent for attribution

`palaia package info <file>`

Other Commands

`palaia lock`

Arg/Flag	Description
`project`	Project name (shorthand for acquire)
`status <project>`	Show lock status
`renew <project>`	Extend lock TTL
`break <project>`	Force-break a lock
`list`	List all locks
`--agent`	Agent name
`--reason`	Lock reason
`--ttl`	TTL in seconds

`palaia unlock <project>`

`palaia instance set <name>`

`palaia instance get`

`palaia instance clear`

`palaia process list`

`palaia process run <entry_id>`

Flag	Description
`--step`	Step index (0-based)
`--done`	Mark step as done (requires `--step`)
`--agent`	Agent name

`palaia migrate`

Arg/Flag	Default	Description
`source`	—	Source path or file
`--format`	auto-detect	Format: `smart-memory`, `flat-file`, `json-memory`, `generic-md`
`--scope`	—	Override scope for all entries
`--dry-run`	—	Preview without writing
`--suggest`	—	Suggest type assignments for untyped entries

`palaia recover`

Replay pending WAL entries.

`palaia skill`

Print the embedded SKILL.md documentation.

`palaia setup claude-code`

Configure Claude Code to use palaia as MCP server. Writes ~/.claude/settings.json and generates a CLAUDE.md with agent instructions.

Flag	Description
`--global`	Write CLAUDE.md to `~/.claude/` instead of current directory
`--dry-run`	Preview planned actions without writing files
`--json`	Output result as JSON

See Claude Code Integration for the full guide.

`palaia setup --multi-agent`

Flag	Description
`--multi-agent <path>`	Path to agents directory
`--dry-run`	Preview without creating symlinks

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CLI Reference

Quick Reference

Core Commands

palaia init

palaia write

palaia query

palaia get

palaia list

palaia edit

System Commands

palaia status

palaia doctor

palaia upgrade

palaia ui

palaia prune

palaia detect

palaia warmup

Project Management

palaia project create

palaia project list

palaia project show <name>

palaia project write

palaia project query

palaia project set-scope <name> <scope>

palaia project set-owner <name> [owner]

palaia project delete <name>

Messaging

palaia memo send

palaia memo broadcast

palaia memo inbox

palaia memo ack

palaia memo gc

Injection Priorities

palaia priorities

palaia priorities block <entry_id>

palaia priorities unblock <entry_id>

palaia priorities set <key> <value>

palaia priorities list-blocked

palaia priorities reset

Knowledge Management

palaia gc

palaia curate analyze

palaia curate apply <report>

palaia ingest