# Command reference
Exhaustive flag-level reference for every `clipmem` command and
subcommand. For conceptual explanations and usage guidance, see
[searching and filtering](searching-and-filtering.md),
[output formats](output-formats.md), and
[managing your archive](managing-your-archive.md).
## Subcommand overview
| `recall [QUERY]` | `md` | yes | Ranked best-first answer with alternatives |
| `search <QUERY>` | `text` | yes | Lexical / FTS match over the archive |
| `recent` | `text` | yes | Recent unique snapshots (deduplicated) |
| `timeline` | `text` | yes | Chronological capture events (not deduplicated) |
| `get <ID>` | `text` | no | Nested detail for one snapshot |
| `restore <ID>` | `text` | — | Restore a stored snapshot to the clipboard |
| `export <ID>` | raw bytes | — | Write one representation to disk |
| `forget <ID>` | `text` | — | Hard-delete one snapshot and its history |
| `purge` | `text` | — | Delete old snapshots by age |
| `settings show` | `text` | no | Show capture policy |
| `settings pause` | `text` | — | Pause or resume capture |
| `settings api-key-filter` | `text` | — | Enable or disable API key filtering |
| `settings retention` | `text` | — | Set retention duration |
| `settings ignore` | `text` | no | Manage ignored bundle IDs |
| `setup` | — | — | Initialize and start background capture |
| `service start` | — | — | Start background capture |
| `service stop` | — | — | Stop background capture |
| `service status` | `text` | — | Report watcher state and freshness |
| `service uninstall` | — | — | Remove managed service definition |
| `watch` | — | — | Continuous foreground polling |
| `capture-once` | — | — | Single clipboard capture |
| `doctor` | `text` | — | SQLite and FTS5 diagnostics |
| `agents openclaw install-skill` | — | — | Install packaged skill |
| `agents openclaw uninstall-skill` | — | — | Remove installed skill |
| `agents openclaw print-skill` | — | — | Print SKILL.md to stdout |
| `agents openclaw doctor` | `text` | — | Integration health check |
## Global flags
- `--db <path>` — override the SQLite database path. Default:
`~/Library/Application Support/clipmem/clipmem.sqlite3`.
## Shared retrieval filters
These flags are accepted by `search`, `recent`, `timeline`, `recall`,
`get`, and `export`:
| `--since <RFC3339>` | timestamp | Captures at or after this time |
| `--until <RFC3339>` | timestamp | Captures at or before this time |
| `--hours <N>` | integer | Last N hours (ignored if `--since` set) |
| `--app <name>` | string | Case-insensitive substring match on app name |
| `--bundle-id <id>` | string | Case-insensitive exact match on bundle ID |
| `--kind <type>` | enum | `text`, `html`, `rtf`, `url`, `file`, `image`, `pdf`, `binary`, `other` |
| `--has-text` | flag | Require non-empty text representation |
| `--has-url` | flag | Require URL representation |
| `--has-file-url` | flag | Require file URL representation |
| `--has-image` | flag | Require image representation |
| `--has-pdf` | flag | Require PDF representation |
| `--min-bytes <N>` | integer | Minimum snapshot byte count |
| `--max-bytes <N>` | integer | Maximum snapshot byte count |
---
## Retrieval commands
### `clipmem recall [QUERY]`
Best-first ranked answer with alternatives.
| `--format` | `md\|json\|toon` | `md` | Output format |
| `--mode` | `auto\|fts\|literal` | `auto` | Search mode |
| `--limit` | 1-250 | 5 | Ranked candidates to consider |
| `--full` | flag | — | Expand best candidate text |
| `--quote` | flag | — | Force quoted best-text output |
| `--min-score` | 0.0-1.0 | — | Minimum match score threshold |
| `--prefer-recent` | flag | — | Bias ranking toward recency |
| `--prefer-app` | string | — | Bias toward matching app |
| + shared filters | | | |
```bash
clipmem recall "what was that command I copied?"
clipmem recall "find the URL" --format json
clipmem recall --prefer-recent --hours 24
clipmem recall "exact text" --quote --full
```
### `clipmem search <QUERY>`
Direct lexical matching over stored text.
| `--format` | `text\|json\|jsonl\|md\|toon` | `text` | Output format |
| `--json` | flag | — | Alias for `--format json` |
| `--mode` | `auto\|fts\|literal` | `auto` | Search mode |
| `--limit` | 1-250 | 10 | Page size |
| `--cursor` | string | — | Resume from prior `next_cursor` |
| + shared filters | | | |
```bash
clipmem search "git commit -m"
clipmem search "https://example.com" --format json
clipmem search --mode literal "foo:bar"
clipmem search --mode fts "\"launchctl\" AND bootstrap"
```
### `clipmem recent`
Recent unique clipboard states, deduplicated by snapshot.
| `--format` | `text\|json\|jsonl\|md\|toon` | `text` | Output format |
| `--json` | flag | — | Alias for `--format json` |
| `--limit` | 1-250 | 10 | Page size |
| `--cursor` | string | — | Resume from prior `next_cursor` |
| + shared filters | | | |
```bash
clipmem recent
clipmem recent --hours 24 --app safari
clipmem recent --format json --limit 25 --cursor "<next_cursor>"
```
### `clipmem timeline`
Chronological capture events, one row per observation.
| `--format` | `text\|json\|jsonl\|md\|toon` | `text` | Output format |
| `--json` | flag | — | Alias for `--format json` |
| `--sort` | `asc\|desc` | `desc` | Chronological sort order |
| `--limit` | 1-250 | 10 | Page size |
| `--cursor` | string | — | Resume from prior `next_cursor` |
| + shared filters | | | |
```bash
clipmem timeline --hours 24
clipmem timeline --sort asc --format json
clipmem timeline --app safari --has-url --limit 25 --format json
```
### `clipmem get <SNAPSHOT_ID>`
Nested item/representation detail for a single snapshot.
| `--format` | `text\|json\|jsonl\|md` | `text` | Output format (no `toon`) |
| `--json` | flag | — | Alias for `--format json` |
| `--events` | 1-250 | 10 | Recent capture events to include |
| + shared filters | | | |
```bash
clipmem get 42
clipmem get 42 --format json
clipmem get 42 --events 25 --format md
```
---
## Action commands
### `clipmem restore <SNAPSHOT_ID>`
Restore the full stored snapshot back onto the macOS clipboard.
| `--format` | `text\|json` | `text` | Output format |
| `--json` | flag | — | Alias for `--format json` |
```bash
clipmem restore 42
clipmem restore 42 --format json
```
### `clipmem export <SNAPSHOT_ID>`
Write one stored representation as raw bytes to a file.
| `--item` | integer | required | 0-based item index |
| `--uti` | string | required | Representation UTI |
| `--out` | path | required | Destination file path |
| `--force` | flag | — | Replace existing regular file |
| `--format` | `text\|json` | `text` | Output format |
| `--json` | flag | — | Alias for `--format json` |
| + shared filters | | | |
```bash
clipmem export 42 --item 0 --uti public.png --out ./clipboard.png
clipmem export 42 --item 0 --uti public.png --out ./clipboard.png \
--force
clipmem export 42 --item 0 --uti public.png --out ./clipboard.png \
--format json
```
### `clipmem forget <SNAPSHOT_ID>`
Irreversibly delete one snapshot and its capture history.
| `--format` | `text\|json` | `text` | Output format |
| `--json` | flag | — | Alias for `--format json` |
```bash
clipmem forget 42
clipmem forget 42 --format json
```
### `clipmem purge`
Delete snapshots older than a given duration.
| `--older-than` | duration | required | Age threshold (`Nd`, `Nh`, `Nm`) |
| `--dry-run` | flag | — | Preview without deleting |
| `--format` | `text\|json` | `text` | Output format |
| `--json` | flag | — | Alias for `--format json` |
```bash
clipmem purge --older-than 30d
clipmem purge --older-than 12h --dry-run
clipmem purge --older-than 30d --dry-run --format json
```
---
## Management commands
### `clipmem setup`
Initialize the database, seed one capture, and start background
capture.
```bash
clipmem setup
clipmem setup --db /tmp/clipmem.sqlite3
```
Re-running `setup` is safe and updates the managed service definition.
### `clipmem service start`
Start background capture using the preferred service provider.
### `clipmem service stop`
Stop background capture without uninstalling the service definition.
### `clipmem service status`
Report provider state, freshness, and service wiring.
| `--json` | flag | — | Emit status as JSON |
```bash
clipmem service status
clipmem service status --json
```
### `clipmem service uninstall`
Remove the managed service definition.
### `clipmem watch`
Continuously poll the clipboard and archive observed changes.
| `--interval-ms` | integer | 400 | Poll interval in milliseconds |
| `--quiet` | flag | — | Suppress per-capture status lines |
| `--skip-initial` | flag | — | Skip the already-present clipboard state |
```bash
clipmem watch
clipmem watch --interval-ms 350
clipmem watch --skip-initial --quiet
```
Intervals below 50ms are clamped to 50ms at runtime.
### `clipmem capture-once`
Capture the current clipboard state once.
| `--json` | flag | — | Emit captured snapshot as JSON |
```bash
clipmem capture-once
clipmem capture-once --json
```
---
## Settings commands
### `clipmem settings show`
Show the current capture policy.
| `--format` | `text\|json` | `text` | Output format |
| `--json` | flag | — | Alias for `--format json` |
### `clipmem settings pause <on|off>`
Persistently pause (`on`) or resume (`off`) capture.
### `clipmem settings api-key-filter <on|off>`
Enable (`on`) or disable (`off`) API key filtering.
### `clipmem settings retention <duration|forever>`
Set retention to a duration (`30d`, `12h`, `15m`) or `forever` to
disable automatic pruning.
### `clipmem settings ignore add <BUNDLE_ID>`
Add a bundle ID to the ignore list.
### `clipmem settings ignore remove <BUNDLE_ID>`
Remove a bundle ID from the ignore list.
### `clipmem settings ignore list`
List ignored bundle IDs.
| `--format` | `text\|json` | `text` | Output format |
| `--json` | flag | — | Alias for `--format json` |
---
## Diagnostics
### `clipmem doctor`
Print SQLite and FTS5 diagnostics.
| `--json` | flag | — | Emit diagnostics as JSON |
```bash
clipmem doctor
clipmem doctor --json
```
A nonzero exit code means required checks failed.
---
## Agent integration
### `clipmem agents openclaw install-skill`
Install the packaged clipboard-memory skill into OpenClaw.
| `--shared` | flag | — | Install to shared directory (`~/.openclaw/skills/`) |
| `--dest` | path | — | Install to a specific directory |
| `--force` | flag | — | Replace an existing skill directory |
```bash
clipmem agents openclaw install-skill
clipmem agents openclaw install-skill --shared
clipmem agents openclaw install-skill --dest /path/to/skill --force
```
### `clipmem agents openclaw uninstall-skill`
Remove an installed skill directory.
| `--shared` | flag | — | Remove from shared directory |
| `--dest` | path | — | Remove from a specific directory |
### `clipmem agents openclaw print-skill`
Print the packaged SKILL.md to stdout for inspection.
### `clipmem agents openclaw doctor`
Check host PATH, installed skill state, and sandbox guidance.
| `--shared` | flag | — | Check shared directory |
| `--dest` | path | — | Check a specific directory |
```bash
clipmem agents openclaw doctor
clipmem agents openclaw doctor --shared
```
A nonzero exit code means required integration checks failed.
---
## Environment variables
- `CLIPMEM_OPENCLAW_WORKSPACE` — overrides the OpenClaw workspace root
used by `agents openclaw install-skill` and `agents openclaw doctor`.
Falls back to `openclaw config get agents.defaults.workspace`, then
`~/.openclaw/workspace`.
- `HOME` — resolves `~/` in default paths.
## Exit codes
| `0` | Success |
| `1` | Uncategorized runtime failure |
| `2` | Invalid arguments |
| `3` | Not found |
| `4` | Unsupported format for this subcommand |
| `5` | Database error |
| `6` | Platform error (macOS API or filesystem) |
