IWE CLI

Command-line interface for IWE - memory system for you and your AI agents.

Installation

Install from source:

cargo install --path .

Or build locally:

cargo build --release

Quick start

mkdir my-notes && cd my-notes
iwe init

iwe new "Project Overview"
iwe new "Meeting Notes" --template meeting

iwe find
iwe find "project"

iwe retrieve -k project-overview
iwe tree --depth 3

iwe normalize
iwe stats

Commands

init

Initialize a new IWE workspace with configuration.

iwe init

Creates .iwe/config.toml with default settings for markdown processing.

new

Create a new document in the workspace.

iwe new "Document Title"
iwe new "Daily Note" --template daily
iwe new "Import" --content "# Imported content"
echo "piped content" | iwe new "From Stdin"
iwe new "Maybe Duplicate" --if-exists skip

Options:

• -t, --template <NAME> - template name from config
• -c, --content <TEXT> - document content
• -i, --if-exists <MODE> - behavior when file exists: suffix (default), override, skip
• -e, --edit - open created file in $EDITOR

find

Search and discover documents.

iwe find                           # list all documents
iwe find "search query"            # fuzzy match on title and key
iwe find --roots                   # only root documents (no incoming refs)
iwe find --refs-to project         # documents referencing "project"
iwe find --refs-from project       # documents referenced by "project"
iwe find -l 10                     # limit results
iwe find -f json                   # output as JSON

Options:

• --roots - only root documents (no incoming block refs)
• --refs-to <KEY> - documents that reference this key
• --refs-from <KEY> - documents referenced by this key
• -l, --limit <N> - maximum results
• -f, --format <FORMAT> - output format: markdown (default), keys, json

retrieve

Retrieve document content with configurable expansion.

iwe retrieve -k my-document
iwe retrieve -k doc1 -k doc2       # multiple documents
iwe retrieve -k doc -d 2           # expand refs 2 levels deep
iwe retrieve -k doc -c 0           # no parent context
iwe retrieve -k doc --links        # include inline references
iwe retrieve -k doc -e other-doc   # exclude specific documents
iwe retrieve -k doc -f json        # JSON output
iwe retrieve -k doc --dry-run      # show document count and lines only
iwe retrieve -k doc --no-content   # metadata only

Options:

• -k, --key <KEY> - document key(s) to retrieve (repeatable)
• -d, --depth <N> - follow block refs down N levels (default: 1)
• -c, --context <N> - include N levels of parent context (default: 1)
• -l, --links - include inline references
• -b, --backlinks - include incoming references (default: true)
• -e, --exclude <KEY> - exclude document key(s) (repeatable)
• -f, --format <FORMAT> - output format: markdown (default), keys, json
• --dry-run - show document count and total lines without content
• --no-content - exclude document content from results (metadata only)

tree

Display the document hierarchy.

iwe tree                           # full tree, depth 4
iwe tree -d 2                      # limit depth
iwe tree -k project                # subtree from specific document(s)
iwe tree -f json                   # JSON output

Options:

• -k, --key <KEY> - filter to paths starting from specific document(s) (repeatable)
• -d, --depth <N> - maximum depth to traverse (default: 4)
• -f, --format <FORMAT> - output format: markdown (default), keys, json

normalize

Format and normalize all markdown files in the workspace.

iwe normalize

Applies consistent formatting to headers, lists, links, and spacing according to configuration.

squash

Combine content for a specific document key.

iwe squash document-name
iwe squash project --depth 3

Flattens hierarchical content into a single markdown document by expanding block references.

stats

Generate statistics about the knowledge graph.

iwe stats
iwe stats --format csv
iwe stats -f csv > stats.csv

Options:

• -f, --format <FORMAT> - output format: markdown (default), csv

export

Export knowledge graph in DOT format for visualization.

iwe export dot
iwe export dot --key project       # filter by key
iwe export dot --depth 3           # limit depth
iwe export dot --include-headers   # include section headers as subgraphs

Options:

• -k, --key <KEY> - filter nodes by specific key
• -d, --depth <N> - limit traversal depth
• --include-headers - include section headers with colored subgraphs

rename

Rename a document key, updating all references across the graph.

iwe rename old-key new-key
iwe rename old-key new-key --dry-run
iwe rename old-key new-key --keys  # print affected document keys

Options:

• --dry-run - preview changes without writing to disk
• --quiet - suppress progress output
• --keys - print affected document keys (one per line)

delete

Delete a document from the knowledge graph.

iwe delete document-key
iwe delete document-key --force    # skip confirmation
iwe delete document-key --dry-run  # preview only

Options:

• --dry-run - preview changes without writing to disk
• --quiet - suppress progress output
• --keys - print affected document keys (one per line)
• --force - skip confirmation prompt

extract

Extract a section from a document into a new standalone document.

iwe extract my-doc --list                  # list sections with block numbers
iwe extract my-doc --section "Overview"    # extract by section title
iwe extract my-doc --block 2              # extract by block number
iwe extract my-doc --section "Notes" --action my-action

Options:

• --section <TITLE> - section title to extract (case-insensitive)
• --block <N> - block number to extract (1-indexed)
• --list - list all sections with block numbers
• --action <NAME> - action name from config
• --dry-run - preview changes without writing to disk
• --quiet - suppress progress output
• --keys - print affected document keys (one per line)

inline

Replace a block reference with the content of the referenced document.

iwe inline my-doc --list                    # list block references
iwe inline my-doc --reference "other-doc"   # inline by reference
iwe inline my-doc --block 1                 # inline by block number
iwe inline my-doc --block 1 --as-quote      # inline as blockquote
iwe inline my-doc --block 1 --keep-target   # keep target document

Options:

• --reference <KEY> - reference key or title to inline
• --block <N> - block number to inline (1-indexed)
• --list - list all block references with numbers
• --action <NAME> - action name from config
• --as-quote - inline as blockquote instead of section
• --keep-target - keep the target document after inlining
• --dry-run - preview changes without writing to disk
• --quiet - suppress progress output
• --keys - print affected document keys (one per line)

Configuration

IWE uses .iwe/config.toml for workspace configuration:

[library]
path = ""

[markdown]
refs_extension = false

Global options

All commands support:

• -v, --verbose <LEVEL> - set verbosity (0-2)
• -h, --help - show help information
• -V, --version - show version

License

Apache-2.0

Related projects

• IWE LSP Server - Language server for editor integration
• IWE MCP Server - MCP server for AI tool integration
• IWE Core Library - Core functionality and graph processing
• VSCode Extension
• Zed Plugin

For more information, visit iwe.md.