openkb chat is an interactive REPL over your wiki. Unlike query (one-shot), a
chat session keeps context across turns, can edit the KB through slash commands,
and is saved so you can resume it later.
openkb chatOpenKB Chat
~/research-kb · anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6 · session 20260625-143022-a1x
Type /help for commands, Ctrl-D to exit, Ctrl-C to abort the current response.
>>> How do the two papers differ on their use of attention?
Both rely on scaled dot-product attention, but…
· read_wiki_file(path="concepts/self-attention.md")
· read_wiki_file(path="summaries/deepseek-r1.md")
>>> /save attention-comparison
Saved to wiki/explorations/attention-comparison-20260625.md
Answers are grounded in your wiki: the agent reads concepts/, summaries/,
entities/, and source files, and shows the tool calls it makes. Responses render
as rich Markdown (headings, tables, code) in a terminal.
Every conversation is stored as JSON in <kb>/.openkb/chats/. Manage them with:
openkb chat --list # table of sessions: id · turns · updated · title
openkb chat --resume # resume the most recent session
openkb chat --resume 20260625 # resume by id or unique prefix
openkb chat --delete 20260625 # delete a sessionResuming replays the last few turns so you have context:
$ openkb chat --resume
Resumed session · 4 turn(s)
[3] >>> How do the two papers differ on their use of attention?
[3] Both rely on scaled dot-product attention, but…
[4] >>> /save attention-comparison
Inside the REPL, lines starting with / are commands rather than questions. Run
/help to see the current set; the built-ins are:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/help |
List available commands |
/exit, /quit |
Leave the REPL (Ctrl-D also works) |
/clear |
Start a fresh session (the previous one is saved) |
/save [name] |
Export the transcript to wiki/explorations/<name>-<date>.md |
/status |
Show KB status without leaving chat |
/list |
List documents in the KB |
/lint |
Run the integrity + knowledge lint |
/add <path> |
Ingest a file or directory (Tab-completes paths) |
/skill new <name> "<intent>" |
Compile a skill from the wiki — see skills/ |
/deck new [--critique] [--skill <name>] <name> "<intent>" |
Generate an HTML deck — see slides/ |
/critique <path> |
Run the HTML critic over an existing deck/page |
Slash commands run inline — errors are reported and the conversation continues; Ctrl-C aborts the running command without ending the session.
They turn chat into a workbench: ask a question, realize you're missing a source,
/add it, and keep going — all in one session. Because the chat agent can write
to wiki/explorations/** and output/**, asking it to "write that up as a note"
or "turn this into a skill" produces real files you keep.
openkb chat --no-color # disable colored output entirely
openkb chat --raw # show raw Markdown source, keep prompt/tool colors--no-color also respects the NO_COLOR environment variable.