CLI Reference

CLI Reference

All slm commands — V3 has 18 commands grouped by function. All data-returning commands support --json for agent-native structured output.

Setup & Status

Command	Description
slm setup	Run the interactive setup wizard (mode selection, provider config)
slm status	Show system status (mode, database path, DB size)
slm mode	Show current operating mode
slm mode a|b|c	Switch operating mode
slm provider	Show current LLM provider
slm provider set	Configure LLM provider (Mode B/C)
slm health	Show math layer health (Fisher-Rao, Sheaf, Langevin stats)
slm warmup	Pre-download embedding model (~500MB, one-time)

Memory Operations

Store

slm remember "Fixed the auth bug — JWT expiry was set to 1 hour instead of 24"
slm remember "API rate limit is 100/min" --tags "api,config"
slm remember "Important fact" --json    # Agent-native JSON output

Store a memory. The system automatically extracts entities, facts, emotional signals, temporal markers, and builds graph connections.

Options:

• --tags "tag1,tag2" — Add tags
• --json — Output structured JSON (for agents, scripts, CI/CD)

Recall

slm recall "JWT token configuration"
slm recall "auth setup" --limit 5 --json

Retrieve memories relevant to a query. Uses 4-channel retrieval (semantic, keyword, entity graph, temporal) with RRF fusion and cross-encoder reranking.

Options:

• --limit N — Number of results (default: 10)
• --json — Output structured JSON

List

slm list                    # Last 20 memories (shows IDs for delete/update)
slm list -n 50 --json       # JSON output with fact IDs

List recent memories chronologically. Shows fact IDs needed for delete and update operations.

Options:

• --limit N / -n N — Number of entries (default: 20)
• --json — Output structured JSON

Trace

slm trace "JWT token configuration"
slm trace "database port" --json

Same as recall, but shows per-channel score breakdown — which retrieval channel (semantic, BM25, entity, temporal) contributed to each result. Useful for debugging retrieval quality.

Options:

• --json — Output structured JSON with channel_scores per result

Forget

slm forget "JWT token configuration"
slm forget "old staging config" --yes         # Skip confirmation
slm forget "old stuff" --json                 # Preview matches (no delete)
slm forget "old stuff" --json --yes           # Delete and return JSON

Delete memories matching a query. Shows matching memories and asks for confirmation before deleting.

Options:

• --yes / -y — Skip confirmation prompt
• --json — Output structured JSON (without --yes: preview only; with --yes: delete and confirm)

Delete

slm delete <fact_id>                # Delete by exact ID (with confirmation)
slm delete <fact_id> --yes          # Skip confirmation
slm delete <fact_id> --json --yes   # Delete and return JSON

Delete a specific memory by exact fact ID. Use slm list to find fact IDs.

Options:

• --yes / -y — Skip confirmation prompt
• --json — Output structured JSON

Update

slm update <fact_id> "corrected content"
slm update <fact_id> "new text" --json

Update the content of a specific memory. Use slm list to find fact IDs.

Options:

• --json — Output structured JSON

IDE Integration

slm connect        # Auto-detect and configure all installed IDEs
slm connect --list # Show which IDEs are configured
slm mcp            # Start MCP server (stdio transport — used by IDEs)

The slm mcp command is what your IDE calls internally. You typically don't run it directly — your IDE's MCP config handles it:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "superlocalmemory": {
      "command": "slm",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Profiles

slm profile list              # List all profiles
slm profile create <name>     # Create a new profile
slm profile switch <name>     # Switch active profile

Profiles provide complete memory isolation. Work, personal, and client memories never mix.

Migration

slm migrate                   # Upgrade V2 database to V3
slm migrate --rollback        # Undo migration

Dashboard

slm dashboard                 # Open web dashboard at http://localhost:8765
slm dashboard --port 9000     # Use a custom port

17-tab dashboard: memory browser, knowledge graph, recall lab, trust scores, math health, compliance, learning, IDE connections, settings, and more.

Examples

# Store a decision with tags
slm remember "Chose PostgreSQL over MongoDB for the user service. Reason: ACID transactions needed for billing." --tags "architecture,database"

# Recall with channel breakdown
slm trace "database decision for user service"

# Check system status
slm status

# Check math layer health
slm health

# Switch to full power mode
slm mode c

# Open the dashboard
slm dashboard

Agent-Native JSON Output

All data-returning commands support --json for structured output. The response follows a consistent envelope:

{
  "success": true,
  "command": "recall",
  "version": "3.0.22",
  "data": {
    "results": [
      {"fact_id": "abc123", "score": 0.87, "content": "Database uses PostgreSQL 16"}
    ],
    "count": 1,
    "query_type": "semantic"
  },
  "next_actions": [
    {"command": "slm list --json", "description": "List recent memories"}
  ]
}

Supported commands: recall, remember, list, status, health, trace, forget, delete, update, mode, profile, connect

Usage with jq:

slm recall "auth" --json | jq '.data.results[0].content'
slm list --json | jq '.data.results[].fact_id'
slm status --json | jq '.data.mode'

In CI/CD (GitHub Actions):

- name: Store deployment info
  run: slm remember "Deployed ${{ github.sha }}" --json

- name: Verify memory health
  run: slm status --json | jq -e '.success'

Dual Interface: MCP + CLI

SuperLocalMemory is the only AI memory system with both MCP and agent-native CLI:

Need	Use	Example
IDE integration	MCP	Auto-configured for 17+ IDEs via slm connect
Shell scripts	CLI + --json	slm recall "auth" --json | jq '.data.results'
CI/CD pipelines	CLI + --json	slm remember "deployed v2.1" --json
Agent frameworks	CLI + --json	OpenClaw, Codex, Goose, nanobot
Human use	CLI	slm recall "auth" (readable output)

Complete Command List

#	Command	--json	What It Does
1	slm setup		Interactive first-time wizard
2	slm mode [a|b|c]	Yes	Get or set operating mode
3	slm provider [set]		Get or set LLM provider
4	slm connect [--list]	Yes	Configure IDE integrations
5	slm migrate [--rollback]		V2 to V3 migration
6	slm remember "..."	Yes	Store a memory
7	slm recall "..." [--limit N]	Yes	Search memories
8	slm list [-n N]	Yes	List recent memories (shows IDs)
9	slm forget "..." [--yes]	Yes	Delete matching memories
10	slm delete <id> [--yes]	Yes	Delete specific memory by ID
11	slm update <id> "..."	Yes	Update a specific memory
12	slm status	Yes	System status
13	slm health	Yes	Math layer health
14	slm trace "..."	Yes	Recall with channel breakdown
15	slm mcp		Start MCP server (for IDE)
16	slm warmup		Pre-download embedding model
17	slm dashboard [--port N]		Launch web dashboard
18	slm profile list|create|switch	Yes	Profile management

---

Part of Qualixar | Created by Varun Pratap Bhardwaj