Quickstart

This page takes you from zero to an AI agent editing your knowledge base.

1. Pick a project

Either initialize Open Knowledge in an existing project:

cd your-project
npx @inkeep/open-knowledge init

Or clone a fresh one:

npx @inkeep/open-knowledge clone https://github.com/owner/repo

init scaffolds an .ok/ directory, registers the MCP server with every supported editor it detects, and installs a skill that teaches the agent how to call the MCP tools. Safe to re-run. Claude Desktop's Chat and Cowork modes need a separate install; see Claude Desktop.

2. Open the project in your AI tool

Open the project in Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, or Claude Desktop.

If your tool prompts you to approve a new MCP server (Cursor does this), approve open-knowledge.

3. Ask the agent to edit a doc

Try one of these:

Add a new note explaining how this project handles authentication.

Search for any docs that mention OAuth.

List the recent changes to the docs folder.

The agent calls Open Knowledge's MCP tools (write_document, search, list_documents, and friends — see the MCP reference for the full list). On the first write, the editor opens in your browser and the change streams in live.

4. Look around

The editor's sidebar shows every doc in your knowledge base. Each doc has:

• A WYSIWYG body and a source-mode toggle
• A frontmatter panel for properties
• A timeline of recent edits with per-burst diffs and selective rollback
• Backlinks to other docs that reference it

The full feature tour is under Features.

What's next

• Per-editor setup details: Integrations
• Tools the agent has access to: MCP
• .ok/config.yml schema: Configuration
• Every CLI command and flag: CLI