Getting started

Welcome to Engrym. This page walks you through installing the CLI, connecting it to a project, and asking your first question of the Brain — in about five minutes.

You'll need Node.js 18 or later.

1. Install the CLI

Engrym ships as an npm package:

npm install -g @engrym/cli

Verify the install:

engrym --version

2. Create a project in the dashboard

Sign up at dashboard.engrym.com and create a project. The onboarding flow generates a setup token — a per-project credential — and shows you a one-line connect command.

3. Connect your machine

Run the one-liner from the dashboard. It authenticates the CLI and registers the Engrym MCP server with your AI tool in a single step:

ENGRYM_SETUP_TOKEN=<your-token> npx @engrym/cli setup claude-code

Supported tools: claude-code, claude-desktop, cursor, windsurf, gemini, codex. The project is resolved automatically from the token. The token is stored once, in ~/.engrym/config.yaml (file mode 600) — it is never written into any tool's config.

Prefer a hosted connector with no local install — or connecting on ChatGPT, the web, or iOS where npx can't run? Use the remote OAuth connector at https://engrym-mcp-remote.fly.dev/mcp instead; you authorize once in the browser.

Check the connection:

engrym status

See MCP setup for per-tool details and the remote connector walkthrough.

4. Bring in your existing docs

If your project knowledge already lives in Markdown, import it. The Brain extractor unpacks knowledge atoms — conventions, constraints, decisions, context — in the background, using your own provider key (BYOK), configured in the dashboard.

engrym import obsidian-vault ~/vaults/my-project
engrym import markdown-folder ./docs

Both commands print an import id; track progress with:

engrym import status <importId>

You can also create documents directly:

engrym doc create docs/architecture/providers.md --content "# Provider strategy"

5. Query the Brain

Ask your AI agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, Codex, ChatGPT) a question about your project — with the MCP server wired in step 3, the agent surfaces the relevant atoms automatically. Or query directly from the terminal:

engrym brain query "provider strategy"

brain query is full-text search across atoms; it needs the project connection from step 3. For the composed context bundle an agent sees, try:

engrym brain context

Next steps