CLI Reference

contxt add

The fastest way to capture anything. Type it in plain English — Contxt figures out whether it's a decision, pattern, or context automatically.

Basic usage

$ contxt add "We're using Postgres for ACID compliance and relational joins"

  Classified as: decision
  Save as decision? (Y/n/type) › 

  ✓ Decision saved: "We're using Postgres for ACID compliance..."

Contxt reads the text, classifies it by keyword signals, shows you the result, and saves it on confirmation. No API key required — classification is done locally, instantly.

How classification works

Contxt scans the text for keyword signals and picks the best match. No AI call needed.

Type	Signals detected
decision	"decided", "we use", "we chose", "we're using", "switched to", "migrated to", "going with", "instead of", "rationale"
pattern	"always", "never", "every time", "convention", "best practice", "when you", "make sure to", "should always"
context	"working on", "currently", "this sprint", "blocked by", "in progress", "implementing", "building"
document	default — no strong signals detected

Confirmation prompt

After classification, you're shown the result and asked to confirm:

Input	Action
Y (or Enter)	Save with the classified type
n	Discard — nothing is saved
type	Show a list to manually pick: decision / pattern / context / document

Skip classification with `--type`

If you already know the type, pass --type to skip the classification step entirely:

$ contxt add "Always wrap API calls in try/catch" --type pattern
  ✓ Pattern saved: "Always wrap API calls in try/catch"

$ contxt add "Working on the auth flow this sprint" --type context
  ✓ Context saved: "Working on the auth flow this sprint"

Options

Flag	Description
-t, --type <type>	Override auto-classification. Values: `decision`, `pattern`, `context`, `document`
--tags <tags...>	Tags to apply to the entry

contxt add vs. contxt decision add