KnownPath

KnownPath is an open-source shared knowledge network for AI coding agents. Its long-term purpose is to stop agents from repeatedly rediscovering the same technical solutions by making verified, reusable engineering experiences available through agent-native interfaces.

[!IMPORTANT] KnownPath is under active phased development. Phase 13 adds the portable installer CLI and safe adapters for five coding agents. Contribution/outcome tools, dashboards, public signup, and public anonymous access are not implemented yet. The installer is published as knownpath.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 24 LTS (.nvmrc tracks the supported major; package.json enforces the tested range)
• Corepack, included with the supported Node.js distribution
• Docker Desktop or another Docker Engine with Compose support, for local MongoDB

Install

corepack enable
pnpm install
cp .env.example .env

Generate independent BETTER_AUTH_SECRET and API_KEY_PEPPER values as described in .env.example. The committed example contains no credential defaults.

Start the current development environment

Start MongoDB:

pnpm dev:infra

Create or reconcile the current collections, validators, and indexes:

pnpm db:init

Optional persistence inspection and repository round-trip validation:

pnpm db:inspect
pnpm db:verify

Create the first local user or administrator through the masked CLI (registration is closed):

pnpm auth:user:create

Optionally set GITHUB_TOKEN in .env for the normal 5,000-request authenticated REST limit and GitHub Discussions access. Then preview or run a bounded collection:

pnpm ingest:github --source expo-core --types issues --limit 5 --dry-run
pnpm ingest:github --source expo-core --types issues --limit 5

See the GitHub ingestion guide before running a backfill.

Discover the current curated official-document set without writing source records, then synchronize a bounded source or one indexed page:

pnpm ingest:sources discover --source expo-documentation --limit 20
pnpm ingest:sources sync --source expo-documentation --limit 5 --dry-run
pnpm ingest:sources sync --source expo-documentation \
  --page https://docs.expo.dev/workflow/upgrading-expo-sdk-walkthrough --limit 1

See the official source ingestion guide before changing curation or requesting a bounded full-catalog run.

With a Gemini development key in the ignored .env, process or inspect a bounded public-source candidate:

pnpm extract one --source-item <uuid>
pnpm extract pending --limit 5
pnpm extract inspect --attempt <uuid>
pnpm extract inspect --candidate <uuid>

The unpaid Gemini path hard-rejects private/team source records before any provider call. Read the AI extraction guide before configuring the key or expanding a batch.

Score extracted candidates without calling an AI provider, then inspect the full breakdown/history:

pnpm score one --candidate <uuid>
pnpm score pending --limit 10
pnpm score inspect --assessment <uuid>
pnpm score history --candidate <uuid>

Scores are explainable ranking signals, not truth probabilities. Read the scoring guide before changing the versioned policy.

Build immutable similarity profiles, discover blocked pairs, inspect reviews, and apply only deterministically safe canonical merges:

pnpm canonicalize profile --limit 10
pnpm canonicalize discover --limit 10
pnpm canonicalize review --limit 20
pnpm canonicalize auto-merge --limit 10       # dry-run
pnpm canonicalize auto-merge --limit 10 --apply
pnpm canonicalize history --known-path <uuid>

Gemini embeddings are generated only after both candidates and all referenced sources are verified public. They support plausible blocked comparisons but never decide an automatic merge. Read the canonicalization guide before applying merges or manual operations.

Build current canonical search projections and query them locally. Review-state records are excluded unless explicitly requested:

pnpm run search project --pending --limit 10
pnpm run search query --text "EAS build cannot find an imported file" \
  --error "None of these files exist" --ecosystem expo --include-review
pnpm run search indexes print

Local MongoDB uses exact/error and weighted-text retrieval and clearly reports semantic retrieval as unavailable. Atlas Search/Vector Search is optional configuration. The unpaid Gemini provider hard-rejects private/team documents and query text. Read the retrieval guide before enabling Atlas or changing ranking/model configuration.

Start all application and package development processes:

pnpm dev

The current web shell is served at http://127.0.0.1:3000. API liveness and readiness are available at http://127.0.0.1:3001/health/live and http://127.0.0.1:3001/health/ready. OpenAPI JSON is at http://127.0.0.1:3001/api/v1/openapi.json; development Swagger UI is at http://127.0.0.1:3001/docs/.

Authenticated knowledge search, canonical detail, alternatives, review-access rules, and safe curl examples are documented in the Knowledge HTTP API guide. Normal clients receive only public published records; review access is explicit, admin-key-only, and audited.

After building, connect an MCP client directly to http://127.0.0.1:3001/mcp, or run the thin stdio bridge with KNOWNPATH_API_URL and KNOWNPATH_API_KEY:

pnpm mcp:stdio
pnpm mcp:inspect --transport stdio

Tool contracts, authentication, security behavior, and current Codex/Claude Code/Cursor/Gemini CLI configurations are documented in the MCP guide.

The portable Agent Skill teaches supported coding agents when and how to consult those MCP tools without blindly applying retrieved fixes. Manual development installation and the current behavior contract are documented in the Agent Skill guide.

Configure the API origin and API key in the environment that launches each agent, then inspect or apply the Phase 13 installer plan:

export KNOWNPATH_API_URL='https://your-knownpath-origin.example'
read -rsp 'KnownPath API key: ' KNOWNPATH_API_KEY && export KNOWNPATH_API_KEY && printf '\n'
pnpm knownpath install --dry-run --agent all
pnpm knownpath install --agent all
pnpm knownpath doctor --agent all

The CLI stores only references to those variable names and has no URL fallback. It supports Codex CLI, Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini CLI, and OpenCode at global or project scope. Users can run npx knownpath install; repository development can use pnpm knownpath. Exact changes, Windows setup, backups, conflicts, updates, and uninstall behavior are documented in the installer guide.

Deploy the API

The root render.yaml defines one Render web service for the Fastify API and keeps MongoDB Atlas as the database. It intentionally does not deploy the worker, dashboard, or another datastore. Rotate previously exposed credentials before setup, then follow the Render deployment guide for the Blueprint, Atlas network access, health verification, and post-deploy API-key flow.

Stop MongoDB without deleting its named development volume:

pnpm dev:infra:down

Repository commands

Command	Purpose
pnpm install	Install the pinned workspace dependencies
pnpm dev	Run workspace development tasks
pnpm build	Build every compilable application and package
pnpm typecheck	Run strict TypeScript validation across the workspace
pnpm lint	Run the ESLint flat configuration across the workspace
pnpm format	Format supported files with Prettier
pnpm format:check	Validate formatting without changing files
pnpm dev:infra	Start the required local MongoDB container
pnpm dev:infra:down	Stop the local container while preserving its data volume
pnpm db:init	Idempotently create/reconcile MongoDB collections, validators, and indexes
pnpm db:inspect	Print current collection validators and indexes
pnpm db:verify	Run and clean up a repository-layer persistence round trip
pnpm auth:user:create	Safely provision a user/admin with a masked password prompt
pnpm ingest:github	Collect a bounded configured GitHub source through official APIs
pnpm ingest:sources	Discover or sync configured official documentation and release feeds
pnpm extract	Extract or inspect bounded public-source candidate experiences
pnpm score	Verify evidence and create/inspect immutable candidate assessments
pnpm canonicalize	Profile, compare, review, merge, split, reassign, or rebuild candidates
pnpm run search	Project, embed, index, inspect, or query canonical KnownPaths
pnpm mcp:stdio	Run the thin local MCP-to-HTTP bridge over stdio
pnpm mcp:inspect	List or invoke MCP tools with the official SDK client
pnpm knownpath …	Run the multi-agent installer CLI from this checkout
pnpm contributions inspect --id <id>	Inspect a sanitized contribution and processing state

Structure

apps/
  api/             Fastify HTTP process
  cli/             Publishable installer CLI and stdio bridge entry point
  mcp-server/      Thin stdio MCP bridge to the authenticated HTTP API
  web/             Next.js application shell
  worker/          Source ingestion and future background processing runtime
packages/
  agent-adapters/  Safe detection/configuration adapters and ownership state
  ai/              Gemini provider, privacy gate, prompts, validation, and extraction lifecycle
  auth/            Sessions, API keys, principals, authorization, and audit
  config/          Typed environment parsing
  database/        MongoDB lifecycle, repositories, validators, and indexes
  domain/          Versioned domain schemas and canonicalization helpers
  canonicalization/ Deterministic blocking, optional embeddings, and canonical projections
  contributions/  Privacy-safe sanitization and low-trust contribution processing
  github-ingestion/ GitHub API collection and source normalization
  source-ingestion/ Official documentation/feed discovery and normalization
  verification/    Deterministic evidence verification and immutable seed scoring
  search/          Embeddings, search projections, hybrid retrieval, and explainable ranking
  mcp/             Shared MCP tool contracts, projections, server factory, and HTTP gateway
  typescript-config/ Shared strict compiler configurations
skills/
  knownpath/        Portable Agent Skill instructions and on-demand examples

See the architecture guide, data model, contribution privacy guide, retrieval guide, Knowledge HTTP API guide, MCP guide, Agent Skill guide, installer guide, deployment guide, decision log, and phase progress for the current boundaries and delivery status.

License

KnownPath is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.