Clear Tangle CLI.

Command-line interface for tasks, thoughts, pages, and projects.

Clear Tangle CLI brings your second brain to the terminal. Create tasks, capture thoughts, manage pages, and search everything without leaving your shell. It is built for speed, automation, and AI-friendly workflows.

COMMANDct

AUTHct auth set-key or CLEARTANGLE_API_KEY

OUTPUTStable, compact, json, csv, tsv

Features

Task managementCreate, update, complete, and organize tasks with priorities and due dates.

Thought captureQuickly capture ideas and notes from anywhere.

Page managementCreate and manage documentation pages with tags.

Project organizationGroup tasks and captures into projects.

Smart searchSemantic search across all your content.

AI planningGenerate prioritized action plans with context.

Multiple formatsJSON, table, compact, CSV, and TSV outputs.

Beautiful outputColor-coded tables, status badges, and relative timestamps.

Shell completionsTab completion for bash, zsh, and fish.

Installation

Install globally from npm:

Global install (recommended) · bash

$ npm install -g clear-tangle-cli

# Verify install

$ ct --help

After install, verify the CLI is on your path by running ct --help.

Quick start

Quick start · bash

# Set up authentication with your API key

$ ct auth set-key <YOUR_API_KEY>

# Verify authentication

$ ct auth status

# List your tasks

$ ct tasks list

# Create a new task

$ ct tasks create --title "Review PR" --priority high --due-date 2026-02-10

# Capture a thought

$ ct thoughts create --content "Remember to follow up on the API design"

# Search across everything

$ ct search "api design"

Authentication

Get your API key from Settings › API Keys. Learn more on the API Keys page.

Auth commands · bash

# Set your API key

$ ct auth set-key <YOUR_API_KEY>

# Verify authentication

$ ct auth status

# Test API connectivity

$ ct auth test

# Clear stored API key

$ ct auth logout

Environment variable

$ export CLEARTANGLE_API_KEY=ctak_your_api_key_here

Global options

These options work with any command:

OPTIONDESCRIPTION

--jsonOutput as formatted JSON

--tableOutput as formatted table (default)

--compactSingle-line per item for quick scanning

--fields <list>Show only specific fields (comma-separated)

--csvExport as CSV

--tsvExport as TSV

--plainNo colors or unicode (for scripts/pipes)

-v, --verboseShow debug information

--dry-runPreview changes without executing

Examples

$ ct tasks list --compact# Quick overview

$ ct tasks list --fields id,title,status# Select columns

$ ct tasks list --csv > tasks.csv# Export to CSV

$ ct tasks list --json | jq '.[] | .title'# Pipe to jq

$ ct tasks create --title "Test" --dry-run# Preview without creating

Commands

Tasks Plan Thoughts Pages Projects Search Config

Tasks

Manage your tasks with status tracking, priorities, and due dates.

# List tasks

$ ct tasks list# All tasks

$ ct tasks list today# Due today

$ ct tasks list overdue# Overdue tasks

$ ct tasks list upcoming# Next 7 days

$ ct tasks list pending# Pending status

$ ct tasks list in_progress# In progress

$ ct tasks list completed# Completed tasks

$ ct tasks list --status pending --priority high$ ct tasks list --project proj_abc123 --limit 10

# Get task details

$ ct tasks get <id>

# Create task

$ ct tasks create --title "Review PR" --priority high$ ct tasks create --title "Deploy" --due-date 2026-02-10 --due-time 17:00

$ ct tasks create# Interactive mode

# Update task

$ ct tasks update <id> --status in_progress$ ct tasks update <id> --priority critical --due-date 2026-02-05

# Complete task

$ ct tasks complete <id>

# Delete task

$ ct tasks delete <id># With confirmation

$ ct tasks delete <id> --force# Skip confirmation

# Dashboard view

$ ct tasks dashboard# Grouped by overdue/today/upcoming

Output fields: id, title, status, priority, due_date, category

Status values: pending, in_progress, completed

Priority values: critical, high, medium, low

Plan

AI-powered task planning and prioritization.

# View current plan

$ ct plan get

# Generate new plan

$ ct plan generate$ ct plan generate --context "Focus on Q1 goals and high priority items"

The plan includes alerts, priorities, and recommendations.

Thoughts (captures)

Quickly capture ideas, notes, and observations.

# List thoughts

$ ct thoughts list$ ct thoughts list --limit 10$ ct thoughts list --project proj_abc123

# Get thought details

$ ct thoughts get <id>

$ ct thoughts get <id> --full# Full view with metadata

# Create thought

$ ct thoughts create --content "Remember to review the API design"$ ct thoughts create --content "Meeting notes: discussed roadmap" --project proj_abc123

# Update thought

$ ct thoughts update <id> --content "Updated content"

# Delete thought

$ ct thoughts delete <id>$ ct thoughts delete <id> --force

Output fields: id, content, type, created_at

Pages

Create and manage documentation pages.

# List pages

$ ct pages list$ ct pages list --search "api design"$ ct pages list --project proj_abc123

# Get page details

$ ct pages get <id>

# Create page

$ ct pages create --title "API Design Document"$ ct pages create --title "Meeting Notes" --content "# Overview\n..." --tags design,api

# Update page

$ ct pages update <id> --title "New Title"$ ct pages update <id> --tags design,updated

# Delete page

$ ct pages delete <id>$ ct pages delete <id> --force

Output fields: id, title, tags, created_at

Projects

Organize tasks and captures into projects.

# List projects

$ ct projects list

$ ct projects list --tree# Show with nested tasks

# Get project details

$ ct projects get <id>

# Create project

$ ct projects create --name "Q1 Goals"$ ct projects create --name "Backend" --description "Backend services" --color blue

# Update project

$ ct projects update <id> --name "New Name"$ ct projects update <id> --description "Updated description"

# Delete project

$ ct projects delete <id>$ ct projects delete <id> --force

# Assign items to project

$ ct projects assign <id> --tasks task_1,task_2,task_3$ ct projects assign <id> --captures cap_1,cap_2

# Remove items from project

$ ct projects remove-items --tasks task_1,task_2$ ct projects remove-items --captures cap_1,cap_2

Output fields: id, name, description, color

Search

Semantic search across all your content.

$ ct search "api design"$ ct search "meeting notes" --limit 5

$ ct search "urgent tasks" --threshold 0.8# Higher = more relevant

$ ct search "project ideas" --full# Full result details

Output fields: id, title/content, type, score

Config

Manage CLI configuration.

# View all config

$ ct config get

# View specific setting

$ ct config get output$ ct config get timeoutMs

# Update settings

$ ct config set output json# Default output format

$ ct config set output table

$ ct config set timeoutMs 30000# Request timeout

$ ct config set defaultProjectId proj_abc123

Available keys: apiKey, timeoutMs, output, defaultProjectId

Shell completions

Enable tab completion for your shell.

# Bash

$ ct completions bash >> ~/.bashrc$ source ~/.bashrc

# Zsh

$ ct completions zsh >> ~/.zshrc$ source ~/.zshrc

# Fish

$ ct completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/ct.fish

Output formats

Table (default)Clean tables with short IDs, status badges, priority indicators, and relative timestamps.

CompactSingle-line format for quick scanning in long lists.

JSON$ ct tasks list --json | jq '.[] | select(.priority == "high")'

CSV / TSV

$ ct tasks list --csv > tasks.csv$ ct tasks list --tsv | pbcopy

Environment variables

VARIABLEDESCRIPTION

CLEARTANGLE_API_KEYAPI key

CLEARTANGLE_OUTPUTOutput format (json or table)

CLEARTANGLE_PLAINDisable colors and unicode

NO_COLORStandard no-color flag

Configuration file

Config is stored in OS-specific paths (via env-paths):

OSPATH

macOS~/Library/Preferences/cleartangle-cli/config.json

Linux~/.config/cleartangle-cli/config.json

Windows%APPDATA%\cleartangle-cli\config.json

Tips for AI agents

AUTOMATION GUIDANCE

Use --json when parsing output.Check auth first with ct auth status --json.Use --dry-run to preview destructive operations.Limit columns with --fields for smaller payloads.Prefer quick filters like ct tasks list today for speed.

Example workflow · bash

# Check auth

$ ct auth status --json

# Get high priority tasks due today

$ ct tasks list today --json | jq '.[] | select(.priority == "high" or .priority == "critical")'

# Create a task and capture the ID

$ TASK_ID=$(ct tasks create --title "New task" --json | jq -r '.id')

# Update the task

$ ct tasks update $TASK_ID --status in_progress

NEXT STEPSExplore the API Keys guide for secure automation, or connect your AI assistant with the MCP Server.

API Keys MCP Server →

← Telegram CLI overview page →

Docs/Integrations/Clear Tangle CLI