Skip to content

Core Usage

Command Format

ask [flags] "prompt"

You can also pipe context through stdin:

cat package.json | ask "summarize dependencies"

Main Modes

  • Standard response mode (default)
  • Command-only mode (-co)
  • Retrieval-augmented mode (--web, --docs, --auto)

System Prompt Control

ask -s "be concise and output bullet points" "explain namespaces in C++"

Spinner Controls

ask --spinner-style dots "explain rsync"
ask --spinner-style-select bounce
ask --no-spinner "quick answer"

Escaping and Quoting Prompts

Use quotes for prompts with shell wildcards:

ask --web "what day is it?"

Without quoting in shells like zsh, ? and * may be glob-expanded before ask receives your prompt.