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Getting started

imprnt is a folder of plain markdown notes on your computer. You talk to your assistant in plain language, it files what matters into notes on your disk, and later it answers from your real history. Nothing it learns is lost when the chat closes.

The whole path, from an empty machine to a first answer out of your own notes:

  1. you type npm i -g imprnt install the engine
  2. you type imprnt init make your vault
  3. you type imp open your assistant
  4. you say "save this transcript" file your first notes
  5. you say "what did we decide?" get your first answer

What you need

Node 18 or newer

The runtime imprnt installs on.
Claude Code or Gemini CLI

The assistant imprnt drives. Claude by default, Gemini via imp --gemini.

Install it

Two commands: the first installs the engine, the second makes your vault.

terminal
npm i -g imprnt
imprnt init

imprnt init does three things:

  1. Makes the vault folder. It asks where, and Enter takes the default (~/imprnt). imprnt init <path> skips the question.

  2. Writes a CLAUDE.md file that teaches your assistant how the vault works.

  3. Registers the folder so the imp command can find it from anywhere.

If your vault already lives somewhere else, point one variable at it and every command follows. To create a new vault at a custom path, pass the path to init instead (init ignores the variable).

terminal
export IMPRNT_VAULT=~/notes/vault

Open it with imp

imp opens your assistant with imprnt wired in. Type it instead of claude, in any folder. imp --gemini opens Gemini CLI the same way.

terminal
imp

There are two ways to open it. Plain claude stays plain, so nothing is added to a session you did not ask for.

imp where you stand
  • Opens in your current folder.
  • Your plugins and your vault stay in reach.
  • A coding session can answer "who owns this service?" from your own notes.
imp lair inside the vault
  • Opens inside the vault itself.
  • The full contract loads here.
  • Your personal chats pile up in one place you can resume.

The three things it does

You talk. Behind your words, the engine runs one of three commands.

you talk ingest recall check
ingest file something

Hand over any source. The model reads it and files clean notes.

recall find something

Ask in plain words. It ranks your notes and answers from them.

check tidy up

Rebuild the index, learn new tags, flag anything broken.

File something: ingest

A source is anything: a meeting transcript, a pasted doc, a prose dump, a single fact. Hand it over.

you say
You:
  Save this transcript
  and file what matters.
  [paste or drop the source]

What happens behind the reply:

However dense the source, nothing thins out on the way in. Tables, numbers, dates, and exact wording are kept in full, and the one-line summary is written above them, never in their place.

Find something: recall

Ask in plain words.

you say
You:
  What did we decide about
  the access-platform cutover?

The scoring is BM25, plain arithmetic on your machine with no model in the middle (how it works). It searches your real notes only, never the raw/ archive of originals.

Tidy up: check

After filing or hand-editing, ask for a tidy pass.

you say
You:
  Tidy up. What needs my attention?

Add a plugin

The core is your vault plus those three commands. Everything else is an opt-in plugin, and a fresh setup has none.

imprnt plugin list

See what is installed, and what you can add.

imprnt plugin add anti-slop

Fetch a plugin, copy it in, switch it on.

imprnt plugin rm anti-slop

Switch it off (--purge deletes the folder too).

Or just ask: "add the anti-slop plugin." The full gallery is in Plugins.