Quick Start: Zero-Read Strategy in 5 Minutes

From an empty repository to a self-sufficient architecture graph in five commands. By the end, your AI assistant can plan features, verify contracts, and check Git drift without opening source files. Make sure you have completed the installation first.

Agent Setup

Engrams provides a built-in instructions command designed to output the standardized instruction manual that teaches LLM agents the Strategy-First retrieval protocol: 

engrams instructions

Run this in your project root and paste the output directly into your AGENTS.md file, .cursorrules, or system prompt configuration.

5-Minute Walkthrough

1

Initialize the local database

Create the embedded SQLite database in your workspace: 

engrams init
2

Log an architecture decision with an explicit contract

When introducing an interface, behavior, or adapter, embed its contract so future sessions don't need to read implementation files: 

engrams decision log \
  --summary "Provider behavior for payment adapters" \
  --contract "fn process(amount: u64, currency: &str) -> Result<Receipt, PaymentError>" \
  --rationale "Pluggable payment processors across Stripe and PayPal" \
  --tags payment,adapter,api \
  --anchor src/adapters/stripe.rs
3

Rebuild the code graph

Let Engrams scan your repository, extracting exported symbols, docstrings, and line counts onto code nodes: 

engrams graph rebuild
4

Retrieve full architectural context in one call

Before writing code, your agent runs brief to get the decision, contract, symbols, and Git staleness drift: 

engrams brief "payment provider"
{
  "brief": {
    "summary": "Provider behavior for payment adapters",
    "contract": "fn process(amount: u64, currency: &str) -> Result<Receipt, PaymentError>",
    "drift": { "stale": false, "checked": 1 }
  },
  "neighbors": [
    {
      "node": "code:42",
      "path": "src/adapters/stripe.rs",
      "symbols": ["StripeAdapter", "process", "refund"],
      "line_count": 148
    }
  ]
}
5

Close the session with PR verification

Enforce that PRs are anchored to decisions and record token ROI: 

engrams session close --reads-skipped 12 --tokens-saved 60000 --pr 42

What to try next

⚡ Strategy-First Retrieval How prime, brief, and cross-convention search save tokens 📊 Telemetry & PR Gates Track zero-hit queries and enforce PR linkage 🕸️ Interactive Graph Explore the living 3D knowledge graph 💻 CLI Reference All commands, options, and flags