byterover

ByteRover Knowledge Management

Use the brv CLI to manage your project's long-term memory. Install: npm install -g byterover-cli Knowledge is stored in .brv/context-tree/ as human-readable Markdown files.

No authentication needed. brv query and brv curate work out of the box. Login is only required for cloud sync (push/pull/space) — ignore those if you don't need cloud features.

Workflow

1. Before Thinking: Run brv query to understand existing patterns.
2. After Implementing: Run brv curate to save new patterns/decisions.

Commands

1. Query Knowledge

Overview: Retrieve relevant context from your project's knowledge base. Uses a configured LLM provider to synthesize answers from .brv/context-tree/ content.

Use this skill when:

• The user wants you to recall something
• Your context does not contain information you need
• You need to recall your capabilities or past actions
• Before performing any action, to check for relevant rules, criteria, or preferences

Do NOT use this skill when:

• The information is already present in your current context
• The query is about general knowledge, not stored memory

brv query "How is authentication implemented?"

2. Curate Context

Overview: Analyze and save knowledge to the local knowledge base. Uses a configured LLM provider to categorize and structure the context you provide.

Use this skill when:

• The user wants you to remember something
• The user intentionally curates memory or knowledge
• There are meaningful memories from user interactions that should be persisted
• There are important facts about what you do, what you know, or what decisions and actions you have taken

Do NOT use this skill when:

• The information is already stored and unchanged
• The information is transient or only relevant to the current task, or just general knowledge

brv curate "Auth uses JWT with 24h expiry. Tokens stored in httpOnly cookies via authMiddleware.ts"

Include source files (max 5, project-scoped only):

brv curate "Authentication middleware details" -f src/middleware/auth.ts

View curate history: to check past curations

• Show recent entries (last 10)

brv curate view

• Full detail for a specific entry: all files and operations performed (logId is printed by brv curate on completion, e.g. cur-1739700001000)

brv curate view cur-1739700001000

• List entries with file operations visible (no logId needed)

brv curate view detail

• Filter by time and status

brv curate view --since 1h --status completed

• For all filter options

brv curate view --help

3. LLM Provider Setup

brv query and brv curate require a configured LLM provider. Connect the default ByteRover provider (no API key needed):

brv providers connect byterover

To use a different provider (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic, Google), list available options and connect with your own API key:

brv providers list
brv providers connect openai --api-key sk-xxx --model gpt-4.1

4. Cloud Sync (Optional)

Overview: Sync your local knowledge with a team via ByteRover's cloud service. Requires ByteRover authentication.

Setup steps:

1. Log in: Get an API key from your ByteRover account and authenticate:

brv login --api-key sample-key-string

2. List available spaces:

brv space list

Sample output:

brv space list
1. human-resources-team (team)
   - a-department (space)
   - b-department (space)
2. marketing-team (team)
   - c-department (space)
   - d-department (space)

3. Connect to a space:

brv space switch --team human-resources-team --name a-department

Cloud sync commands: Once connected, brv push and brv pull sync with that space.

# Pull team updates
brv pull

# Push local changes
brv push

Switching spaces:

• Push local changes first (brv push) — switching is blocked if unsaved changes exist.
• Then switch:

brv space switch --team marketing-team --name d-department

• The switch automatically pulls context from the new space.

Data Handling

Storage: All knowledge is stored as Markdown files in .brv/context-tree/ within the project directory. Files are human-readable and version-controllable.

File access: The -f flag on brv curate reads files from the current project directory only. Paths outside the project root are rejected. Maximum 5 files per command, text and document formats only.

LLM usage: brv query and brv curate send context to a configured LLM provider for processing. The LLM sees the query or curate text and any included file contents. No data is sent to ByteRover servers unless you explicitly run brv push.

Cloud sync: brv push and brv pull require authentication (brv login) and send knowledge to ByteRover's cloud service. All other commands operate without ByteRover authentication.

Error Handling

User Action Required: You MUST show this troubleshooting guide to users when errors occur.

"Not authenticated" | Run brv login --help for more details. "No provider connected" | Run brv providers connect byterover (free, no key needed). "Connection failed" / "Instance crashed" | User should kill brv process. "Token has expired" / "Token is invalid" | Run brv login again to re-authenticate. "Billing error" / "Rate limit exceeded" | User should check account credits or wait before retrying.

Agent-Fixable Errors: You MUST handle these errors gracefully and retry the command after fixing.

"Missing required argument(s)." | Run brv <command> --help to see usage instructions. "Maximum 5 files allowed" | Reduce to 5 or fewer -f flags per curate. "File does not exist" | Verify path with ls, use relative paths from project root. "File type not supported" | Only text, image, PDF, and office files are supported.

Quick Diagnosis

Run brv status to check authentication, project, and provider state.