Getting Started with B4M CLI
Get up and running with B4M CLI in under 2 minutes.
Installation
Install B4M CLI globally to use the b4m command anywhere:
npm install -g @bike4mind/cli
Verify installation:
b4m --version
System Requirements
- Node.js: Version 24 or higher (Download)
- Terminal: Any modern terminal (iTerm2, Windows Terminal, GNOME Terminal, etc.)
- Colors: 256-color support recommended for best experience
- Internet: Required for cloud features and authentication
Check your Node.js version:
node --version
# Should show v24.0.0 or higher
First Run
1. Start the CLI
b4m
On first run, you'll see the welcome screen:
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██╔══██╗██║ ██║████╗ ████║
██████╔╝███████║██╔████╔██║
██╔══██╗╚════██║██║╚██╔╝██║
██████╔╝ ██║██║ ╚═╝ ██║
╚═════╝ ╚═╝╚═╝ ╚═╝
v0.2.10 - AI-Powered CLI
/help for more information
📝 Loaded 1 custom command
⚠️ Not authenticated.
💡 Run /login to authenticate with your B4M account.
📖 You can still browse help and documentation without authentication.
ℹ️ AI features disabled. Available commands: /login, /help, /config
> Type your message, /help for commands, @file to reference, or ! for bash
Note: The CLI doesn't automatically prompt for authentication. You need to manually run /login.
2. Authenticate
To use AI features, authenticate with your Bike4Mind account:
> /login
The CLI will display the device authorization screen and automatically open your browser:
╭────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ │
│ 🔐 Device Authorization │
│ │
│ Opening browser automatically... │
│ If it doesn't open, please visit: │
│ │
│ https://app.bike4mind.com/activate │
│ │
│ And enter this code when prompted: │
│ │
│ L2JQ-CRZ9 │
│ │
│ │
│ ⠏ Waiting for user authorization... │
│ │
│ Expires in 10 minutes │
│ │
╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
What happens:
- Browser opens automatically with the activation URL
- Code is prepopulated in the browser (you don't need to type it)
- Verify the code matches what's shown in the CLI
- Click "Approve" to authorize the CLI
- The CLI automatically detects the authorization and continues
Success:
✓ Authentication successful!
Logged in as: john@example.com
If browser doesn't open:
- Manually visit the URL shown in the terminal
- The code is already prepopulated, just verify and approve
3. Start Chatting
Once authenticated, you're ready to use all AI features!
> Hello! What can you help me with?
I can help you with many tasks like:
- Answering questions and providing information
- Running shell commands
- Searching the web
- Getting weather information
- Performing calculations
- And much more!
What would you like to do today?
Your First Tasks
Ask a Question
> What's the capital of France?
The capital of France is Paris. It's the largest city in France and has been
the country's capital since the 12th century.
Run a Shell Command
> List all JavaScript files in the current directory
Let me run that command for you.
[tool: bash_execute]
Found 24 JavaScript files:
- src/index.js
- src/app.js
- src/utils.js
...
Get Weather Information
> What's the weather in New York?
[tool: weather_info]
Current weather in New York:
- Temperature: 72°F (22°C)
- Conditions: Partly cloudy
- Humidity: 65%
- Wind: 8 mph NW
Search the Web
> Search for recent TypeScript features
[tool: web_search]
Here are the latest TypeScript features:
1. **TypeScript 5.5 (Released 2024)**
- Inferred type predicates
- Control flow narrowing improvements
...
Essential Commands
While chatting, you can use special commands that start with /:
Authentication Commands
/whoami # Show current user
/logout # Sign out and clear tokens
/login # Re-authenticate
Session Management
/sessions # List all saved sessions
/save my-work # Save current conversation
Configuration
/config # Show current configuration
/api-info # Show API endpoint info
/set-api <url> # Connect to self-hosted instance
/reset-api # Reset to default endpoint
Tool Permissions
/trusted # List trusted tools
/trust bash # Trust the bash_execute tool
/untrust bash # Require permission for bash_execute
Help & Exit
/help # Show help
/exit # Quit (or press Ctrl+C)
See all commands: Commands Reference →
CLI Flags
Show Debug Logs
Run with --verbose or -v to see detailed debug information:
b4m --verbose
This shows:
- HTTP requests and responses
- Tool execution details
- SSE streaming events
- Error diagnostics
Note: Debug logs are always saved to ~/.bike4mind/debug/[session-id].txt, regardless of the verbose flag.
Check Version
b4m --version
# or
b4m -V
Show Help
b4m --help
# or
b4m -h
Project Context Files
B4M CLI automatically loads project-specific instructions from context files in your current directory.
Supported Files (Priority Order)
CLAUDE.local.md- Personal instructions (gitignored)CLAUDE.md- Project instructions (checked in)AGENTS.md- Cross-tool standardAI.local.md- Personal instructionsAI.md- Project instructionsINSTRUCTIONS.md- Project instructions
Example: Create a CLAUDE.md
cat > CLAUDE.md << 'EOF'
# Project Instructions
- Always use TypeScript strict mode
- Run tests before committing
- Follow the existing code style
- Update documentation with code changes
EOF
On startup, you'll see:
📄 Project context: CLAUDE.md
The agent will follow these instructions for all interactions in that project.
Learn more: Configuration → Context Files
File Locations
B4M CLI stores data in ~/.bike4mind/:
~/.bike4mind/
├── config.json # User configuration & tokens
├── sessions/ # Saved conversations
│ ├── session-1.json
│ └── session-2.json
└── debug/ # Debug logs (auto-cleanup after 30 days)
├── abc123.txt
└── def456.txt
Permissions:
config.json: 0600 (readable/writable by you only)- Other files: 0644 (readable by all, writable by you)
Next Steps
Now that you're set up, explore what B4M CLI can do:
Quick Tips
Keyboard Shortcuts
Ctrl+C- Cancel current operation or exit CLI↑/↓- Navigate command history (in future versions)Tab- Autocomplete (in future versions)
Tool Permissions
First time a tool runs, you'll be asked:
┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
┃ ⚠️ Permission Required ┃
┃ ┃
┃ Tool: bash_execute ┃
┃ ┃
┃ Arguments: ┃
┃ { "command": "ls -la" } ┃
┃ ┃
┃ ❯ ✓ Allow once ┃
┃ ✓ Always allow (trust this tool) ┃
┃ ✗ Deny ┃
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
Options:
- Allow once - Permit this execution only
- Always allow - Trust this tool (won't ask again)
- Deny - Block this execution
Saving Sessions
Always save important conversations:
/save my-project-work
Sessions are saved to ~/.bike4mind/sessions/ and can be resumed later.
Debug Issues
If something isn't working:
-
Check logs:
ls ~/.bike4mind/debug/tail -f ~/.bike4mind/debug/[latest-file].txt -
Run with verbose:
b4m --verbose -
Check authentication:
b4m/whoami
More help: Troubleshooting →
Getting Help
- Command help: Type
/helpin the CLI - Documentation: B4M CLI Docs
- Issues: GitHub Issues
- Web App: app.bike4mind.com
Ready to dive deeper? Check out the Features Guide → or explore Configuration Options →