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alis ideate

The alis ideate command group reads the context an Ideate project holds and adds notes and files to it. It is made for scripts and coding agents as much as for people: every command prints plain text by default and the underlying resource with --json. Voice memos, screen recordings and links stay in the console.

alis ideate <command> [arguments] [flags]

alis docs ideate prints the operating manual for this group. The global flags --json, --verbose, --cwd and --approve apply to every command; see the CLI command reference.

Naming

  • A project is ideas/<id>; the bare <id> works everywhere the full name does. The CLI says project where the API says idea.
  • An artifact is artifacts/<id>; older ones are specs/<id>.
  • A contribution is ideas/<id>/streams/<id>; the CLI says contribution where the API says stream. Each completed interview session contributes one INTERVIEW stream.
  • Bare contribution ids need --project. A bare artifact id stands alone; --project is checked when given.
  • list, find and --new-project work in your active account: the one alis accounts list shows as selected and alis accounts select accounts/<id> switches.

Commands

Command Purpose
context Map what a project holds. The entry point.
list List the projects you can see.
find Find projects by meaning.
artifacts read Print one artifact.
contributions List a project's contributions.
contribution Print one contribution and the text of its files.
graph Show who contributed what.
add note Add a markdown note.
add files Upload files as one contribution.
add research Start web research on a project.
research Read a research's progress, report and sources.

alis ideate context

alis ideate context <project> [flags]

Prints the map of one project: everyone involved, every artifact and every contribution, including completed interview evidence, each by its id with a line on what it covers, and none of them in full. Run it first when you hold a project reference, then read only the parts that matter.

The map has these parts: a header (title, id, state, account, last activity); a Still settling note when new material may still land; People, each marked as having contributed or not; Artifacts; Contributions, each with contributor, date and summary; and the commands that read one part in full.

Flag Type Default Meaning
-h, --help bool Help.

--json emits the same map as the underlying response.

Shell
alis ideate context my-project
alis ideate context ideas/my-project --json

alis ideate list

alis ideate list [flags]

Lists the projects you have access to in the active account, most recently updated first. Archived projects are hidden unless --archived is passed.

Flag Type Default Meaning
--archived bool false Include archived projects.
--filter string A CEL expression over the API's Idea resource, for example Idea.state = 2 for active projects only. Overrides the default archived filter.
--limit int 25 Maximum projects to return. 
alis ideate list --limit 5

ideas/<id>  —  <title>  [ACTIVE]

With --json: {"projects": [{"name", "title", "state", "account", "updateTime"}], "nextPageToken"}.

alis ideate find

alis ideate find <description> [flags]

Searches projects semantically in the active account. Describe the topic in a sentence rather than keywords. Matching works on one facet of each project's synthesised outputs, so a project created minutes ago may not be findable yet, and an empty result means nothing matched, not that no such project exists.

Flag Type Default Meaning
--dimension string brief Facet to match against: brief, pain-points, stakeholders, technology, current-process or intent.
--limit int 20 Maximum results. 
alis ideate find "reducing onboarding time for new advisers" --dimension pain-points --json

alis ideate artifacts read

alis ideate artifacts read <output-artifact> [flags]

Prints an artifact's markdown. The bare id from context works on its own, as do full artifacts/* and legacy specs/* names.

Flag Type Default Meaning
--project string The project the id came from. Checked, not used to find the artifact: an id belonging to another project fails instead of printing that project's document. Pass it whenever the id came off a project's map. 
alis ideate artifacts read <output-artifact> --project my-project

alis ideate contributions

alis ideate contributions <project> [flags]

Lists a project's contributions (typed notes, voice memos, screen recordings and uploaded documents), oldest first, with who contributed each and what it is about. This is the contributions section of context.

Flag Type Default Meaning
-h, --help bool Help.

alis ideate contribution

alis ideate contribution <contribution> --project <project> [flags]

Prints one contribution as markdown (a note's text, a memo's or recording's transcript, the note an upload came with), followed by a map of its files: what each holds, how long it runs, and the parts it divides into with the lines that read them. With --file, prints that file's extracted text instead. Download links in the output are signed and expire after about twenty minutes.

Flag Type Default Meaning
--project string The project a bare contribution id belongs to. Not needed with a full ideas/*/streams/* name.
--file int32 Print this file's text instead of the map: its number in the file list.
--lines string With --file, the lines to print: 120-240, 120- or -240, numbered as the section list numbers them.
Shell
alis ideate contribution <contribution> --project my-project
alis ideate contribution <contribution> --project my-project --file 1 --lines 120-240

alis ideate graph

alis ideate graph <project> [flags]

Prints the project's contribution graph: the people involved, the contributions they made, and how they relate. Useful for seeing whose perspective is represented and whose is missing.

Flag Type Default Meaning
-h, --help bool Help.

alis ideate add

alis ideate add <note|files|research> [flags]

Adds to a project as your own contribution. Everyone on the project sees what you add. Each add command asks for confirmation; --yes skips it and has the same effect as the global --approve. A note or files print the new contribution.

alis ideate add note

alis ideate add note (--project <project> | --new-project <title>) (--text <markdown> | --file <file>) [flags]

Adds a markdown note, stored as written and treated like a note typed in the console. Write it for someone who was not there: what was found or decided, the numbers and names that matter, what is still open, and which document it came from.

Flag Type Default Meaning
--project string The project to add the note to (ideas/* or the bare id).
--new-project string Start a project with this title in the active account and make the note its first contribution. Replaces --project.
--text string The note, as markdown.
--file string A markdown file holding the note. - reads stdin.
--yes bool false Skip the confirmation prompt.
Shell
alis ideate add note --project my-project --file note.md --yes
cat findings.md | alis ideate add note --new-project "Adviser onboarding" --file -

alis ideate add files

alis ideate add files (--project <project> | --new-project <title>) <file>... [--note <markdown>] [flags]

Uploads one or more files as a single contribution. The project reads each file and writes an overview of it; the files stay downloadable from the project. Each file's type comes from its extension: documents (pdf, docx, pptx, xlsx, csv, md, txt), images (png, jpg, webp), audio, video, code and zip. A type a project cannot read is rejected before anything is created.

Flag Type Default Meaning
--project string The project to add the files to (ideas/* or the bare id).
--new-project string Start a project with this title and make the files its first contribution. Replaces --project.
--note string Markdown saying what the files are and why they matter.
--yes bool false Skip the confirmation prompt. 
alis ideate add files --project my-project board-pack.pdf figures.xlsx --note "June board pack; the figures sheet has the churn numbers"

alis ideate add research

alis ideate add research (--project <project> | --new-project <title>) (--prompt <markdown> | --file <file>) [--reference <ref>]... [--continue <research>] [flags]

Starts web research on a project, contributed by you. Google Deep Research reads the web and writes a cited report; most runs take five to twenty minutes. The command returns as soon as the research has started. Write the prompt as a brief: the question, the context it needs and how the report should read. The research gets nothing from the project but the prompt and what you reference.

Flag Type Default Meaning
--project string The project to research for (ideas/* or the bare id).
--new-project string Start a project with this title and make the research its first contribution. Replaces --project.
--prompt string What to research, as markdown.
--file string A markdown file holding the prompt. - reads stdin.
--reference string, repeatable Context from the same project, up to 20: an artifact, or a contribution, optionally narrowed to some of its files as <contribution>#1,3.
--continue string A finished research on the same project to follow up; its question and report open the new one.
--yes bool false Skip the confirmation prompt. 
alis ideate add research --project my-project --file brief.md --yes

alis ideate research

alis ideate research <research> [--project <project>] [flags]

Prints a research's question and how the run stands, then its summary, report and numbered sources once it is ready, or why it failed. Ideate checks a run every two minutes, so reading it more often shows nothing new. alis ideate context lists a research among the contributions; pass its bare id with --project, or the full ideas/*/streams/* name on its own.

Flag Type Default Meaning
--project string The project a bare research id belongs to.

Exit codes

The group uses the CLI's standard codes: 0 success, 1 failure, 4 unauthenticated. See Exit codes.