Arka CLI command and flag reference

The arka command is the main entry point. agent is an alias for the same router.

Install the CLI (no build from source)

You do not need to clone the repo to use arka from your terminal. Install the arka-agent package:

# Recommended — isolated CLI on PATH
pipx install "arka-agent[chat]"
arka setup
arka doctor

# PyPI not available yet? Install from GitHub without cloning:
pipx install "arka-agent[chat] @ git+https://github.com/Sumit884-byte/arka.git"

Then open a new terminal and run arka help. Only clone the repo if you are contributing to Arka or need editable installs (pip install -e ".[chat]").

Config and cache live outside the install directory — typically ~/.config/arka/ (Linux), ~/Library/Application Support/arka/ (macOS), or %APPDATA%\arka\ (Windows). Upgrading with pipx upgrade arka-agent keeps your keys and learned routes.

Primary commands

Command	Description
`arka <request>`	Route natural language to the best skill
`agent <request>`	Same router (alias)
`arka ask <question>`	Web + AI answer
`arka route <request>`	Preview routing without executing
`arka goal <goal>`	Autonomous multi-step agent loop
`arka setup`	Seed config dirs and dependencies
`arka doctor`	Install diagnostics
`arka reload`	Re-read `.env` and `config.fish`
`arka refetch --install`	Git pull + sync + reinstall
`arka help`	Skill overview

Developer tools

Command	Description
`arka ci`	Run the local CI gate mirrored from GitHub Actions
`arka ci --full`	Run the fast gate plus the full pytest suite
`arka ci --fix`	Run CI, then hand the first failure to the goal agent
`arka review --staged`	Review staged changes with project-rule and test-gap hints
`arka review`	Review the current diff vs the default base branch
`arka route audit`	Compare symbolic routes, fish hooks, and NL coverage tests
`arka skill new my_tool --template dev`	Scaffold a new plugin skill with manifest, runner, and docs stub

Natural language examples:

arka ci
arka ci --full
babysit this pr
check repo health
review staged
review vs main
route audit
skill new my_tool --template dev

YouTube commands

See the full YouTube guide.

Command	Description
`arka youtube research <query>`	Search + transcript research digest
`arka download <id-or-url>`	Download video, Shorts, or playlist
`arka summarize youtube <id>`	Summarize video or playlist
`youtube_download <url>`	Single video download (fish)
`youtube_bulk download <url>`	Bulk playlist/channel download

Stock commands

See the full Stock intelligence guide.

Command	Description
`stock news`	Market news feeds
`stock prices [TICKER…]`	Live prices
`stock analyze TICKER`	AI backtest + ML signal
`stock fundamentals TICKER…`	Ratios vs peers
`stock invest <question>`	Deep investment research
`predictions --domain stocks <topic>`	Opportunity analysis

Voice and services

Command	Description
`arka listen`	Wake-word listener (“hey arka, …”)
`arka start` / `arka stop`	Background services
`arka serve`	Remote server for phone STT/TTS
`arka backend status`	Check a local or hosted Arka backend
`arka backend ask "<prompt>"`	Call `/v1/agent` directly from the terminal
`arka backend media <file>`	Upload media to `/v1/media`
`arka site_summary <url>`	Summarize a bounded whole-site crawl while skipping social/offsite links
`arka speak-lang hi-IN`	Set voice language
`arka reload --listen`	Reload config and restart listener

Use ARKA_BACKEND_URL plus ARKA_BACKEND_TOKEN or REMOTE_TOKEN for hosted backends:

export ARKA_BACKEND_URL="https://your-arka.up.railway.app"
export ARKA_BACKEND_TOKEN="$REMOTE_TOKEN"
arka backend ask "init https://github.com/org/repo as a workspace"

Whole-site summary examples:

arka site_summary https://example.com --max-pages 12 --depth 1
arka "summarize entire site https://example.com"

site_summary follows same-site links only and skips common social platforms such as X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, Discord, and TikTok.

LLM management

Command	Description
`arka ai-models`	List providers and default models
`arka ai-skill-model`	Per-skill model configuration
`arka ai-skill-model profiles`	Task profiles (route, chat, summarize)
`arka orchestrate --benchmark <request>`	Route using live benchmark winners for the routed task
`select_model`	Hardware-based model recommendations
`select_model --apply`	Apply recommendations to skill profiles

See Hardware-aware model selection.

Route learning

Command	Description
`route_learn learn <phrase> <skill>`	Teach a phrase → skill mapping
`route_learn learn --from-trace --correct <skill>`	Fix last routing mistake
`route_learn list`	List learned routes
`route_learn delete <id>`	Remove a learned route
`route_learn test <phrase>`	Preview routing for a phrase

See Teaching custom routes.

Competitions

Command	Description
`competitions sources`	List hackathon/ML competition sources
`competitions search <topic>`	Search all sources
`competitions search <topic> --source kaggle`	Search one platform

See Hackathons and ML competitions.

Daily brief

Command	Description
`daily_brief`	Personalized morning tech headlines

Natural language: arka daily brief, arka morning tech brief. See Daily and tech brief.

Gemini CLI

Command	Description
`arka gemini`	Interactive Google Gemini CLI
`arka gemini <prompt>`	One-shot prompt
`arka gemini status`	Install and auth check

See Google Gemini CLI integration.

Command	Description
`post_x <url>`	Fetch, shorten, and post to X/Twitter
`ascii_art <text>`	Render ASCII art banner
`ascii_art --image <path>`	Convert image to ASCII

Google Workspace

Command	Description
`arka google setup`	Configure Google OAuth
`arka google login`	Authenticate Gmail + Calendar
`arka google gmail --unread`	Fetch unread emails
`arka google calendar --today`	Today’s calendar events

Plugins

Command	Description
`arka skills list`	List installed plugins
`arka skills install <url>`	Install from git URL
`arka skills refresh`	Reload plugin registry

Council and deliberation

Full guide: Arka Council

Skill	Example
`council`	`arka council "should I learn Rust?"`
`council`	`ask the council about switching careers`
`council list`	`arka council list`

Learning

Full guide: Quiz practice

Skill	Example
`quiz_practice`	`arka quiz python`
`quiz_practice`	`practice quiz biology mitosis`
`quiz_practice list`	`arka quiz_practice list`

Goal agent

Run autonomous multi-step tasks with a step budget:

arka goal set up a venv, install requests, and run pytest
arka goal -y -n 30 debug why nginx fails

Default step budget: GOAL_MAX_STEPS=25.

Self-improve

Analyze and improve the Arka codebase:

arka self improve
arka self improve routing --apply
arka self memory

If you want Arka to route a phrase, send it through arka first. Plain shell commands are not intercepted automatically. See Self-improve loop.

Operation modes

arka mode debug    # show routing and LLM traces
arka mode agent    # default clean output
arka mode list

See Operation modes.

Provider selection

arka provider list
arka provider show
arka provider set gemini
arka provider set openrouter --refresh

Fish shell helpers

When using fish, these functions are available:

agent_route "play bohemian rhapsody"   # preview routing
agent_trace                            # last routing decision
agent_why                              # explain skill choice

Apply config changes

arka reload              # re-read .env + config.fish
arka reload --listen     # also restart wake listener

Introduction

Setup & CLI

Troubleshooting

Arka CLI command and flag reference

Install the CLI (no build from source)

Primary commands

Developer tools

YouTube commands

Stock commands

Voice and services

LLM management

Route learning

Competitions

Daily brief

Gemini CLI

Google Workspace

Plugins

Council and deliberation

Learning

Goal agent

Self-improve

Operation modes

Provider selection

Fish shell helpers

Apply config changes

​Install the CLI (no build from source)

​Primary commands

​Developer tools

​YouTube commands

​Stock commands

​Voice and services

​LLM management

​Route learning

​Competitions

​Daily brief

​Gemini CLI

​Social & media

​Google Workspace

​Plugins

​Council and deliberation

​Learning

​Goal agent

​Self-improve

​Operation modes

​Provider selection

​Fish shell helpers

​Apply config changes

Install the CLI (no build from source)

Primary commands

Developer tools

YouTube commands

Stock commands

Voice and services

LLM management

Route learning

Competitions

Daily brief

Gemini CLI

Social & media

Google Workspace

Plugins

Council and deliberation

Learning

Goal agent

Self-improve

Operation modes

Provider selection

Fish shell helpers

Apply config changes