Arka CLI command and flag reference

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

Always prefix with arka. Subcommands, skills, and natural-language requests all go through arka … or arka "…". Fish-only shortcuts (chart, stock news, route_learn) work in a Fish shell, but every doc example uses arka for consistency.

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 backup all`	Compressed backup of all config + cache files (includes `.env`)
`arka refetch --install`	Git pull + sync + reinstall
`arka help`	Skill overview

Web dashboard

Full guide: Web dashboard

Command	Description
`arka serve`	Start remote API on port 8765
`arka backend status`	Check local or hosted backend health
`arka backend ask "<prompt>"`	Call `/v1/agent` from the terminal
`cd web && python3 bridge.py`	Bridge + session history on port 8766
`cd web && npm run dev`	Vite dev UI on port 5173

Session history for the dashboard uses channel web:

arka session list
arka session resume web <chat-id>
arka session reset web <chat-id>

Media capture

See Browser video capture and Meme templates.

Command	Description
`arka capture video <url>`	Record walkthrough WebM + step PNGs
`arka capture video --walkthrough`	Preset for the web dashboard
`arka meme vibe-coding`	Built-in meme preset
`arka meme drake --reject "…" --accept "…"`	Drake hotline bling layout
`arka generate music "lo-fi beat"`	AI music (instrumental or with `--lyrics`)

See Generate music.

Charts and prediction

Full guide: Charts

Command	Description
`arka chart line AAPL --range 1y`	Stock line chart
`arka chart predict AAPL --days 30`	Stock price forecast chart
`arka chart models --type scatter`	LLM latency vs benchmark score
`arka chart table sales.csv`	Render CSV/TSV/JSON as PNG table image
`arka predict future "…" --chart`	Weather, rainfall, Kaggle, CSV forecasts
`arka benchmark run --dry-run`	Populate data for `arka chart models`

Natural language (always prefix with arka):

arka "compare Apple and Tesla stock last year"
arka "predict monsoon rainfall in Mumbai next 2 weeks"
arka "chart AI model characteristics with data points"
arka "forecast kaggle dataset heptapod/titanic next 30 days"

Developer loop

Unified local workflow — see the full Developer loop guide.

Command	Description
`arka dev init [path]`	Initialize scoped code project
`arka dev test [path]`	Changed-only CI gates (`--fix`, `--json`)
`arka dev review [path]`	Staged review with test-gap hints
`arka dev ship [path]`	Review + CI before commit
`arka dev tui [path]`	Coding TUI workspace
`arka dev doctor [path]`	Repo dev preflight (not platform `arka doctor`)
`arka dev pr babysit`	GitHub PR CI babysit loop

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 dev ship
arka dev test --fix
arka ci
arka ci --full
arka "babysit this pr"
arka "check repo health"
arka "review staged"
arka "review vs main"
arka route audit
arka 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
`arka youtube_download <url>`	Single video download (fish)
`arka youtube_bulk download <url>`	Bulk playlist/channel download

Stock commands

See the full Stock intelligence guide.

Command	Description
`arka stock news`	Market news feeds
`arka stock prices [TICKER…]`	Live prices
`arka stock analyze TICKER`	AI backtest + ML signal
`arka stock fundamentals TICKER…`	Ratios vs peers
`arka stock invest <question>`	Deep investment research
`arka 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
`arka select_model`	Hardware-based model recommendations
`arka select_model --apply`	Apply recommendations to skill profiles

See Hardware-aware model selection.

Route learning

Command	Description
`arka route_learn learn <phrase> <skill>`	Teach a phrase → skill mapping
`arka route_learn learn --from-trace --correct <skill>`	Fix last routing mistake
`arka route_learn list`	List learned routes
`arka route_learn delete <id>`	Remove a learned route
`arka 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
`arka post_x <url>`	Fetch, shorten, and post to X/Twitter
`arka ascii_art <text>`	Render ASCII art banner
`arka 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: Daily reading

Skill	Example
`daily_reading`	`arka daily_reading init "world history"`
`daily_reading`	`arka daily_reading today --minutes 45`
`health_reading`	`arka health_reading today`
`health_reading`	`arka health_reading status`

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 groq
arka provider set openrouter --refresh
arka provider set groq --no-keep-model

Fish shell helpers

When using fish, these functions are available:

arka route "play bohemian rhapsody"   # preview routing
arka route # last routing decision
arka route # 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

Web dashboard

Media capture

Charts and prediction

Developer loop

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

​Web dashboard

​Media capture

​Charts and prediction

​Developer loop

​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

Web dashboard

Media capture

Charts and prediction

Developer loop

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