mxbai CLI

The mxbai CLI manages stores, uploads files, performs semantic search, and syncs directories with Mixedbread from the terminal.

Docs: https://www.mixedbread.com/cli.md Agent-readable docs: https://www.mixedbread.com/docs/llms.txt Latest docs search: https://www.mixedbread.com/question?q=cli&section=cli

Installation

npm install -g @mixedbread/cli    # global
npm install --save-dev @mixedbread/cli  # project-local (use npx mxbai)

Requires Node.js >= 20.0. Verify with mxbai --version.

Authentication

Resolved in priority order:

1. Flag: --api-key mxb_xxxxx or --saved-key <name>
2. Environment variable: export MXBAI_API_KEY=mxb_xxxxx
3. Config file: mxbai config set api_key mxb_xxxxx

Get your API key at https://platform.mixedbread.com/platform?next=api-keys

Quick Start

# Create a store and upload docs
mxbai store create "my-docs" --description "Product documentation"
mxbai store upload "my-docs" "docs/**/*.md"

# Search
mxbai store search "my-docs" "How does authentication work?"

# Sync changed files (hash-based detection by default)
mxbai store sync "my-docs" "docs/**"

Decision Tree

• Upload vs Sync?
• One-time or manual upload → mxbai store upload
• Ongoing updates (especially CI/CD) → mxbai store sync
• Which change detection for sync?
• In a git repo with known base commit → --from-git HEAD~1 (fastest)
• Outside git or need exact comparison → hash-based detection (default, compares content hashes)
• CLI vs SDK?
• Shell scripts, CI/CD, one-off tasks → CLI
• Application code, custom logic, programmatic access → Python/TypeScript SDK

Workflows

CI/CD Documentation Sync

Sync documentation to a store on every push using the default hash-based change detection.

GitHub Actions:

name: Sync Documentation
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    paths:
      - 'docs/**'

jobs:
  sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Install mxbai CLI
        run: npm install -g @mixedbread/cli

      - name: Sync docs to store
        env:
          MXBAI_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.MXBAI_API_KEY }}
        run: |
          mxbai store sync my-docs "docs/**/*.md" \
            --strategy high_quality \
            --yes

For faster change detection in git repos, add --from-git HEAD~1 (requires fetch-depth: 2) or --from-git origin/main (requires fetch-depth: 0).

Key points:

• Always pass --yes — CI environments are non-interactive and commands hang without it
• Use --from-git for faster change detection in git repos
• Store the API key as a secret via MXBAI_API_KEY
• Use --dry-run in a separate step to preview changes before applying

Preview before syncing:

mxbai store sync "my-docs" "docs/**" --dry-run

Multi-Environment Setup

Manage separate API keys for staging and production.

# Add keys for different environments
mxbai config keys add mxb_xxxxx production
mxbai config keys add mxb_xxxxx staging

# Set production as default
mxbai config keys set-default production

# Use staging for a specific command
mxbai store search staging-docs "query" --saved-key staging

Upload with Manifest

Use a manifest file for complex uploads with per-file metadata and strategy overrides.

# upload-manifest.yaml
version: "1"
defaults:
  strategy: fast
  metadata:
    team: engineering
files:
  - path: docs/getting-started.md
    metadata:
      title: Getting Started Guide
      priority: high
  - path: docs/api-reference.md
    strategy: high_quality
    metadata:
      title: API Reference
  - path: reports/*.pdf
    metadata:
      category: reports

mxbai store upload "my-docs" --manifest upload-manifest.yaml

Store Aliases

Create short aliases for frequently used stores:

mxbai config set aliases.docs "my-documentation-store"
mxbai config set aliases.prod "str_abc123"

# Use aliases in any command
mxbai store search docs "how to deploy"
mxbai store upload prod "files/**/*.md"

Rules

CRITICAL

• Always pass `--yes` in CI/CD. Without it, sync and delete commands hang waiting for interactive confirmation that never comes. CI environments don't have a TTY.
• `--contextualization` on upload/sync is deprecated since v2.2.0. Configure contextualization at store creation with mxbai store create --contextualization. The flag on upload/sync shows a warning and is ignored.

HIGH

• `--parallel` max is 200. The CLI validates and rejects values above 200. Default is 100.
• `--force` sync re-uploads everything. It bypasses change detection entirely. Use sparingly — typically only for periodic full re-syncs (e.g., weekly cron).
• Store names: lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens, and periods only. Invalid names cause creation to fail.

MEDIUM

• Use `--dry-run` before first sync. Preview what would be uploaded, changed, or deleted before committing.
• Use store aliases for frequently-used stores. Avoids typos and long store names in commands.
• Use `--unique` on upload to skip duplicates. Prevents re-uploading files that already exist (based on content hash).

Troubleshooting