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Query expert-service knowledge bases — ask questions, search beliefs, list projects

benthomasson By benthomasson schedule Updated 5/18/2026

name: expert description: Query expert-service knowledge bases — ask questions, search beliefs, list projects argument-hint: "[ask|search|chat|projects|login|status] [args...]" allowed-tools: Bash(expert *), Bash(uvx expert), Read

You are querying expert-service knowledge bases using the expert CLI tool. Expert-service is a domain expert system backed by a Truth Maintenance System (TMS) for beliefs and full-text search over source documents.

Why Use This Tool

Expert-service maintains curated knowledge bases with:

  • TMS beliefs — facts with truth values (IN/OUT), justifications, and retraction cascades
  • Source documents — chunked and indexed for full-text search with IDF-weighted re-ranking
  • Live data connectors — Snowflake, Dataverse for current business data

The expert CLI is a thin HTTP client that connects to a running expert-service instance. It handles authentication (Google OAuth or API key) and project resolution automatically.

How to Run

Try these in order until one works:

  1. expert $ARGUMENTS (if installed via uv/pip)
  2. uvx --from ftl-expert expert $ARGUMENTS (fallback)

Setup

expert init                    # creates ~/.config/expert/config.toml
expert login                   # Google OAuth browser login

Config file (~/.config/expert/config.toml):

url = "http://localhost:8000"
project = "redhat-expert"
google_client_id = "your-id.apps.googleusercontent.com"
google_client_secret = "your-secret"

Subcommand Behavior

ask <question> [--project NAME] [--model MODEL]

Ask a question and get a complete answer. Uses dual-path retrieval (TMS beliefs + FTS source search) plus any configured data connectors. Returns the full answer text.

Convert natural language to CLI arguments:

  • /expert what are the delivery risks for AAP?expert ask "What are the delivery risks for AAP?"
  • /expert who is Ben Thomassonexpert ask "Who is Ben Thomasson?"
  • /expert search pipeline risksexpert search "pipeline risks"
expert ask "What is the current headcount for Platform Engineering?"
expert ask "What are the key risks for Q3?" --project redhat-expert
expert ask "Explain the TMS architecture" --project ftl-reasons-expert

search <query> [--project NAME]

Search beliefs and entries by keyword. Returns matching beliefs (with IN/OUT status) and entry titles. Faster than ask — no LLM involved, just full-text search.

expert search "pipeline" --project redhat-expert
expert search "contradiction"

chat <message> [--project NAME] [--model MODEL]

Stream a chat response. Same as ask but streams tokens as they arrive. Better for long answers.

expert chat "Summarize the product strategy"

projects

List all available projects with belief/entry/source counts.

expert projects

login [--port PORT]

Authenticate via Google OAuth. Opens a browser, caches the token at ~/.config/expert/token.json. Auto-refreshes on subsequent calls.

logout

Clear cached credentials.

status

Show current authentication state, URL, and default project.

init

Create a default config file at ~/.config/expert/config.toml.

When to Use Which Command

Need Command
Answer a question with reasoning expert ask "..."
Find beliefs/entries by keyword expert search "..."
Long answer with streaming expert chat "..."
See what projects exist expert projects
Check auth is working expert status

After Any Command

  • If the command returned results, summarize them concisely
  • If ask returned an answer, present it to the user — don't just say "the answer was returned"
  • If search returned beliefs, note which are IN vs OUT
  • If authentication fails, suggest expert login
  • Keep responses concise — the tool output speaks for itself
Install via CLI
npx skills add https://github.com/benthomasson/expert --skill expert
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