mi-lsp

name: mi-lsp description: Use when a folder-based agent should navigate code with the mi-lsp CLI, or when the skill is installed but the mi-lsp binary still needs install/bootstrap on PATH before semantic navigation can begin.

mi-lsp

Use this skill when you want local semantic navigation with mi-lsp without introducing an MCP dependency. If the skill is installed but the binary is missing, bootstrap the CLI first instead of abandoning the flow.

If mi-lsp is missing from PATH, use the one-command bootstrap in the Install bootstrap section before falling back to raw rg or broad file reads. The intended first path is: install or verify CLI -> mi-lsp init . --name <alias> -> nav ask / nav pack / nav search --include-content.

Prefer the AXI-default surfaces for onboarding and discovery: mi-lsp, init, workspace status, nav wiki inventory, nav wiki search, nav route, nav search, and nav intent. Use nav wiki search when the task is clearly about project docs, RS/RF/FL/TP/CT/TECH/DB, outcomes, contracts, tests, or traceability. Use nav route as the cheapest first orientation step — it resolves the canonical anchor doc from governance alone without touching the index. Use nav ask without --axi for richer orientation questions when you need evidence synthesis. Prefer nav search --include-content for implementation questions. Use nav context <file>:<line> when you already have a line target; the older nav context <file> <line> form remains valid. For Go files, nav context / nav refs may use optional gopls; if gopls is missing, treat the catalog/text fallback with install guidance as valid partial evidence. Treat nav wiki search|route|pack|trace as the canonical documentation surface. Treat nav search as a broad text surface: it may return canonical docs, but it may also return prompts, audits, .docs/raw, generated files, or other support artifacts. Do not decide documentation authority from nav search alone when a nav wiki * surface can answer the question. Treat nav intent as hybrid: natural capability questions should follow mode=docs, while symbol-like questions should follow mode=code. When nav intent returns mode=docs, prefer the returned doc_path/doc_id/evidence/next_queries over switching back to broad code search. Treat continuation as the default machine-readable next step when it is present: prefer following continuation.next over improvising a broader search. Treat memory_pointer as a tiny repo-local reentry hint: it is there to help a fresh harness resume from recent canonical changes without spending a full query budget. Use mi-lsp workspace status <alias> --full when you need the expanded reentry digest (recent_canonical_changes, handoff, best_reentry, stale). If workspace status emits a warning like "reentry memory snapshot absent; rerun 'mi-lsp index --workspace <alias>'...", rerun the suggested mi-lsp index before relying on memory or memory_pointer for reentry. Use --classic when you want the old CLI behavior on an AXI-default surface, and --axi only when you need to force AXI on a classic-default surface such as nav workspace-map. Use --axi=false to suppress the AXI default for a single invocation without affecting MI_LSP_AXI or the session. Prefer an explicit --workspace <alias> once the repo is registered. Prefer compound commands over sequential greps and full-file reads.

Worktree operating rule

Treat every Git worktree as a distinct workspace because each worktree has its own physical workspace_root. Register one explicit alias per worktree, index that exact root, and always query with the alias for the active worktree.

On Windows, when creating or entering a new worktree, prefer a short external worktree path such as C:\wt\<repo-short>-<task-short> before .worktrees\<branch>. Repos with deep .docs/auditoria, .docs/raw, generated evidence, browser profile, or fixture paths can fail checkout with Filename too long when the worktree is nested inside the repo.

Use this post-worktree bootstrap before any semantic navigation:

git worktree add C:\wt\<short-name> -b <branch-name> <base-ref>
Set-Location C:\wt\<short-name>
mi-lsp init . --name <worktree-alias>
mi-lsp index --workspace <worktree-alias>
mi-lsp workspace status <worktree-alias> --format toon
mi-lsp nav governance --workspace <worktree-alias> --format toon

Do not use an alias that points to the main checkout while the current task is running inside another worktree. An explicit --workspace <alias> wins over caller CWD; if it points to a different registered root than the CWD, treat the warning as a signal to confirm the intended alias before continuing. When no --workspace is provided, caller_cwd resolution may select the registered worktree containing the current directory, but agents should still prefer explicit aliases for repeatability. If git worktree add fails with Filename too long, retry from a short external root such as C:\wt\<short-name>, then rerun the mi-lsp init and mi-lsp index steps for that exact root. Do not fall back to the main checkout alias as if it represented the failed worktree.

Workspace registry hygiene

workspace list is alias-preserving by default. Multiple aliases for the same root are valid when they represent roles, smokes, legacy names, or worktrees. Do not dedupe or prune global registry entries unless the user explicitly approves a mutating cleanup.

Use these non-mutating diagnostics before changing registry state:

mi-lsp workspace list --group-by-root --format toon
mi-lsp workspace doctor --format toon

Interpretation:

• workspace list: every alias remains a first-class record.
• workspace list --group-by-root: groups aliases by canonical root and reports alias_count, aliases, canonical_alias, selection_reason, kind, and warnings.
• workspace doctor: reports duplicate roots, stale paths, binary provenance/shadowing, governance skips, and suggested cleanup commands only. It must not mutate ~/.mi-lsp/registry.toml.

Daemon runtime identity is canonical by workspace_root + backend_type + entrypoint_id. Alias-specific fields such as workspace_alias, workspace_input, and human-facing workspace are preserved for display and forensics, but duplicate aliases for the same root/backend/entrypoint should share warm runtime state. Different entrypoint_id values remain separate runtimes. Different worktree roots must not share runtime, watcher, or index state even when they share the same Git common directory.

Canonical wiki-first rule

When the task is asking "what is the canonical doc?", "which RS/RF/TP/CT/TECH/DB applies?", "what does the spec say?", or "how do I trace this requirement?", start from governance-backed wiki surfaces:

1. nav wiki inventory when you do not yet know which workspace owns the question — it returns a light per-workspace catalog (alias, root, wiki_root, governance_blocked, docs_ready, doc_count, last_indexed_at). Add --with-layer-counts to see RS/FL/RF/TP/TECH/DB/CT counts per workspace before targeting one.
2. nav route when you need the cheapest canonical anchor and do not want to depend on the index yet
3. nav wiki search when you need canonical doc discovery by topic or ID
4. nav wiki pack when you need the small reading set around the canonical anchor
5. nav wiki trace when you already have an explicit RS-* / RF-* / TP-* / doc ID

Only drop to nav search --include-content when the question becomes implementation-first, or when you need raw disk evidence after the canonical anchor is already known.

Use --layer RS,RF,FL,TP,CT,TECH,DB aggressively on nav wiki search to narrow the authority lane.

The five nav wiki * subcommands (search, route, trace, pack, inventory) all accept --all-workspaces for fan-out across every registered workspace; items in the response carry workspace:<alias> and stats gains workspaces_queried / workspaces_failed[]. Use it when the question is "which workspaces talk about X?" before targeting one with --workspace <alias>. Cross-machine federation lives outside mi-lsp (see Hermes-side wrappers); the CLI stays per-host. If AXI preview is trimmed or next_hint asks for expansion, rerun with --full before inventing a broader command. Follow next_queries and continuation.next from wiki results before improvising nav search.

Canonical wiki location is governed by 00_gobierno_documental.md and read-model.toml, not by assuming the corpus always lives under a fixed path like .docs/wiki/*.

Semantic recall by intent

Use nav recall --intent when a knowledge wiki has embeddings configured and you need semantic candidates, not final authority. Embeddings recall discovers candidates; a route hit or route-only material is not a final source until you open the canonical doc or evidence it points to.

mi-lsp nav recall "what contract defines recall result fields?" --workspace <alias> --intent formula --format toon
mi-lsp nav recall "collect citations for semantic fallback" --workspace <alias> --intent evidence --format toon
mi-lsp nav recall "where should I start this docs task?" --workspace <alias> --intent route --map --format toon

Intent guide:

• formula: definitions, rules, contracts, acceptance criteria, and stable technical formulas
• evidence: citable support for an answer, audit, or closure packet
• route: next canonical anchor or workflow path to inspect; follow with nav wiki pack|trace
• explore: balanced discovery when vocabulary is still unknown
• learning: onboarding, concepts, architecture, and explanatory material

Reference OpenAI-compatible embeddings config:

[embeddings]
provider = "openai"
base_url = "https://<openai-compatible-embeddings-endpoint>/v1"
model = "<embedding-model>"
dim = 4096
api_key_env = "MI_LSP_EMBEDDINGS_API_KEY"
profile = "knowledge-wiki"
batch_size = 32
timeout_ms = 30000
encoding_format = "float"
user_agent = "mi-lsp-embeddings/1.0"

Secret handling: set the variable named by api_key_env through the environment or a wrapper such as mkey run. Never print API key values, paste them into prompts, commit them, or read auth/secret stores during normal navigation.

If the provider, key, or embeddings config fails, do not expect a hidden BGE fallback. Use the canonical lexical/wiki fallback:

mi-lsp nav wiki search "<query>" --workspace <alias> --format toon

Search syntax rule

nav search accepts exactly one positional pattern argument. If the pattern contains spaces, quote the whole pattern: mi-lsp nav search "forgot password" --workspace <alias> --format toon. Do not write several bare words after nav search; PowerShell will split them into separate arguments and the CLI will reject the command. If the pattern is regex-like, keep it quoted and add --regex.

Output formats

Reading compact JSON

Standard JSON. Extract with jq or by parsing the string. Fields use short keys in compact mode: f=file, l=line, k=kind, n=name, sig=signature, impl=implements, sc=scope.

{"ok":true,"workspace":"salud","backend":"text",
 "items":[{"f":"internal/service/app.go","k":"func","l":276,"n":"search"}],
 "stats":{"tokens_est":42}}

Reading TOON

TOON uses key: value for scalars and key[N]{col1,col2,...}: for arrays. Each array row is one indented line with comma-separated values in the declared column order.

TOON output is sanitized for unsafe control bytes before serialization: tabs, newlines, and carriage returns remain real whitespace, while other control characters are rendered as visible escapes such as \u0000. When this happens the envelope includes a warning. Compact JSON keeps backward-compatible raw string behavior; do not assume a TOON escape means the underlying compact JSON value was changed.

backend: text
items[2]{f,k,l,n}:
  .docs/wiki/02_arquitectura.md,section,19,arquitectura
  internal/service/app.go,func,276,search
ok: true
stats:
  tokens_est: 42
workspace: salud

Parsing rules for TOON:

• Scalar field: key: value — read the value after :
• Array header: key[N]{col1,col2,...}: — N rows follow, each comma-split in column order
• Empty array: key[0]: — zero rows
• Nested object: key: followed by indented child: value lines
• Quoted strings: "..." when value contains spaces, commas, or special chars

Extracting a value from TOON output:

# To get item file paths from items[N]{f,k,l,n}:
# column index of "f" = 0 → split each row by comma, take index 0

Reading YAML

Standard YAML. Each key on its own line; arrays use - prefix.

backend: text
items:
    - f: .docs/wiki/02_arquitectura.md
      k: section
      l: 19
      "n": arquitectura
    - f: internal/service/app.go
      k: func
      l: 276
      "n": search
ok: true
stats:
    tokens_est: 42
workspace: salud

Parse with any YAML library, or read field values directly from key: value lines.

Format when items is empty and hint is set

# TOON
backend: text
hint: "0 matches for \"chat\": checked 1243 files"
items[0]:
next_hint: rerun with --regex
ok: true
stats:
  tokens_est: 8
workspace: salud

# YAML
backend: text
hint: '0 matches for "chat": checked 1243 files'
items: []
next_hint: rerun with --regex
ok: true
stats:
    tokens_est: 8
workspace: salud

When to switch formats

• Use --format toon by default — it is the recommended format for agent use; saves the most tokens on large items arrays.
• Use --format yaml when you need line-by-line readability or are piping to a YAML-aware tool.
• Use --format compact only when strict JSON is required (e.g., jq pipelines, backward-compatible scripts).
• Never mix formats in a single session — pick one at the start and stay consistent.

AXI auto-format: When AXI is active (--axi, MI_LSP_AXI=1, or an AXI-default surface) and you did not pass --format explicitly, the CLI selects TOON automatically. You do not need to add --format toon in those cases.

AXI mode

• --axi=false disables the AXI default for a single invocation. Use it when you want classic output on an AXI-default surface without setting --classic for the whole command.
• --axi + --classic together are invalid — the CLI errors immediately before running the operation. Do not combine them expecting a silent fallback.
• TOON is automatic under active AXI — if AXI is effective and you did not pass --format, the CLI picks TOON. Explicit --format always wins.

Interpreting the hint field

All envelopes may include a hint field with diagnostic context, and some responses may also include next_hint with the recommended rerun:

• "0 matches for X in workspace Y" — pattern not found; try a different keyword or --regex
• "0 matches for X: pattern looks regex-like, rerun with --regex" — literal search on a regex pattern
• "0 matches for X: search timed out" — reduce scope or use a more specific pattern
• "daemon_unavailable; served from local text index" — daemon not running; result is textual-only
• "invalid path: contains newline in ..." — multi-read arg had embedded \n; fix the argument

If hint is present and items is empty, act on the hint before retrying. If next_hint is present, prefer that rerun guidance over improvising. Do not retry the same command unchanged.

In cross-workspace nav find / nav search results, structured formats may include a per-item workspace field so agents can preserve provenance without relying on array position alone.

Tool binding

Run mi-lsp through the host shell tool, not through a custom MCP tool:

• Codex: functions.shell_command
• Claude Code: shell/Bash tool
• Other skill-based agents: the local terminal/shell tool they already expose

Do not wait for a dedicated mi-lsp MCP integration. mi-lsp is a CLI-first tool.

Install bootstrap

If the skill folder exists but mi-lsp is not callable, do not stop at "tool unavailable". Install the CLI first, verify it, and only then continue with repo navigation.

Use the combined installer when the user wants both the CLI and this skill installed through the skills CLI:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fgpaz/mi-lsp/main/scripts/install/install-agent.ps1 | iex

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fgpaz/mi-lsp/main/scripts/install/install-agent.sh | sh

Use the CLI-only installer when the skill is already present and only the binary needs install or update:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fgpaz/mi-lsp/main/scripts/install/install.ps1 | iex

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fgpaz/mi-lsp/main/scripts/install/install.sh | sh

Installer rules:

• Supported archive RIDs: win-x64, win-arm64, linux-x64, linux-arm64, darwin-x64, darwin-arm64.
• Darwin archives map to worker RIDs osx-x64 and osx-arm64; do not map Darwin to a Linux archive.
• Archives come from GitHub Releases latest and must pass SHA256 verification before extraction.
• The install must keep workers/<rid>/ next to the mi-lsp binary or run mi-lsp worker install.
• install-agent requires npx and uses npx skills add fgpaz/mi-lsp --skill mi-lsp -g -a codex -a claude-code -y; it has no folder-copy fallback.

Verify the install:

where.exe mi-lsp
mi-lsp version --format toon
mi-lsp worker status --format toon

If the binary was moved after extraction, run:

mi-lsp worker install

Local source install on macOS/Linux

If the release asset is not available yet but the source checkout exists, build and install the current machine's RID from the repo:

cd ~/Documents/mi-lsp
sh scripts/release/install-local.sh --install-dir "$HOME/.local/bin"
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
mi-lsp version --format toon
mi-lsp worker status --format toon

Legacy manual install

Use this only when the one-command installer cannot run in the current shell.

1. Download the release bundle for the user's platform from https://github.com/fgpaz/mi-lsp/releases.
2. Choose the right bundle: win-x64, win-arm64, linux-x64, linux-arm64, darwin-x64, or darwin-arm64.
3. Extract it into a stable tools directory and keep workers/<rid>/ next to the mi-lsp binary.
4. Add that directory to the current session PATH, or invoke the binary by absolute path until PATH is fixed permanently.
5. Verify the install:

where.exe mi-lsp
mi-lsp version --format toon
mi-lsp worker status --format toon

6. If the binary was moved after extraction, run:

mi-lsp worker install

Updating to a new version

The CLI-only installer is also the normal update command. It downloads the latest release, replaces the binary and worker bundle for the host RID, and reruns the install probes.

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fgpaz/mi-lsp/main/scripts/install/install.ps1 | iex

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fgpaz/mi-lsp/main/scripts/install/install.sh | sh

A new release publishes pre-built bundles for all platforms — no Go toolchain needed.

1. Download the new bundle from https://github.com/fgpaz/mi-lsp/releases for your platform.
2. Stop the daemon if running:

mi-lsp daemon stop

3. Replace the mi-lsp binary in your install directory with the one from the new bundle.
4. If the new release includes worker changes, replace workers/<rid>/ too (or run mi-lsp worker install).
5. Restart the daemon if you use it:

mi-lsp daemon start

6. Verify:

where.exe mi-lsp
mi-lsp version --format toon
mi-lsp worker status --format toon
mi-lsp workspace list --group-by-root --format toon
mi-lsp workspace doctor --format toon

If the release changes CLI/daemon telemetry or admin export, refresh the mi-lsp binary and restart the daemon before trusting new fields in access_events. If daemon status reports missing executable metadata, an executable_sha256 mismatch, or stale-daemon guidance, rebuild/install the CLI and run mi-lsp daemon restart before trusting daemon-backed results. Only replace workers/<rid>/ when the release notes say the worker changed.

Weekly release check

At most once every 7 days, an agent may check whether a newer GitHub Release exists. Cache the check timestamp and last seen tag under ~/.mi-lsp/release-check.json or an equivalent local cache.

• Compare local mi-lsp version --format toon with https://api.github.com/repos/fgpaz/mi-lsp/releases/latest.
• If a newer release exists, notify the user and show the CLI-only update command.
• Do not run the installer automatically unless the user explicitly asks to update.
• To update this skill itself, use npx skills update mi-lsp -g -y.

Admin export note

mi-lsp admin export --summary aggregates over the full filtered window by default. Only pass --limit when you intentionally want to summarize a partial sample.

Raw export can also filter by:

• --operation
• --session-id
• --client-name
• --route
• --query-format
• --truncated
• --pattern-mode
• --routing-outcome
• --failure-stage
• --hint-code

Summary mode can add optional breakdowns with:

• --by-route
• --by-client
• --by-hint
• --by-failure-stage

decision_json is intentionally sanitized for local debugging. It may include pattern length, regex suspicion, selector presence, emitted hints, fallback, and result source, but it must not include the raw search pattern, argv, or a full request snapshot. result_count means the number of items actually emitted in the final envelope after truncation or limits.

Telemetry examples:

mi-lsp admin export --recent --summary --by-route --by-client --by-failure-stage
mi-lsp admin export --recent --operation nav.search --pattern-mode literal --format compact --limit 50
mi-lsp admin export --recent --routing-outcome router_error --failure-stage selector_validation --format json --limit 20

The worker protocol is versioned. If the CLI and worker versions are incompatible, worker status will warn you.

Windows session example:

$installDir = Join-Path $HOME "bin\mi-lsp"
$env:PATH = "$installDir;$env:PATH"
where.exe mi-lsp
mi-lsp worker status --format toon

Linux session example:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/opt/mi-lsp:$PATH"
command -v mi-lsp
mi-lsp worker status --format toon

First-use check

1. Confirm mi-lsp is callable in the current shell.
2. Prefer the short AXI-default bootstrap path first.
3. If the workspace is already registered, resolve it and continue.

mi-lsp workspace list
mi-lsp
mi-lsp init . --name <alias>
mi-lsp workspace status <alias>

If mi-lsp is not on PATH, install it from Releases or repair PATH for the current session before falling back to other tools.

Hot path

Use these commands first:

• Open the discovery home: mi-lsp
• Wiki-first doc search: mi-lsp nav wiki search "workflow masterformularios" --workspace <alias> --layer RS,RF,FL,CT,TP --format toon
• Wiki reading pack: mi-lsp nav wiki pack "workflow con masterformularios" --workspace <alias> --format toon
• Cheapest canonical orientation (no index needed): mi-lsp nav route "how is this workspace organized?" --workspace <alias> --format toon
• Canonical reading pack for a task: mi-lsp nav pack "understand authentication flow" --workspace <alias>
• Reading pack anchored to an RF spec: mi-lsp nav pack "how does login work" --rf RF-AUTH-001 --workspace <alias>
• Richer orientation with evidence: mi-lsp nav ask "how is this workspace organized?" --workspace <alias>
• Read 2+ file slices: mi-lsp nav multi-read file1:1-120 file2:40-160 --workspace <alias> --format toon
• Search and see code inline: mi-lsp nav search "billing retry" --include-content --workspace <alias>
• Search inside one repo of a container workspace: mi-lsp nav search "forgot password" --workspace <alias> --repo web
• Semantic wiki recall by intent: mi-lsp nav recall "what contract defines fallback?" --workspace <alias> --intent formula --format toon
• Understand a symbol in one call: mi-lsp nav related MySymbol --workspace <alias> --format toon
• Orient in a new repo or parent folder: mi-lsp nav workspace-map --workspace <alias> --axi
• Profile a service: mi-lsp nav service <path> --workspace <alias> --format toon (go-package is language-aware Go evidence, not .NET evidence)
• Inspect recent routing/search telemetry: mi-lsp admin export --recent --summary --by-route --by-hint --by-failure-stage
• Expand repo-local reentry memory: mi-lsp workspace status <alias> --full
• Batch mixed operations: mi-lsp nav batch --workspace <alias> --format toon
• Trace spec-to-code/doc links: mi-lsp nav trace RF-QRY-003 --workspace <alias> --format toon
• Trace from the wiki surface: mi-lsp nav wiki trace RS-EXAMPLE-001 --workspace <alias> --format toon
• Search by intent/purpose: mi-lsp nav intent "where do we handle routing fallback?" --workspace <alias>

Prefer these over repeated Get-Content, plain rg, or one-file-at-a-time reads.

Minimal workflow

1. Bootstrap or verify the workspace.

mi-lsp
mi-lsp init . --name <alias>
mi-lsp workspace status <alias>

2. Start with intent, not grep.

mi-lsp nav route "how is this workspace organized?" --workspace <alias> --format toon
mi-lsp nav wiki search "RF IDX" --workspace <alias> --layer RS,RF,TP,CT --format toon
mi-lsp nav ask "how is this workspace organized?" --workspace <alias>
mi-lsp workspace status <alias> --full
mi-lsp nav intent "error handling for daemon connections" --workspace <alias>

If the task is document-first, stay in the wiki lane longer:

mi-lsp nav route "how does login work?" --workspace <alias> --format toon
mi-lsp nav wiki search "RF-AUTH login" --workspace <alias> --layer RS,RF,TP,CT --format toon
mi-lsp nav wiki pack "how does login work?" --workspace <alias> --format toon
mi-lsp nav wiki trace RF-AUTH-001 --workspace <alias> --format toon

Use nav search only after the canonical anchor is known, or when the task is code-first.

3. Move to broad discovery when you need structure.

mi-lsp nav workspace-map --workspace <alias> --axi
mi-lsp nav find <symbol> --workspace <alias> --format toon
mi-lsp nav search "<text with spaces if needed>" --include-content --workspace <alias>

4. Move to deep semantics only when needed.

mi-lsp nav refs <symbol> --workspace <alias> --backend roslyn --format toon
mi-lsp nav context <file>:<line> --workspace <alias> --format toon
mi-lsp nav context <file> <line> --workspace <alias> --backend roslyn --format toon
mi-lsp nav related <symbol> --workspace <alias> --format toon

5. Use nav service before judging whether a backend service is only scaffolding.

mi-lsp nav service <service-path> --workspace <alias> --format toon

6. Trace spec-to-code/doc links when reviewing RS/RF/TP compliance.

mi-lsp nav trace RF-QRY-003 --workspace <alias> --format toon
mi-lsp nav trace --all --summary --workspace <alias> --format toon

Tool choice ladder

Use mi-lsp first for repo navigation, docs-first Q&A, symbol lookup, service audits, and batch reads.

• Start with mi-lsp, workspace status, nav wiki search, nav route, or nav intent for the first pass on a new repo.
• Use nav wiki search for documentation exploration. Filter with --layer RS,RF,FL,TP,CT,TECH,DB; follow returned next_queries toward nav wiki pack, nav wiki trace, nav multi-read, or nav ask.
• Use nav wiki trace when you already know the requirement or test ID and need the canonical doc/evidence lane instead of a broad text match list.
• Use nav route as the cheapest orientation step — it resolves the canonical anchor doc from governance without touching the index (Tier 1), then enriches from the index when available (Tier 2). AXI-default preview-first.
• Use nav ask for richer orientation when you need full evidence synthesis and next queries.
• Use nav pack to build a canonical reading pack docs-first for a task. It uses the same routing core as nav route and returns mode=preview|full, per-doc stage (anchor|preview|discovery), and next_queries. Anchor optionally with --rf, --fl, or --doc.
• Use nav search --include-content before nav ask for literal implementation questions like "where is X implemented?".
• If nav search returns prompts, audits, .docs/raw, or other support artifacts while you are answering a documentation/traceability question, treat those hits as non-authoritative and reroute to nav wiki search|route|pack|trace.
• Use nav intent to find code by purpose when you don't know the symbol name.
• Use nav trace to inspect RS/RF/TP evidence; RF remains the implementation-link path, while RS returns the outcome document identity.
• Use workspace-map, search --include-content, and multi-read before broad raw file reads.
• Use related, context, refs, and deps when you need semantic depth.
• Use plain rg only when mi-lsp is unavailable or the request falls outside the CLI surface.

Routing model

• Cheap reads stay direct (no daemon): nav.find, nav.search, nav.wiki.search, nav.symbols, nav.outline, nav.overview, nav.multi-read, nav.intent, nav.trace, nav.route, nav.pack, nav.governance
• In workspaces container, prefer --repo for direct nav.find, nav.search, and nav.intent before escalating to semantic selectors.
• Deep semantics may use the daemon: nav.refs, nav.context, nav.deps, nav.related, nav.service, nav.workspace-map, nav.diff-context, nav.batch, nav.ask
• The daemon is optional. If it is unavailable, the CLI must still work in direct mode.

Container workspaces

If the workspace is a parent folder, start broad on the container and then narrow with the selector that matches the query type:

• Direct catalog reads: --repo on nav.find, nav.search, nav.intent
• Semantic queries: --repo, --entrypoint, --solution, or --project
• Wiki/docs queries: do not use --repo as a docs selector. If an old prompt says nav ask --repo docs, rerun through nav wiki search|route|pack; the CLI accepts the flag only as compatibility guidance.

If a direct query in a container workspace returns backend=router, do not guess. Re-run with --repo. If a semantic query returns backend=router, re-run with a narrower semantic selector.

Shared daemon for multi-agent work

For repeated semantic work across Codex, Claude Code, or subagents, keep the daemon alive:

mi-lsp daemon start
mi-lsp workspace warm --workspace <alias>

When you want clean governance and telemetry attribution, set:

• MI_LSP_CLIENT_NAME
• MI_LSP_SESSION_ID

When to open references

• Read references/quickstart.md when you need install help, a slightly longer onboarding, or a command chooser.
• Read references/compound-commands.md when you want multi-read, batch, related, workspace-map, diff-context, or cross-workspace patterns.
• Read references/recipes.md when auditing a service, reviewing completeness, or doing PR/impact analysis.
• Read references/runtime-drift.md when CLI/docs/daemon behavior disagree after rebuilds or reinstalls, especially to confirm cli_path and protocol_version from worker status.

Noise control

.mi-lsp/ is operational state and is hard-ignored recursively by index/search/evidence collection. Do not ask users to add .mi-lsp/ to .milspignore, and do not treat nested .mi-lsp/index.db hits as valid code evidence.

nav ask code evidence skips operational paths and binary sidecars such as .db, .sqlite, .exe, and .dll before snippets are added. If you need to diagnose those files, do it as an explicit operational/debug step, not as normal answer evidence.

If index or search results are polluted by generated folders, browser profiles, logs, extracted artifacts, or docs templates, suggest exact repo-local entries in .milspignore.

Do not suggest node_modules/; it is already ignored by default.

Output discipline

• Summarize the most relevant hits instead of pasting large JSON blobs.
• Mention the selected repo when answering from a container workspace.
• If results are truncated, rerun narrower or explain how to narrow them.
• For nav ask, include the primary doc, the strongest code evidence, and one or two follow-up commands.
• For nav route and nav pack, each doc in the result carries a stage field: anchor (canonical anchor doc), preview (mini pack preview), or discovery (advisory, non-authoritative). Use this to distinguish source authority without relying on array position.
• For nav wiki search, treat returned docs and next_queries as the canonical path; do not let a later broad nav search override source authority unless you explicitly state that you are now showing non-canonical/supporting evidence.
• If AXI emits next_hint toward --full, prefer that rerun before inventing a broader command.
• If continuation is present, follow continuation.next first; only use alternate when the primary path is blocked or clearly insufficient.
• If memory_pointer.stale=true, prefer workspace status --full or a fresh index before leaning on the pointer as ground truth.
• Do not append --axi to reruns on AXI-default surfaces unless you are crossing into a classic-default command.

Fallback

If mi-lsp remains unavailable after install and PATH repair, fall back to rg and targeted file inspection.