Getting started

This page maps a codebase, which needs the CLI. Not here for code? Issues, notes and tasks need no install at all — jump to the from anywhere path in Set up your agent.

Install the CLI

npm install -g @cr8rcho/alkahest

The CLI is open source (MIT) — it scans locally and nothing runs against your app.

Map your project

Run this at the root of your app:

alkahest scan   # parse the source, build .alkahest/map.json

scan reads your source statically — no instrumentation, no dev server, nothing to wire into CI. Every screen becomes a node, navigation becomes edges, and the API/data calls each screen makes are attached to it. Supported stacks are listed in the FAQ; the data model is platform-agnostic, so more land as adapters.

Connect your account

1. Create a free account at alkahest.app.
2. Go to API tokens in the sidebar and create a token (shown once — copy it).
3. Link the CLI:

alkahest login --token alk_…

login confirms the token worked. Later on, alkahest status answers the same question — whether you are still signed in, and which project this folder publishes to.

Publish a link

alkahest publish
# → https://alkahest.app/p/your-project/main

The first publish auto-creates a project under your account. Re-run publish after changes and the same link updates — the viewer always shows the latest scan, and the publish history keeps a node-level diff of every version.

Send the link to anyone: they explore the interactive graph in the browser, no install, no repo access. Only the derived map is uploaded — never your source files.

Next steps

• Set up your agent so it can read and write your maps over MCP.
• Plan work on an issue map — it works before any code is scanned.
• Set up notifications so decisions reach you in Slack or Discord.
• Put a capture shortcut on your phone's home screen so a thought on the bus becomes a task.