Sync

Name: Knowns
Author: Knowns.dev

Apply project config after cloning — skills, instructions, models, and search index

2 min read

knowns sync reads .knowns/config.json and applies all settings locally. This is the recommended command after cloning a repo that uses Knowns.

Quick Start

git clone <repo>
knowns sync        # sets up everything from config.json

Skills — copies built-in skills to platform directories (.claude/skills/, .agent/skills/, .kiro/skills/)
Instructions — generates agent instruction files (KNOWNS.md, CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, etc.) for configured platforms
Git integration — applies .gitignore rules based on gitTrackingMode setting
Model download — downloads the configured embedding model if not installed locally
Search index — rebuilds the semantic search index

Flag	Description
`--force`	Force overwrite existing files
`--skills`	Sync skills only
`--instructions`	Sync instruction files only
`--model`	Download embedding model only
`--platform <name>`	Sync specific platform (claude, gemini, copilot, agents)

Config field	Sync action
`settings.platforms`	Which platform dirs to sync skills/instructions to
`settings.gitTrackingMode`	Which `.gitignore` rules to apply
`settings.semanticSearch.model`	Which embedding model to download
`settings.semanticSearch.enabled`	Whether to download model and reindex
`settings.autoSyncOnUpdate`	Whether to auto-sync skills on CLI version change

Mode	Behavior
`git-tracked`	All `.knowns/` content is committed. No gitignore rules added.
`git-ignored`	Only `config.json`, `docs/`, and `templates/` are committed. Tasks stay local.
`none`	No gitignore changes. User manages manually.

When running any knowns command in a project where semantic search is configured but the model is not installed, a warning is shown:

⚠ This project uses semantic search but the embedding model is not installed locally.
  Model: GTE Small (gte-small, ~67MB)

  Run: knowns sync