> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kestrel.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# CLI reference

> Complete command and option reference for Kestrel Search.

# CLI reference

## Search command

```text theme={null}
kestrelsearch search [OPTIONS] [QUERY]
```

Supply at least one query, either as the positional `QUERY` or with one or more
`-q, --query` options. Both forms can be combined.

| Option                       | Default      | Description                                                                        |
| ---------------------------- | ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `-q, --query QUERY`          | —            | Add a query. Repeat as needed; the positional query is optional when this is used. |
| `-e, --engine ENGINE`        | `duckduckgo` | Choose `duckduckgo`, `bing`, or `yahoo`. Repeat for multiple engines.              |
| `--mode MODE`                | `fallback`   | Use `fallback` or `fanout`.                                                        |
| `--search-concurrency N`     | `5`          | Maximum concurrent search-provider requests.                                       |
| `-k, --top-k N`              | `5`          | Number of final results.                                                           |
| `--fetch-candidates N`       | `3 × top-k`  | Maximum pages fetched before ranking.                                              |
| `--fetch, --no-fetch`        | fetch        | Enable or disable page retrieval.                                                  |
| `--rank, --no-rank`          | rank         | Enable or disable BM25 re-ranking. Requires fetching.                              |
| `--region CODE`              | all regions  | Provider region such as `us-en` or `uk-en`.                                        |
| `--time-filter VALUE`        | `any`        | Use `any`, `d`, `w`, `m`, or `y`. Bing currently ignores this option.              |
| `--content-limit CHARS`      | `2000`       | Maximum extracted characters per page.                                             |
| `--max-response-bytes BYTES` | `2000000`    | Maximum accepted response body per page.                                           |
| `--timeout SECS`             | `10`         | Per-page fetch timeout.                                                            |
| `--concurrency N`            | `5`          | Maximum concurrent page downloads.                                                 |
| `--parse-concurrency N`      | `2`          | Maximum concurrent HTML parsing jobs.                                              |
| `--output FORMAT`            | `text`       | Return `text` or `json`.                                                           |
| `-h, --help`                 | —            | Show command help.                                                                 |

## Skill commands

Install the generated agent skill:

```text theme={null}
kestrelsearch skill install [OPTIONS]
```

| Option          | Description                                                  |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `--agent AGENT` | Choose `claude`, `vscode`, `codex`, `all`, or legacy `both`. |
| `--scope SCOPE` | Choose `project` or `global`.                                |
| `--force`       | Replace an existing `SKILL.md` without prompting.            |

Remove recorded skill installations interactively:

```bash theme={null}
kestrelsearch skill uninstall
```

Run `kestrelsearch --help` or `kestrelsearch search --help` to check the
reference for your installed version.