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This quickstart walks you through installing llmwiki, setting your API key, and running llmwiki quickstart against a real source - a URL or a local file - to produce a browsable, interlinked wiki in a single command. By the end you’ll have a compiled wiki you can query with natural language and explore in a local browser UI.
llmwiki requires Node.js >= 24. Run node --version to check. If you’re on an older version, update via nodejs.org or a version manager such as nvm or fnm before continuing.
1

Install llmwiki globally

Install the llm-wiki-compiler package from npm. The package registers the llmwiki binary globally.
Verify the installation completed successfully:
2

Set your API key

llmwiki defaults to Anthropic. Export your API key before running any command that calls the LLM (ingest is credential-free; compile is not):
If your Anthropic-compatible gateway expects a different header, use ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN instead - either variable satisfies Anthropic authentication. You only need one.
Already using another provider? llmwiki supports OpenAI-compatible servers, Ollama, GitHub Copilot, and the Claude Agent SDK (which authenticates through your local Claude Code login with no separate API key). See Provider Setup or the full Provider Configuration reference to configure those instead.
3

Run llmwiki quickstart

Create a new directory for your wiki, then run llmwiki quickstart with any supported source - a URL, a local markdown file, a PDF, or even a YouTube link:
llmwiki quickstart ingests the source, runs the two-phase LLM compile pipeline, and opens the local viewer when pages are ready. Pass --no-open to stop after compile without launching the viewer, or --review to queue generated pages as candidates instead of writing them directly to wiki/. For a large source, --concurrency <n> raises how many LLM calls the compile step runs in parallel (default 5).Expected output after a successful compile:
The compiled pages land in wiki/concepts/, each with YAML frontmatter, paragraph-level citations, and [[wikilinks]] to related concepts.
4

Query the wiki

Ask a natural-language question against the compiled wiki. llmwiki uses semantic chunk retrieval, BM25 reranking, and wikilink-graph expansion to build a grounded answer:
Add --save to write the answer back as a new wiki page, which makes it available as context for future queries:
5

Browse the wiki

Open the local read-only web viewer to explore your wiki with sidebar navigation, full-text search, a force-directed concept graph, and per-page citation chips:
The viewer binds to 127.0.0.1 and is private by default. It renders wiki/ without mutating any files - all writes go through the CLI.

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Start with a domain template

The default quickstart creates the classic concepts-and-queries wiki. For a typed domain project, install a template before adding content:
AutoSci declares papers, sources, ideas, experiments, manuscripts, methods, people, reviews, research outputs, typed relations, five workflows, seven artifact types, and the Crossref DOI connector. Continue with the AutoSci practical guide.
Template installation is intended for a new or empty typed project. The selected profile is materialized at .llmwiki/profile.json; the advisory template lock records install provenance but never changes validation or write authority.
Not sure what to do next after setup? Run llmwiki next from your project directory. It inspects the current project state and recommends the single most useful follow-up command - whether that’s adding more sources, recompiling after a file change, running llmwiki lint, or reviewing pending candidates.

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What’s next

Core Concepts

Understand how llmwiki’s two-phase compile pipeline, hybrid retrieval, and citation model work together.

Configurable Lifecycle Profiles

Learn how profiles define typed domain behavior while core remains generic.

CLI Reference

Full documentation for every llmwiki command, flag, and option.

Open Knowledge Format

Export your wiki as an OKF bundle or import an external bundle through review.