Quickstart

Hansard requires Node.js 20 or newer. Some importers also use optional system tools such as sqlite3, rg, unzip, and zstd; hansard doctor reports what is available on the current machine.

Install the CLI globally.
Terminal window
```
npm install -g hansard
```
Preview setup without writing anything.
Terminal window
```
hansard init --dry-run
```
Initialize Hansard.
Terminal window
```
hansard init
```
The setup flow names the device, chooses local or remote storage, configures privacy, discovers supported sources, offers recall integrations, and can import existing history.
Verify the installation.
Terminal window
```
hansard doctor
hansard status
```
Open the viewer.
Terminal window
```
hansard app
```
On macOS, this opens the separately installed native app when available. Otherwise Hansard starts the local browser viewer.

Search the archive.

hansard history "authentication migration" --since 90d

Import all configured local sources

Run a complete backfill when the setup flow did not import history or after changing the configured source list:

hansard import --source all --since all

Use hansard help import to see the current source IDs and provider-specific import paths.