> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.research.prbe.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# The wizard
> One command that installs, imports, configures, diagnoses and removes Probe on this device.
```bash theme={null}
npx probe-research
```
That is the whole surface. The wizard knows what is installed on this machine, which credentials resolve, whether the last update worked and what imports are running — so instead of describing what you should do, it does it.
If you already have the CLI, `probe wizard` is the same thing. `npx` exists so the first run needs nothing installed.
## Two doors
| Command | Opens on | Use it when |
| ---------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `npx probe-research` / `probe wizard` | The main menu | You are managing an install, or you do not yet know what you want |
| `npx probe-research install` / `probe install` | Straight into the guided install | You have already decided |
`install` is a thin alias for `wizard --action configure` — the same flow, not a second implementation of it.
## Everything the wizard does, and its command
Every screen has a scriptable equivalent. Prefer the wizard at a keyboard — it shows you the state before you change it, and it can tell you when a change did not take. Prefer the command in a script.
| What you want to do | In the wizard | As a command |
| ------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| Set Probe up on this device | **Install Probe** | `probe wizard --action configure --yes` |
| Update the CLI and plugins | **Update to the latest version** | `probe wizard --action update` |
| Remove Probe from this device | **Uninstall Probe** | `probe wizard --action uninstall --yes` |
| Import a folder of work | **Import research work** | `probe backfill --project ` |
| Import saved coding sessions | **Import research work** | `probe backfill --transcripts-only` |
| Check on a running import | **Existing imports** | `probe wizard --action imports` |
| Turn tracking (CLI + MCP) on or off | **Settings** | `probe wizard --tracking` / `--no-tracking` |
| Turn session capture on or off | **Settings** | `probe wizard --capture` / `--no-capture` |
| Turn the managed rules block on or off | **Settings** | `probe wizard --agent-rules` / `--no-agent-rules` |
| Turn automatic updates on or off | **Settings** | `probe wizard --auto-update` / `--no-auto-update` |
| Change what new sessions default to | **Settings → Probe in new sessions** | `probe session default on` |
| Sign in | **Account → Sign in** | `probe login` |
| Sign in as a different account | **Account → Sign in as a different account** | `probe login --context ` |
| Switch to an account already on this device | **Account → Switch to an account saved here** | `probe context use ` |
| Sign out | **Sign out** | `probe logout` |
| Diagnose a problem | **Diagnose a problem** | `probe doctor` |
| See the commands the wizard would run | — | `probe wizard --action manual` |
Three things have no wizard screen, deliberately. **Minting a token** (`probe token create`) requires a human in a browser and prints a secret you must copy. **The status line** (`probe statusline install`) writes into your agent's own settings file. **Workspace write permissions** (`probe access-group`, `probe workspace writers`) are a team-admin surface, not a device one.
## On this device
Every screen of the menu sits under a live summary of the machine. It is the reason the menu is short: you choose against real state rather than guessing which action you need.
```
On this device:
Claude Code MCP on · capture on
Codex MCP on · capture off
CLI 0.164.0 · up to date
plugin 0.66.0 · up to date
tap 0.41.0 · behind
Automatic updates on
Account you@example.com
Last update attempt 2 hours ago · ok
Import progress
Sessions ████████░░░░ 3,200/3,857 checked
```
Three parts of that are worth calling out:
* **Versions are graded per component.** CLI, SDK, plugin and tap update on their own cadences, and a machine is routinely current on one and months behind on another. The verdict shown here is the same one `probe doctor` prints.
* **Last update attempt** is the only way to notice a detached auto-updater that has been failing silently.
* **Import progress** is live. Background imports keep running while you use the menu, and you can leave the wizard without stopping them.
## The main menu
**Install Probe** — set up research tracking, session capture and updates.
**Uninstall Probe** — stop capture and imports, clear history, remove plugins, sign out.
**Update to the latest version** — upgrades the CLI and the plugins.
Install and Uninstall are the same decision in two directions, which is why they sit next to each other. See [Install](/wizard/install).
**Import research work** — import saved coding sessions, a project folder, or both.
**Existing imports** — monitor background imports, see results, or resume interrupted work.
See [Import research work](/wizard/import) and [Existing imports](/wizard/imports).
**Settings** — turn tracking, capture, rules or updates on or off; set defaults.
See [Settings](/wizard/settings).
**Diagnose a problem** — what is installed, which credentials resolve, whether updates work.
See [Diagnose and repair](/wizard/diagnose).
**Sign out** — stop capture and imports, clear import history, and sign out.
Sign-in happens before the menu opens, so it is not a row here. Switching between accounts saved on this device is reachable with `--action account`. See [Accounts](/wizard/account).
**Exit** — leave the wizard. Imports continue in the background.
## Getting around
The wizard is a terminal UI, and the keys are the same on every screen.
| Key | Does |
| --------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| `↑` `↓` | Move between rows |
| `Space` | Toggle a checkbox row |
| `Enter` | Choose, or continue |
| `Esc` | Go back — from the top level, back to the main menu |
| `Tab` | Read the full text of a long row |
| `PgUp` / `PgDn` | Scroll a long screen |
| `c` | Copy, where a screen offers a command to copy |
Screens that step forward also carry a `‹ Back` / `Next ›` band at the bottom, so the navigation is visible and not only a keybinding. The folder picker adds `Ctrl+L` to type a path directly, `Ctrl+N` to continue with the current folder and `Ctrl+B` to go back.
## The flags are the contract
Every capability the menu offers is also a flag, and **the menu is a front end over the flags** — not the other way round. That has one consequence worth relying on:
An omitted flag preserves whatever is already configured. `probe wizard --yes` in CI can never silently revoke someone's capture pairing, because it only changes what you named.
```bash theme={null}
probe wizard --action configure --agent claude --tracking --no-capture --yes
```
See [Unattended use](/wizard/flags) for the full list.