# Quick Start

Get a Context Nest vault running in under 2 minutes.

## Prerequisites

- **Node.js** 20 or later
- A terminal (macOS, Linux, Windows with WSL or Git Bash)

## Steps

1. [Install the CLI](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/quickstart/installation)
2. [Create a vault](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/quickstart/create-a-vault) with a starter recipe
3. [Add documents](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/quickstart/add-documents) to your vault
4. [Query context](https://nest.promptowl.ai/d/promptowl-documents/protocol/quickstart/query-context) for AI agent consumption

By the end, you'll have a versioned, queryable knowledge vault that any AI agent can read.

## Working across vaults

You don't have to `cd` into a vault to use it. The CLI keeps a **vault registry** that maps a short alias to each vault's path, so you can target any registered vault from any folder:

```bash
ctx vault add work ~/vaults/work-kb   # register a vault under an alias
ctx vault default work                # make it the default
ctx --vault work query "#roadmap"     # run against it from anywhere
ctx vault which                       # show which vault the CLI would use, and why
```

## Published-only by default

Retrieval returns **published documents only** by default — drafts you're still working on stay out of agent context until you publish them. When you do want to see drafts (for example while authoring), add `--include-drafts`:

```bash
ctx query "#roadmap"                   # published documents only
ctx query "#roadmap" --include-drafts  # include drafts too
```

## Consent on writes

Every command that writes asks before it does and then prints the exact list of files it touched. Preview any write without changing anything using `--dry-run`; in a non-interactive shell (agents, CI), destructive commands refuse unless you pass `--yes` or `--force`.