Context management for developers with busy family lives.
Brain CLI solves the context-switching problem by capturing your current thoughts along with git activity, using AI to interpret the technical context, and helping you seamlessly resume where you left off—even hours or days later.
You're debugging auth middleware timing issues, your 6-year-old needs help, and when you return to your code 2 hours later, you've completely forgotten your debugging strategy and current theories about the bug.
# When interrupted
brain save "auth timing issues - think tokens expire too fast"
# When you return
brain resume
# Shows your thoughts + AI analysis + suggested next steps# macOS (Intel)
curl -L https://github.com/anthropics/brain-cli/releases/latest/download/brain-mac -o brain
chmod +x brain && sudo mv brain /usr/local/bin/
# macOS (Apple Silicon)
curl -L https://github.com/anthropics/brain-cli/releases/latest/download/brain-mac-arm64 -o brain
chmod +x brain && sudo mv brain /usr/local/bin/
# Linux
curl -L https://github.com/anthropics/brain-cli/releases/latest/download/brain-linux -o brain
chmod +x brain && sudo mv brain /usr/local/bin/# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/anthropics/brain-cli.git
cd brain-cli
deno task build
# Copy to PATH
sudo cp bin/brain /usr/local/bin/-
Navigate to a git repository
cd your-project -
Set up your OpenAI API key (optional but recommended)
brain config set openai-key sk-your-key-here -
Save your first context
brain save "debugging user authentication flow" -
Resume when you return
brain resume
Captures your current thinking with git context analysis.
brain save "debugging auth middleware - tokens expiring randomly"
brain save "refactoring user service, worried about breaking existing API"
brain save "stuck on async race condition in payment flow" --no-aiWhat it captures:
- Your message with timestamp
- Current git branch and recent commits
- Working directory status (staged/unstaged/untracked files)
- AI analysis and suggestions (if configured)
Shows your last saved context with AI analysis and current git status.
brain resume
brain resume --raw # Show raw JSON dataExample output:
🧠 Last saved: 2 hours ago on feature/auth-improvements
💭 Your thoughts: "debugging auth middleware - tokens expiring randomly"
🤖 AI Analysis:
Working on authentication flow issues with token expiry
📋 Technical Context:
Recent commits show modifications to auth middleware and token validation logic
🎯 Suggested Next Steps:
1. Check token expiry configuration in config/jwt.js
2. Review async/await handling in middleware
3. Add timing logs to track token lifecycle
📁 Related Files:
auth/middleware.js, config/jwt.js, tests/auth.test.js
📊 Current Status:
Branch: feature/auth-improvements
Staged: auth/middleware.js
Unstaged: config/jwt.js
Shows recent context entries.
brain list # Shows last 5 entries
brain list 10 # Shows last 10 entries
brain list --branch feature/auth # Filter by branchManage configuration settings.
# Set configuration
brain config set openai-key sk-your-key-here
brain config set max-commits 15
brain config set ai-model gpt-3.5-turbo
# View configuration
brain config list
brain config get openai-keyBrain stores all configuration in ~/.config/brain/config.json.
Available settings:
| Key | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
openai-key |
Your OpenAI API key (required for AI features) | (not set) |
max-commits |
Number of recent commits to analyze | 10 |
ai-model |
OpenAI model to use | gpt-4 |
enable-ai |
Enable/disable AI analysis | true |
All data is stored locally in ~/.config/brain/:
config.json- Your settingscontexts.json- Saved contexts with git data- No cloud storage or data sharing
- Works completely offline (except AI features)
- Git repository (Brain analyzes git context)
- OpenAI API key (optional, for AI analysis)
- Internet connection (only for AI features)
Perfect for developers who:
- Get interrupted frequently (family, meetings, context switching)
- Work on complex debugging that spans multiple sessions
- Want to track their problem-solving approach over time
- Need AI assistance to understand their own context after time away
Example scenarios:
- Debugging race conditions that take days to solve
- Complex refactoring with many moving parts
- Learning new codebases where context is crucial
- Working on features that require deep problem understanding
# Work on feature branch
git checkout feature/payment-flow
brain save "implementing stripe webhook validation"
# Switch to hotfix
git checkout hotfix/auth-bug
brain save "urgent: login failing for enterprise users"
# Resume work on feature
git checkout feature/payment-flow
brain resume # Shows your payment flow context
# See all feature work
brain list --branch feature/payment-flow# Disable AI for offline work
brain save "working offline on data structures" --no-ai
brain config set enable-ai false# Export context as JSON
brain resume --raw > context-backup.json
# Pipe to other tools
brain list --raw | jq '.[] | select(.gitContext.currentBranch == "main")'❌ "Not in a git repository"
cd your-project # Navigate to git repo
# OR
git init # Initialize new repo❌ AI features not working
# Check configuration
brain config list
# Set API key
brain config set openai-key sk-your-key-here
# Test with --no-ai flag
brain save "test message" --no-ai❌ Permission errors
# Check storage directory
ls -la ~/.config/brain/
# Reset permissions if needed
chmod -R 755 ~/.config/brain/# Prerequisites: Deno 1.40+
curl -fsSL https://deno.land/install.sh | sh
# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/anthropics/brain-cli.git
cd brain-cli
# Run tests
deno task test
# Build for current platform
deno task build
# Build for all platforms
deno task build-alldeno task test # All tests
deno test tests/main.test.ts # Specific test fileThe codebase has 50/50 tests passing with comprehensive coverage of all components.
- Fork the repository
- Create a feature branch
- Add tests for new functionality
- Ensure all tests pass:
deno task test - Submit a pull request
MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.
- Issues: GitHub Issues
- Discussions: GitHub Discussions
Brain CLI - Never lose your context again. 🧠✨