Quickstart
This quickstart assumes you want the new daemon-first Bitloops setup.
If you are coming from the old JSON and repo-local storage model, read the upgrade note.
1. Install Bitloops
Choose one install method:
curl -fsSL https://bitloops.com/install.sh | bash
brew tap bitloops/tap && brew install bitloops
cargo install bitloops
2. Start The Daemon
bitloops start --create-default-config
On a fresh machine, use --create-default-config once. This writes the default global daemon config at the platform config location and creates the default local SQLite, DuckDB, and blob-store paths.
Interactive bitloops start also prompts to create the default config when it is missing. During that first bootstrap, Bitloops asks for telemetry consent unless you pass --telemetry, --telemetry=false, or --no-telemetry.
3. Initialise A Project
From inside a git repository or subproject:
bitloops init
bitloops init --install-default-daemon
Use plain bitloops init when the daemon is already running. Use bitloops init --install-default-daemon when you want init to bootstrap the default daemon service first.
This creates .bitloops.local.toml in the current directory, adds it to .git/info/exclude, installs hooks, and runs the initial baseline sync through the daemon.
If you want to pin the supported agent set during bootstrap, pass --agent <name>.
If telemetry consent is unresolved for an existing daemon config, interactive bitloops init can ask again. Non-interactive runs require an explicit telemetry flag.
4. Add Optional Shared Project Policy
If you want shared capture policy in git, create .bitloops.toml in the project root:
[capture]
enabled = true
strategy = "manual-commit"
[watch]
watch_debounce_ms = 750
watch_poll_fallback_ms = 2500
Keep .bitloops.local.toml for local-only overrides.
5. Start Or Open Bitloops
Open the dashboard:
bitloops dashboard
Or manage the daemon yourself:
bitloops start -d
bitloops start --until-stopped
6. Query And Ingest
Initial project bootstrap already initialises the schema. You can then ingest and query:
bitloops devql ingest
bitloops devql query "files changed last 7 days"
7. Check Status
bitloops status
bitloops checkpoints status --detailed
bitloops status reports daemon status. bitloops checkpoints status reports repo capture status and shows the resolved policy root and fingerprint.
Toggle Capture Later
bitloops disable
bitloops enable
These commands edit the nearest discovered project policy and leave installed hooks in place. If telemetry consent is unresolved for an existing daemon config, interactive bitloops enable can ask again before it edits project policy.
Remove Bitloops Later
Use bitloops disable when you want hooks and watchers to stay installed but stop capturing.
Use bitloops uninstall when you want to remove Bitloops-managed machine artefacts as well:
bitloops uninstall --full