Getting started

Ask a question, choose quick or deep research, and keep each source’s answer, citations, provenance, and cost in one Run.

Work from	Start here
Coding agent	MCP setup
JavaScript application	Client API
Laravel application	PHP docs
Terminal	CLI steps below

Install

The JavaScript v2 npm package requires Node.js 22.12 or newer.

npm install -g librarium
librarium --version
librarium research --help

For an existing installation, see the migration guide.

Configure sources

librarium setup
librarium setup --check
librarium sources --json

setup --check checks local configuration and credential presence without calling providers—not authentication. Keys may use environment references such as env:EXA_API_KEY; never paste keys into a question or commit them.

Preview, then research

librarium research "Compare current HTTP caching guidance" --only exa --dry-run --json
librarium research "Compare current HTTP caching guidance" --only exa

A dry run returns status: planned, estimates, and skips without provider calls or storage. Every real request is stored before its first provider call.

Without --only, every configured research source runs at quick depth. Choose AI answer engines by name. Narrow with --only or --skip; see costs and limits before paid research.

Come back to deep work

librarium research "Compare database hosting options" --deep --only exa --no-wait
librarium show <run-id> --wait --json

Deep tasks keep recovery details in private Run state; show picks up the same research, not a new submission. Quick work usually finishes in the calling process, though some retrieval services support recovery.

Detach and interrupt

CLI --no-wait requires --deep, except for a dry run. Ctrl-C prints a recovery command so you can check the Run later.

Continue with commands, source selection, or agent integration.