brainy/docs/cortex.md

Cortex - Complete Command Center for Brainy 🧠

From Zero to Smart in One Command

Cortex is Brainy's powerful CLI that lets you manage, migrate, search, explore, and literally talk to your data - all from your terminal.

Table of Contents

• Quick Start
• Talk to Your Data
• Advanced Search
• Graph Exploration
• Configuration Management
• Storage Migration
• Complete Command Reference

Quick Start

Installation

npm install @soulcraft/brainy
npx cortex init  # Interactive setup

Initialize Cortex

npx cortex init

# You'll be prompted for:
# - Storage type (filesystem, S3, GCS, memory)
# - Encryption for secrets (recommended)
# - Chat capabilities (optional LLM)

Talk to Your Data

Interactive Chat Mode

cortex chat
# Starts interactive conversation with your data
# Works without LLM (template-based) or with LLM (Claude, GPT-4, etc.)

cortex chat "What are the trends in our user data?"
# Single question mode

Configure LLM (Optional)

# Store API keys securely
cortex config set ANTHROPIC_API_KEY sk-ant-... --encrypt
cortex config set OPENAI_API_KEY sk-... --encrypt

# Chat will automatically use available LLM
cortex chat "Analyze our Q4 performance"

Advanced Search

MongoDB-Style Queries

# Basic search
cortex search "machine learning"

# With metadata filters
cortex search "startups" --filter '{"funding": {"$gte": 1000000}}'

# Complex filters
cortex search "users" --filter '{
  "age": {"$gte": 18, "$lte": 65},
  "status": {"$in": ["active", "premium"]},
  "country": {"$ne": "US"}
}'

MongoDB Operators Supported

• $eq - Equals
• $ne - Not equals
• $gt - Greater than
• $gte - Greater than or equal
• $lt - Less than
• $lte - Less than or equal
• $in - In array
• $nin - Not in array
• $exists - Field exists
• $regex - Regular expression match

Graph Traversal in Search

# Search with relationship traversal
cortex search "John" --verbs "knows,works_with" --depth 2

# Find all products liked by users who follow influencers
cortex search "influencer" --verbs "followed_by" --depth 1 | \
cortex search --verbs "likes" --filter '{"type": "product"}'

Interactive Advanced Search

cortex search-advanced
# Interactive prompts for:
# - Query text
# - MongoDB-style filters
# - Graph traversal options
# - Result limits

Graph Exploration

Add Relationships (Verbs)

# Basic relationship
cortex verb user-123 likes product-456

# With metadata
cortex verb company-A invests_in startup-B --metadata '{
  "amount": 5000000,
  "date": "2024-01-15",
  "round": "Series A"
}'

# Bulk relationships
cortex verb john knows jane
cortex verb john works_at company-123
cortex verb john lives_in city-sf

Interactive Graph Explorer

cortex explore user-123
# Opens interactive graph navigation:
# - View node details and metadata
# - See all connections
# - Navigate to connected nodes
# - Add new connections
# - Find similar nodes

cortex graph  # Alias for explore

Graph Patterns

# Social network
cortex verb user-1 follows user-2
cortex verb user-1 likes post-123
cortex verb post-123 tagged_with ai

# Knowledge graph
cortex verb article-1 references paper-2
cortex verb paper-2 authored_by researcher-3
cortex verb researcher-3 works_at university-4

# E-commerce
cortex verb customer-1 purchased product-2
cortex verb product-2 belongs_to category-3
cortex verb customer-1 reviewed product-2

Configuration Management

Secure Configuration Storage

# Set configuration (auto-encrypts secrets)
cortex config set DATABASE_URL postgres://localhost/mydb
cortex config set STRIPE_KEY sk_live_... --encrypt
cortex config set API_ENDPOINT https://api.example.com

# Get configuration
cortex config get DATABASE_URL

# List all configuration
cortex config list

# Import from .env file
cortex config import .env.production

Use in Your Application

import { BrainyData } from '@soulcraft/brainy'

const brainy = new BrainyData()
await brainy.loadEnvironment()  // Loads all Cortex configs

// All configs are now in process.env
console.log(process.env.DATABASE_URL)  // Automatically decrypted

Storage Migration

Migrate Between Storage Providers

# Migrate from filesystem to S3
cortex migrate --to s3 --bucket my-production-data

# Migrate from S3 to GCS
cortex migrate --to gcs --bucket my-gcs-bucket

# Migration strategies
cortex migrate --to s3 --bucket new-bucket --strategy gradual
# gradual: Migrate in batches with verification
# immediate: Migrate all at once

Zero-Downtime Migration

// Your app code doesn't change!
const brainy = new BrainyData()  // Auto-detects new storage
await brainy.init()  // Works with any storage

Data Management

Add Data

# Simple add
cortex add "John is a software engineer"

# With metadata
cortex add "New product launch" --metadata '{
  "type": "event",
  "date": "2024-02-01",
  "priority": "high"
}'

# With custom ID
cortex add "Important document" --id doc-123

Search Data

# Basic search
cortex search "similar to this"

# Limit results
cortex search "products" --limit 20

# Combined with filters
cortex search "laptops" --filter '{"price": {"$lte": 1500}}'

Database Operations

# View statistics
cortex stats

# Create backup
cortex backup --output backup.json --compress

# Restore from backup
cortex restore backup.json

# Health check
cortex health

# Interactive shell
cortex shell  # or cortex repl

Complete Command Reference

Core Commands

Command	Description	Example
init	Initialize Cortex	cortex init
chat [question]	Talk to your data	cortex chat "What's trending?"
search <query>	Search with advanced options	cortex search "AI" --filter '{"year": 2024}'
add [data]	Add data to Brainy	cortex add "New data" --metadata '{"type": "doc"}'

Graph Commands

Command	Description	Example
verb <subject> <verb> <object>	Add relationship	cortex verb user-1 likes product-2
explore [nodeId]	Interactive graph explorer	cortex explore user-123
graph	Alias for explore	cortex graph

Configuration Commands

Command	Description	Example
config set <key> <value>	Set configuration	cortex config set API_KEY sk-123 --encrypt
config get <key>	Get configuration	cortex config get API_KEY
config list	List all configuration	cortex config list
config import <file>	Import from .env	cortex config import .env

Management Commands

Command	Description	Example
migrate	Migrate storage	cortex migrate --to s3 --bucket prod
stats	Show statistics	cortex stats
backup	Create backup	cortex backup --compress
restore <file>	Restore from backup	cortex restore backup.json
health	Health check	cortex health
shell	Interactive shell	cortex shell

Advanced Examples

Building a Knowledge Graph

# Add entities
cortex add "Artificial Intelligence" --id ai
cortex add "Machine Learning" --id ml
cortex add "Deep Learning" --id dl
cortex add "Neural Networks" --id nn

# Add relationships
cortex verb ml is_subset_of ai
cortex verb dl is_subset_of ml
cortex verb nn powers dl

# Explore the graph
cortex explore ai

Customer Analytics Pipeline

# Import customer data
cortex add "Premium customer" --metadata '{"tier": "gold", "mrr": 500}'

# Find similar customers
cortex search "premium" --filter '{"mrr": {"$gte": 100}}'

# Add behavior tracking
cortex verb customer-123 viewed product-456
cortex verb customer-123 purchased product-789

# Analyze patterns
cortex chat "What products are viewed together?"

Multi-Service Configuration

# Dev environment
cortex config set DATABASE_URL postgres://localhost/dev
cortex config set REDIS_URL redis://localhost:6379
cortex config set NODE_ENV development

# Production (encrypted)
cortex config set PROD_DB_URL postgres://prod/db --encrypt
cortex config set STRIPE_KEY sk_live_xxx --encrypt
cortex config set JWT_SECRET xxx --encrypt

# Export for deployment
cortex config list > configs.json

Tips and Best Practices

1. Start with Chat

Begin by talking to your data to understand patterns:

cortex chat
> "Show me the most connected nodes"
> "What patterns exist in user behavior?"
> "Find anomalies in the data"

2. Use Graph for Relationships

Model your domain with verbs:

# Instead of nested JSON, use graph relationships
cortex verb user-1 owns account-1
cortex verb account-1 contains transaction-1
cortex verb transaction-1 paid_to merchant-1

3. Combine Search Types

Vector + Graph + Filters = Powerful queries:

cortex search "fraud" \
  --verbs "transacted_with,connected_to" \
  --filter '{"risk_score": {"$gte": 0.7}}' \
  --depth 2

4. Secure Secrets

Always encrypt sensitive data:

cortex config set API_KEY value --encrypt
cortex config set PASSWORD value --encrypt
cortex config set SECRET value --encrypt

5. Interactive Exploration

Use interactive modes for discovery:

cortex search-advanced  # Guided search
cortex explore         # Graph navigation
cortex chat           # Conversational interface

Platform Support

⚠️ Note: Cortex is a Node.js-only feature designed for:

• Server-side applications
• CLI tools and scripts
• Backend services
• Development environments

Browser applications should use the Brainy JavaScript API directly.

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Cortex not found

npm install -g @soulcraft/brainy
# or use npx
npx cortex init

Permission denied

chmod +x node_modules/.bin/cortex

Storage migration fails

# Check credentials
cortex config get AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
# Verify bucket exists
aws s3 ls s3://your-bucket

Chat not working

# Check LLM configuration
cortex config get ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
# Test without LLM
cortex chat  # Works with templates

Coming Soon

• Backup/Restore: Full database backup and restore
• Health Monitoring: Real-time health checks and alerts
• Batch Operations: Bulk import/export
• Query Builder: Visual query builder
• Webhooks: Event-driven notifications
• Scheduled Tasks: Cron-like task scheduling

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Need help? Check our main documentation or open an issue