Introduction

kis is the command-line interface (CLI) for the kis.ai platform, one binary that bundles AI model access, a data/entity layer, document (OCR) processing, a rules engine, workflow automation, code generation, and the tooling to operate your services.

This documentation is a single, linear path: read it top to bottom and you’ll go from nothing installed to a running, secured backend, and know every command along the way.

Tip

How to read this. It’s ordered as a journey, not a dictionary. Start with Getting Started to install and learn the conventions, then follow the sections in order. Already know the basics? Use the sidebar or search (press /) to jump to any command, every command has its own stable anchor.

The two faces of kis

Understanding this split makes everything else click. kis is two things at once:

1. A Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform you build on. You describe your product as YAML spec definitions (entities, datastores, policies, flows…), generate code, store data, secure it with IAM, run it as services, and deploy. This is the 0→1 build path: Spec & Codegen → Data → IAM → Services → Ship.
2. An AI + automation toolkit you call ad hoc, talk to models, process documents, run scripts, test services, without necessarily building a full app.

Most of this guide builds the platform path; the toolkit chapters (AI, Documents, Automation, Utilities) stand alone and can be read any time.

The journey

Part	You’ll learn to…
1 · Get Started	Install with kvm, log in, pick an AI provider, and learn the conventions every command shares
2 · Concepts	The platform’s mental model, spec-driven definitions, entities & datastores, tenancy/CPET, and identity & access
3 · Build & Use	Call AI, model and store data, process documents, and automate workflows
4 · Operate	Run the BaaS services, manage config & secrets, and ship
5 · Reference	Standalone utilities

Full command map

Every command has one stable anchor, jump straight to any of them.

AI, chat · embed · chunk · extract · structured · image · transcribe · tts · rerank · rag · sample · reason · solve · harness · memory · tokens · models · providers · session

Data & Entities, find · query · write-entity · read-entity · db · datapipes · yaml

Spec & Codegen, spec · code

Documents & OCR, doc · hocr2bbox · bbox · ocr · rules

Automation, script · flow · cron · test

Identity & Access, IAM model · vault · signal

Platform & Services, Platform Services / BaaS · config · sd

Platform Ops, login · services · info · git · dependency · deployproduct · version

Utilities, env · encrypt · decrypt · liquid · i18n · synthetic

Install/tooling, kvm (install, update, bundles, license…), see Install with kvm.

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Next: Getting Started →, install the CLI and learn the conventions every command shares.