AI

BEAM ships with three frontier models configured on every account — Claude (the default), GPT, and Gemini — plus Perplexity for deep research. You can ask one model, convene all of them, or chain research into planning. Every AI response ends with a usage line showing the model, cost, token count, and latency.

Three behaviors apply across every command here:

Anything you type that matches no command is treated as an ask — plain English works. Prefix a provider name to route directly: gpt ask which anecdote opens stronger? or gemini deep carrier pricing.

The AI reads your workspace by actually looking: it searches your docs, tasks, and memories before answering, and says honestly when it finds nothing rather than inventing an answer. It can create and edit docs and tasks on its own; anything destructive — deletes, moves, bulk changes — is shown as a proposal you confirm with y or decline with n. Confirmations expire after a short window.

Answers you want to keep: add --save to store the response as a doc, or type shelf this after the fact.

ask

Aliases: ai
Purpose: Ask a single model, with access to your workspace.
Syntax:

>ask <question>
>ask --doc "Title" <question>
>ask --just <question>

Flags:

>--doc <title>     ground the answer in a specific doc
>--docs            ground the answer in all project docs
>--just            terse conversational answer, no tools, no memory
>--save            save the answer as a doc

Examples:

>ask what should the closing five minutes of the talk feel like?
>ask --doc "Talk outline" is the middle section too long?

See also: council, just, deep

Streams the answer as it generates. On questions where a different mode would serve better — contested decisions, research questions — ask offers the upgrade as a one-key choice instead of silently switching.

just

Aliases: none
Purpose: Conversational mode — plain prose, no productivity scaffolding.
Syntax:

>just <anything>

Flags: none
Examples:

>just what's a good warm-up before public speaking?

See also: ask

A prefix, not a separate brain: just strips workspace context and tool access, so the answer is fast and stays out of your data.

council

Aliases: query
Purpose: Put one question to all models independently, side by side.
Syntax:

>council <question>
>council align <claude|gpt|gemini>
>council history
>council search <keyword>

Flags:

>--save    save the responses as a doc

Examples:

>council should the talk open with the demo or the story?
>council align claude

See also: debate, wild, decide

Each model answers without seeing the others — where they agree you have something solid; where they split you have a decision to make. Responses render under their glyphs (◆ Claude, ◇ GPT, ○ Gemini). council align records which model you sided with; after enough decisions in a domain, BEAM notes which model has tended to match your judgment there — while still showing every position in full. history and search browse past council transcripts.

debate

Aliases: none
Purpose: Structured multi-round deliberation between models.
Syntax:

>debate <question>
>debate <blind|lenses|redteam|stakeholders|godin> <question>
>debate help

Flags:

>--save    save the debate as a doc

Examples:

>debate is a live demo worth the risk in a 30-minute slot?
>debate redteam our plan is to skip rehearsal and improvise the Q&A

See also: council, consensus, wild

The classic format runs initial positions, two critique rounds, final positions, then one synthesis. Formats change the shape: blind (independent answers merged, no anchoring), lenses (each model argues from a different worldview), redteam (one proposes, one attacks, one judges), stakeholders (models roleplay the people affected), godin (smallest-viable-audience method). debate help describes each.

consensus

Aliases: sc
Purpose: Sample one model several times and vote for the consistent answer.
Syntax:

>consensus <question> [--samples N]

Flags:

>--samples <N>    number of samples (default 5)

Examples:

>consensus how long should the demo segment run?

See also: council, debate

Useful when you want confidence on a bounded question without a full multi-model session.

wild

Aliases: none
Purpose: Role-based multi-model session — strategist, planner, brainstormer.
Syntax:

>wild <question>

Flags:

>--save    save the session as a doc

Examples:

>wild what would make this talk the one people mention a year later?

See also: council, debate

Each model takes a role (♠ Task Strategist, ♣ Timeline Planner, ♦ Creative Brainstormer), they cross-pollinate in a second round, and a conductor synthesizes. The experimental end of the multi-model spectrum.

deep

Aliases: none
Purpose: Deep research with live web search; saves the result as a doc.
Syntax:

>deep <query>
>deep <task name or #N>
>deep all
>deep <query> --lib ieee s2

Flags:

>--docs               use all project docs as context
>--doc <title>        use specific docs as context
>--list               also create subtasks from the findings
>--no-save            skip the auto-saved doc
>--lib <sources>      search academic libraries (ieee, s2, zotero) instead of the web
>--topic <name>       link the result to an existing research topic
>--topic-new <name>   create a research topic and link the result

Examples:

>deep what do conference audiences remember from technical talks?
>deep #12 --topic-new "audience retention"

See also: research, library, ask

Runs asynchronously — you can keep working; BEAM chimes when the report lands. Point it at a task and it researches the task; deep all batches every active task.

research

Aliases: none
Purpose: Manage research topics — living collections of docs, tasks, and notes.
Syntax:

>research create <title>
>research list
>research open <topic>
>research note <topic> <text>
>research link doc <name> to <topic>
>research link task #N to <topic>
>research link docs all to <topic>
>research unlink doc <name> from <topic>
>research summary <topic>
>research ask <topic> <question>
>research export <topic>
>research archive <topic>
>research delete <topic>
>research search <query>

Flags: none
Examples:

>research create "audience retention"
>research link doc "Deep Research: retention" to "audience retention"
>research ask "audience retention" what's the strongest finding so far?

See also: deep, docs

A topic collects everything you learn about one question. summary synthesizes the linked material; ask answers against it. Note the split: research organizes knowledge you have; deep goes and gets more.

library

Aliases: lib
Purpose: Connect and search academic databases.
Syntax:

>library search <query>
>library add <ieee|s2|zotero> <api-key>
>library remove <ieee|s2|zotero>
>library status

Flags: none
Examples:

>library add s2 <your-api-key>
>library search retrieval practice long-term retention

See also: deep

Search hits IEEE Xplore and Semantic Scholar. Keys you add are yours (bring-your-own-key) and are stored encrypted; pair with deep <query> --lib.

plan

Aliases: none
Purpose: Have the AI break a task into concrete proposed actions.
Syntax:

>plan <task>

Flags: none
Examples:

>plan #12

See also: action, triage

action

Aliases: actions
Purpose: Review and run AI-proposed actions on a task.
Syntax:

>action list <task>
>action run <task> <i>
>action cancel <task> <i>
>action permissions

Flags: none
Examples:

>action list #12
>action run #12 2

See also: plan, suggestions

action permissions shows which action types run automatically, which require a confirmation receipt, and which stay manual.

triage

Aliases: none
Purpose: AI prioritization pass over your inbox.
Syntax:

>triage
>triage dates

Flags: none
Examples:

>triage
>triage dates

See also: brief, queue, plan

Proposes list moves, priorities, and due dates as a numbered receipt. Confirm all of it with y, or a subset with y 1,3,5. Nothing changes until you confirm.

portrait

Aliases: mirror
Purpose: An AI reading of your work patterns, saved as a doc.
Syntax:

>portrait

Flags: none
Examples:

>portrait

See also: memory, brief

model

Aliases: none
Purpose: Show or switch the default AI provider.
Syntax:

>model
>model <claude|gpt|gemini>

Flags: none
Examples:

>model
>model gemini

See also: ask, council

The default provider answers ask and plain-English input. Council, debate, and wild always use all configured providers regardless of this setting.

suggestions

Aliases: suggest
Purpose: Show current AI suggestions.
Syntax:

>suggestions

Flags: none
Examples:

>suggestions

See also: accept, dismiss

accept

Aliases: none
Purpose: Accept a numbered suggestion.
Syntax:

>accept <number>

Flags: none
Examples:

>accept 2

See also: suggestions, dismiss

dismiss

Aliases: none
Purpose: Dismiss a numbered suggestion.
Syntax:

>dismiss <number>

Flags: none
Examples:

>dismiss 2

See also: suggestions, accept

workflow

Aliases: flow, wf
Purpose: Composite chain: deep research, then council, then a plan.
Syntax:

>workflow <question>

Flags:

>--skip-council    go straight from research to the plan
>--save-only       save the output without proposing tasks

Examples:

>workflow how should I structure the rehearsal week?

See also: deep, council, plan

Ends in the standard task-creation confirmation — the chain proposes, you approve.