Command line

JSON and its schemas

Every command takes --json (export takes --format json). Each JSON object names its schema, "schema": "askround/round@1", and the schemas are published in the repository’s schema/ directory as JSON Schema.

Exit codes

Code	Means
0	every answer came back
3	a partial round: it finished, and the answers that failed are listed
1	no answer came back
2	refused before anything was sent (personal data, a leading question, over the cap or the budget, no key) or a usage error

askround explain lists the refusal codes, and askround explain <code> says what one means and how to pass it.

The commands

askround ask

send one question to every configured provider

Argument	What it does
--provider	only this provider (repeatable)
--model	pin the model one provider uses (repeatable)
--max-cost	refuse, before anything is sent, a run estimated above this (or ASKROUND_MAX_COST)
--approve	the person approves this run past the day or month budget (agents cannot)
--fresh	ask again even if the same round was asked recently (it counts against the budget)
--estimate-only	run every check and print the estimate; ask nothing
question
--no-search	ask without web search, to compare with a searched round
--runs	times each provider is asked, in fresh conversations (default 3)
--product	report how often this product is named and where (repeatable)
--locale	ask as someone in this country, e.g. BR:pt-BR; repeat to compare (each locale is a full set of runs)
--extract	read each answer's recommendations in order with a model (one extra call per answer), so a product's rank counts tables and prose; default extractor: the first of openai, gemini, anthropic with a key
--check-rivals	look up whether the top N rivals (default 10) exist: GitHub, then one searched call each; needs --extract
--product-file	a product file (TOML: names, places, facts); with --extract, the answers' claims are compared with its facts (repeatable)
--brand	the question names the product on purpose; without this it is refused
--check-links	follow the links each answer gives beside a --product, and flag the ones that land on someone else's page
--out	where rounds are saved
--json	print the round as JSON

askround run

ask every question of a product file (a prompt set)

Argument	What it does
--provider	only this provider (repeatable)
--model	pin the model one provider uses (repeatable)
--max-cost	refuse, before anything is sent, a run estimated above this (or ASKROUND_MAX_COST)
--approve	the person approves this run past the day or month budget (agents cannot)
--fresh	ask again even if the same round was asked recently (it counts against the budget)
--estimate-only	run every check and print the estimate; ask nothing
PRODUCT.toml
--runs	runs per question, over what the file sets for each
--no-search	no web search
--extract	read recommendations and claims, and compare the claims with the file's facts
--check-links	follow the product's links
--out	where rounds are saved
--json	print the set's report as JSON

askround discover

find which way of asking leads the assistants to a product

Argument	What it does
--provider	only this provider (repeatable)
--model	pin the model one provider uses (repeatable)
--max-cost	refuse, before anything is sent, a run estimated above this (or ASKROUND_MAX_COST)
--approve	the person approves this run past the day or month budget (agents cannot)
--fresh	ask again even if the same round was asked recently (it counts against the budget)
--estimate-only	run every check and print the estimate; ask nothing
PRODUCT.toml
--seed	the question to vary (default: the file's first one)
--variants	how many (default 6)
--runs	runs per question (default 1)
--extract	also rank by the extraction pass (one more call per answer)
--out	where rounds are saved
--json	print the ranking as JSON

askround lookup

check whether products exist: GitHub, then one searched call each

Argument	What it does
NAME
--context	what they were recommended for
--no-web	GitHub only, free
--json	print the verdicts as JSON

askround diff

what changed between two rounds or prompt set runs

Argument	What it does
old	the earlier round or set (directory)
new	the later one
--product	compare for it
--out	where rounds are saved
--json	print the changes as JSON

askround series

a product's share of answers over time, from every round kept

Argument	What it does
--product	the product to follow (required)
--by	default: week (one of: day, week, month)
--question	only questions containing this text
--rebuild	write the series again from every round.json
--out	where rounds are saved
--json	print the table as JSON

askround research

ask a research question everywhere and merge the answers' claims and sources

Argument	What it does
--provider	only this provider (repeatable)
--model	pin the model one provider uses (repeatable)
--max-cost	refuse, before anything is sent, a run estimated above this (or ASKROUND_MAX_COST)
--approve	the person approves this run past the day or month budget (agents cannot)
--fresh	ask again even if the same round was asked recently (it counts against the budget)
--estimate-only	run every check and print the estimate; ask nothing
question
--runs	runs per provider (default 1)
--extract	who reads and merges (default: auto)
--out	where rounds are saved
--json	print the merged claims as JSON

askround budget

what has been spent against the budget

Argument	What it does
--out	where rounds are saved
--json	print it as JSON

askround explain

what a refusal code means and how to pass it

Argument	What it does
code	e.g. question.leading (default: list them)

askround mcp

serve askround to an agent as an MCP server (stdio)

Argument	What it does
--out	where rounds are saved

askround install

wire a project to the askround plugin in its .claude/settings.json

Argument	What it does
project	the project (default: here)
--check	write nothing; exit 1 when it is not wired
--vendor	also commit a copy of askround and its .mcp.json entry, for Claude Code on the web

askround export

a product's numbers from the series, for a dashboard

Argument	What it does
--product	the product to export
--from	first day
--to	last day
--format	(one of: csv, json, daily)
--key	the product's key in --format daily (default: its name)
--file	write here instead of printing
--out	where rounds are saved

askround report

sum a stored round up: Markdown for a person, JSON for a pipeline

Argument	What it does
round	a round's directory or round.json (default: the latest round under --out)
--product	report on this product (default: the products the round was asked about)
--out	where rounds are saved
--json	print the report as JSON
--brief	the round in a few hundred tokens, each fact with its answers' ids (JSON)

askround doctor

say which providers can run here

Argument	What it does
--provider	only this provider (repeatable)
--model	pin the model one provider uses (repeatable)
--no-check	make no network call
--json	print the report as JSON