Add 'bm config' command group (get/set/list) for managing config.json from the CLI

[groksrc]

Problem

Every user-facing config option today requires hand-editing ~/.config/basic-memory/config.json or knowing the BASIC_MEMORY_* env-var naming convention. There is no CLI surface for configuration at all — the immediate trigger was cli_output_style (#967): the answer to "how do I default to plain output?" is "open a JSON file in an editor."

This also hurts agents and support: docs and issue replies have to explain JSON editing instead of giving a one-line command.

Proposal

A bm config command group:

bm config list                        # all settings with current values, env overrides marked
bm config get cli_output_style
bm config set cli_output_style plain
bm config unset cli_output_style      # revert to default

Design notes:

• Validate through the model: set should round-trip through BasicMemoryConfig so invalid values fail with the Pydantic error (e.g. cli_output_style only accepts rich|plain), not get written blindly.
• Show effective values: get/list should surface when an env var is overriding the file value, since that is a classic support footgun.
• Guardrails: refuse (or require a flag) to set complex/structured fields like projects — those have dedicated commands. A small allowlist of scalar user-facing settings is fine for v1.
• Atomic writes: reuse the atomic config write path (b3bdd59 made config.json writes atomic).
• bm config list overlaps nicely with the feat(mcp): add basic_memory_diagnostics tool for version and system info #963 diagnostics tool (same redaction rules should apply: never print cloud_api_key, mask database_url credentials).

Related

• Normalize the CLI / MCP tool argument surface for v1.0 #977 (v1.0 surface normalization) — bm config should land with names that match wherever Normalize the CLI / MCP tool argument surface for v1.0 #977 settles, and a config command makes deprecation messaging easier ("set X instead").
• feat(mcp): add basic_memory_diagnostics tool for version and system info #963 — shares the redaction requirements.
• feat(cli): add Rich human-readable output to bm tool commands #967 — cli_output_style, the motivating setting.

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Triage Analysis

• Read and understand the issue
• Check for duplicate issues
• Explore codebase to assess complexity
• Add appropriate labels
• Provide triage summary

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Classification

Dimension	Assessment
Type	Feature request — new bm config command group
Priority	Medium — usability pain point, not blocking; affects new users and agent-driven support
Component	CLI (src/basic_memory/cli/)
Complexity	Medium

Labels applied: enhancement

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Duplicate Check

No duplicates found. Related issues explicitly referenced in the proposal are distinct:

• Normalize the CLI / MCP tool argument surface for v1.0 #977 — CLI surface normalization (this feature should land after Normalize the CLI / MCP tool argument surface for v1.0 #977 settles naming)
• feat(mcp): add basic_memory_diagnostics tool for version and system info #963 — Diagnostics tool (shared redaction requirements, not the same feature)
• feat(cli): add Rich human-readable output to bm tool commands #967 — cli_output_style (the motivating use case)

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Codebase Assessment

The infrastructure for this feature is already in good shape:

What already exists:

• BasicMemoryConfig (Pydantic v2 BaseSettings) in src/basic_memory/config.py — ~40 scalar fields covering logging, sync, search, cloud, file handling, formatting
• ConfigManager.save_config() with atomic writes via os.replace() (added in b3bdd59)
• ConfigManager.load_config() with mtime-validated cache
• Exact command pattern in cloud/core_commands.py: load → mutate → save
• Existing command group scaffolding (see project.py, cloud/) as reference

What needs to be built:

• src/basic_memory/cli/commands/config.py — new Typer app with list, get, set, unset subcommands
• A scalar allowlist (suggest ~15 high-value user-facing fields to start: log_level, cli_output_style, kebab_filenames, disable_permalinks, sync_delay, default_search_type, format_on_save, etc.)
• Pydantic round-trip validation for set (create a temporary model to validate the value before writing)
• Env-var override indicator for get/list (check os.environ for BASIC_MEMORY_<FIELD> pattern)
• Redaction for sensitive fields: never print cloud_api_key, mask credentials in database_url
• Register the new app in src/basic_memory/cli/app.py and add "config" to the skip-init list

Design recommendation:
For v1, restrict set to the scalar allowlist and fail with a clear message for projects, formatters, and other complex types — those have dedicated commands. The allowlist also serves as a natural documentation surface.

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Suggested Implementation Steps

1. Define the scalar allowlist as a frozenset[str] constant alongside the command
2. Add config_app = typer.Typer(...) and app.add_typer(config_app, name="config") in app.py
3. Implement list — rich table with field name, current value (masked if sensitive), and [env override] marker
4. Implement get — single field lookup with the same masking/env logic
5. Implement set — validate through BasicMemoryConfig.model_validate({field: value}) before writing
6. Implement unset — remove key from serialized dict (falls back to Pydantic default) and save
7. Add unit tests in tests/ and at least one integration test in test-int/
8. Coordinate with Normalize the CLI / MCP tool argument surface for v1.0 #977 for naming consistency before finalizing the allowlist