Getting started
Quickstart
Get BASAL running in minutes. Download the app, sign in, connect Google Workspace.
Download, sign in, get your first briefing.
Recommended
01: Create your account
Sign up or log in with Google — one click, no forms. Your account and API key are created automatically.
02: Download BASAL for Mac
Download the desktop app. Open and drag BASAL to Applications. First launch takes a minute to set up your local environment.
03: Connect your workspace
BASAL connects to your Calendar, Gmail, and Drive, giving you ground control over everything your organization communicates, decides, and creates. This opens entirely new dimensions for how you understand your operations.
Microsoft 365 is on the way, plus Slack, GitHub, and more connectors. Each one adds new senses to your intelligence graph.
04: Get your first briefing
Once connected, BASAL starts learning immediately. Try these from the app or the terminal:
Sync your calendar:
basal echo syncDiscovers meetings, extracts participants, and detects commitments.
Feed it a document:
basal ingest path/to/document.mdExtracts entities, facts, and relationships. Your knowledge graph grows.
Ask for a briefing:
basal now briefingAn operational briefing built from everything BASAL has learned so far.
Give it to your coding agent
BASAL's intelligence lives on your filesystem as structured markdown. That means any coding agent can read your knowledge graph, decisions, and operational memory directly from disk, no API needed.
Point your favorite agent at your BASAL workspace and it instantly inherits everything BASAL knows about your organization.
Works with Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Open Code, Cursor, Antigravity, and more.
Your agents stop guessing at organizational context and start reasoning over structured intelligence. Every tool in your stack inherits the full situational picture.
Alternative: CLI-only install
05: Clone and install
If you prefer a CLI-only setup without the desktop app:
pnpm install && pnpm basal setupSetup detects your system, installs everything needed, and configures it automatically.
06: Sign in and connect
pnpm basal connectOpens a browser to sign in with Google. This creates your account, provisions your API key, and connects Google Workspace, all in one step. Credentials are stored locally in encrypted storage.
07: Verify
pnpm basal healthAll checks should pass. You're ready to use the workflows from step 4 above.
Troubleshooting
08: Common issues
First launch stuck or failed
Check your network connection. Restart the app to retry.
CLI setup failed
Run pnpm basal setup --verbose for detailed output.
Health check failed
Run basal health: each check shows the specific fix needed.
API key invalid
Run basal connect to re-authenticate. You can also manage keys with basal connect.