FAQ
Short answers for common first-hour questions. Commands → User Guide. Terms → Glossary.
Where are .rgctl/ artifacts stored?
Default: {repo}/.rgctl/ next to the source tree. Legacy background-daemon caches under ~/.rgctl/cache/{reponame}/ can be copied with rgctl migrate-cache. See Installation — Migrating from daemon cache.
I ran discover but queried the wrong repo
rgctl -r PATH discover . indexes PATH (. is resolved under -r), not shell cwd. Use cd repo && rgctl discover . when you mean cwd, or rgctl -r PATH discover without ..
Discover vs semantic index?
discover builds the code knowledge graph and reachability caches. semantic index is a separate opt-in embedding index for natural-language / keyword search. Run discover first, then rgctl semantic index if you need Search / semantic query. For doc sections, use semantic index --scope docs (indexes headings + code blocks); query embedder is fixed at index time — see markdown-context.md.
When do I need --with-cfg?
For CFG/PDG archives used by inspect, slice, cpg, and discover-time taint (--with-taint implies the CFG pass). Plain gql / blast-radius / metrics work after a default discover.
Why is the dashboard empty after discover .?
Dashboard export is off by default. Pass --with-dashboard, then rgctl serve --open.
How do I get a migration plan?
rgctl discover . --with-cfg --with-security --with-taint \
--with-dashboard --with-harmonic --export-migration-hints
code-daemon vs vocab vs hash?
| Embedder | When |
|---|---|
vocab (default) | Fast compiled token table; no ONNX; declaration metadata only |
code-daemon | Higher quality code retriever; needs git lfs pull for ONNX weights (~206 MB) |
hash | Offline smoke / CI without model weights |
--embed-bodies (off by default) re-reads function source and appends identifier tokens. Query fusion still uses discover token-blooms without this flag.
What does exit code 1 mean?
Usually a policy violation (check, or blast-radius --policy-file) or a command error. JSON still may be on stdout for some commands — see json-api.md.
Is there an --all flag?
No. Combine --with-cfg --with-security --with-taint (and dashboard/migration flags) explicitly.
Louvain or label propagation?
rgctl runs label propagation (Raghavan 2007). The field louvain_community_id is a historical name only.
Coolstore or ecommerce-java?
Prefer the in-tree ecommerce-java fixture in User Guide §3.