know reset

Clear the entire index

Overview

The reset command clears the entire search index, removing all indexed chunks and embeddings. This does not affect the watch list or source files.

Syntax

know reset

Parameters

This command takes no parameters or options.

Behavior

• Deletes all indexed chunks from the database
• Removes all vector embeddings
• Does not modify the watch list (~/.know_dirs)
• Does not delete or modify any source files

This operation is immediate and irreversible. The entire index will be cleared without confirmation.

When to Use Reset

Use know reset when:

• You want to rebuild the index from scratch
• The index is corrupted or producing incorrect results
• You’ve made significant changes to indexing configuration
• You want to clear all indexed data before removing know

Examples

Clear the index

know reset

[Index cleared]

Reset and rebuild

know reset
know index

[Index cleared]
Indexing 3 directories
OK Total: 234 new, 0 unchanged

Comparison with Other Commands

Command	Effect
know reset	Clears entire index, keeps watch list
know index --force	Clears index AND immediately re-indexes
know prune	Removes only orphaned chunks from deleted files
know remove <dir>	Removes directory from watch list, keeps indexed data

Instead of know reset followed by know index, you can use know index --force to do both in one step.

After Reset

After running reset, you’ll need to re-index to use search:

know reset
know index

Attempting to search before re-indexing will show:

know "my query"

No index found.
To get started, run:
  know add <dir>
  know index

Complete Cleanup

To completely remove all know data:

# Clear the index
know reset

# Remove watch list
rm ~/.know_dirs

# Remove database (if applicable)
rm -rf ~/.know_db  # or wherever your database is stored

See Also

• know index --force - Clear and re-index in one command
• know prune - Remove only orphaned chunks
• know remove - Remove directories from watch list