FAQ

What is Zuni?

Zuni is a command-line AI research assistant. It sends questions to an OpenAI-compatible model and can use web-search tools to gather information before producing an answer.

Does Zuni search the web?

Yes. Web research is enabled by default for zuni ask. The model can call web_search to search DuckDuckGo and extract_markdown to read a selected public page.

Use --no-search when you want to bypass the research workflow.

Does every model support tool calling?

No. Tool calling depends on the model and provider.

If the first tool-enabled request fails, Zuni falls back to a simpler workflow:

search the web → collect sources → send the sources to the model

Is Zuni free?

The Zuni software is open source under the MIT License. Your model provider may charge for API usage, depending on the provider and model you choose.

Which providers work?

Zuni targets providers that expose an OpenAI-compatible POST /chat/completions endpoint.

Tool calling also requires support for the tools request format.

Does Zuni store my questions?

Zuni stores configuration locally and does not implement a server-side conversation database.

Requests sent to hosted model or web services are handled according to those services' own privacy policies.

Where is my API key stored?

By default, a key entered through zuni config is stored at:

~/.config/zuni/config.json

You can override it with ZUNI_API_KEY.

Protect the configuration file and never commit it to Git.

Can I use a local model?

Yes, if the local model server exposes an OpenAI-compatible chat-completions endpoint.

For example:

http://localhost:11434/v1

Use --no-search if you do not want Zuni to access the web.

Can I use Zuni offline?

The direct LLM path can work without internet access when the configured model server is reachable locally.

Web research requires network access.

How does citation work?

Zuni assigns numbers to collected sources:

[1] First source
[2] Second source

The model is instructed to use those numbers for inline citations. Zuni then prints the corresponding source URLs below the answer.

How do I control the number of search results?

Use the -n or --results option:

zuni ask -n 3 "Your question"

The allowed range is 1 to 10, with 5 as the default.

How do I change the model?

Run:

zuni config

You can also edit:

~/.config/zuni/config.json

The base URL can be overridden with ZUNI_BASE_URL.

Where can I contribute?

See Contributing for the development workflow and contribution guidelines.