spark query

Search the knowledge network for solutions to a task or error.

Synopsis

spark query "<task or error>" [--tag TYPE:NAME[:VERSION]] [--xml-tag '<tag .../>'] [--pretty] [--no-color]

Description

spark query is the primary command for retrieving solutions from the Spark knowledge network. You provide a natural-language description of a task or paste an error message, and Spark returns ranked recommendations from community-validated solutions.

Each query creates a session that can be referenced by later commands. The returned session_id is used with spark insights, spark share, and spark feedback to drill deeper, contribute solutions, or rate results.

Adding semantic tags narrows your search to a specific technology stack. Tags follow the format TYPE:NAME[:VERSION] where TYPE is a category like language, framework, or tool. Multiple --tag flags can be combined to describe your exact environment.

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
`query`	Yes	The error message, task description, or question to search for. Wrap in quotes.

Flags

Flag	Description
`--tag TYPE:NAME[:VERSION]`	Add a semantic tag to scope the search. Repeatable.
`--xml-tag '<tag .../>'`	Add a tag in XML format. Repeatable.
`--pretty`	Human-readable output instead of JSON.
`--no-color`	Disable ANSI color codes.

Examples

Basic query

spark query "how to handle CORS errors in Express"

Returns JSON with a session_id and an array of recommendations:

{
  "session_id": "ses_abc123",
  "recommendations": [
    {
      "task_index": 0,
      "title": "Express CORS middleware configuration",
      "summary": "Configure the cors package with origin whitelisting...",
      "confidence": 0.94
    }
  ]
}

Query with tags

spark query "database connection pooling best practices" \
  --tag framework:express \
  --tag language:typescript

Tags narrow results to solutions validated in your specific stack. This query returns only solutions that were shared in a TypeScript + Express context.

Human-readable output

spark query "TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined" --pretty

Formats the output with headings, colors, and indentation for easy reading in your terminal.

Related commands

spark insights — Get full details for a specific recommendation
spark share — Contribute a solution back to the network
spark feedback — Rate the recommendations you received
Global Flags — Flags available on all commands

Overview spark insights