Getting access & setup
Request access to the Rekall API, get an API key, and install the TypeScript / Python SDK or the CLI client. The SKIM engine runs server-side, reached through the API.
Rekall is a closed API. The SKIM engine runs server-side and is reached only through the Rekall API — there's no public model download and nothing to run locally to get started. Setup is three steps: request access, get an API key, then install an SDK or the CLI client.
Closed beta — request access
Rekall is in closed beta. Request access to get an API key; approved accounts get generous evaluation usage with no card. Enterprises that need to run SKIM inside their own network can license the self-hosted binary.
1 · Request access & get an API key
Request access on the developer page. Once approved,
create a per-project API key in the dashboard — it looks like rk_live_…. Keep it
secret; it's the credential every SDK, the CLI client, and the REST API use.
export REKALL_API_KEY="rk_live_…"2 · Install an SDK
The SDKs are thin, typed clients over the REST API. Pick your language.
npm i rekall-search
# bun add rekall-search · pnpm add rekall-search · yarn add rekall-searchZero dependencies, pure fetch. Node 18+, Bun, Deno, edge runtimes. See the
TypeScript SDK.
pip install rekall-search
# uv add rekall-searchSync-first with an AsyncRekall for async apps. See the Python SDK.
3 · Install the CLI client (optional)
The rekall CLI is an API client — it talks to the Rekall API, so the engine runs
server-side, not on your machine. It's the fastest way to ingest a folder from the
terminal and to explore reasoning traces interactively.
Download the client for your platform from the Downloads page in your dashboard, put
it on your PATH, and log in:
| Platform | Architecture | File |
|---|---|---|
| macOS | Apple Silicon (arm64) | rekall-darwin-arm64 |
| macOS | Intel (x86_64) | rekall-darwin-amd64 |
| Linux | x86_64 | rekall-linux-amd64 |
| Linux | arm64 | rekall-linux-arm64 |
| Windows | x86_64 | rekall-windows-amd64.exe |
# After downloading from the dashboard (example: Linux x86_64)
chmod +x rekall-linux-amd64 && sudo mv rekall-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/rekall
rekall login # browser auth → saves your key to ~/.rekall/config
rekall --version
# rekall 0.2.0 · client → api.rekall.shrekall login runs browser-based auth and stores your key, so you don't have to manage
REKALL_API_KEY by hand.
Configuration
The CLI client and both SDKs read the same two environment variables:
| Variable | Purpose | Default |
|---|---|---|
REKALL_API_KEY | Per-project API key (rk_…). Required. | unset |
REKALL_BASE_URL | API base URL — change it to target an enterprise self-hosted deployment | https://api.rekall.sh/v1 |
export REKALL_API_KEY="rk_live_…"
export REKALL_BASE_URL="https://rekall.internal.acme.com/v1" # enterprise self-hostNext steps
Quickstart
Run a multi-hop, reasoning-grade search over your own documents — with the trace and the latency — in under a minute. CLI, TypeScript, or Python.
Core concepts
Three nouns, three verbs — Stores hold Documents, you search them. Plus the SearchResult shape annotated field-by-field, confidence semantics, hops, and the trace.