Data export

KiwiFS can export your entire knowledge base (or a subset of it) as JSONL, CSV, or Parquet. You can export from the CLI or the REST API.

Formats

JSONL
Parquet
CSV

Each line is a JSON object representing one file. Fields come from frontmatter.

{"path":"concepts/auth.md","title":"Authentication","status":"published","updated":"2026-04-20T10:00:00Z"}

With --include-content, each object includes the full markdown body.

{"path":"concepts/auth.md","title":"Authentication","status":"published","content":"# Authentication\n\nOverview of auth mechanisms.\n"}

With --include-links, each object includes link data.

{"path":"concepts/auth.md","title":"Authentication","outgoing_links":["concepts/oauth.md","concepts/jwt.md"],"incoming_links":["guides/security.md"]}

With --include-embeddings, each object includes a vector embedding array. A .schema.json sidecar file is also written alongside the output file, describing the embedding model and dimensions.

{"path":"concepts/auth.md","title":"Authentication","embedding":[0.0123,-0.0456,0.0789]}

Columnar export for data warehouses and analytics pipelines. Supports the same flags as JSONL (--include-content, --include-links, --include-embeddings, --path, --limit).

kiwifs export --format parquet --include-content -o knowledge.parquet

Standard CSV with one row per file. The first row contains headers. Specify which frontmatter fields to include with --columns.

path,name,status,grade
students/alice.md,Alice,active,A
students/bob.md,Bob,active,B+
students/carol.md,Carol,graduated,A-

CLI usage

Use the kiwifs export command to export from the command line.

kiwifs export --format jsonl --output knowledge.jsonl

kiwifs export --format jsonl --include-content --output full.jsonl

kiwifs export --format csv --path students/ --columns name,status,grade -o students.csv

kiwifs export --format parquet --include-content -o knowledge.parquet

kiwifs export --format jsonl | jq '.title'

kiwifs export --format jsonl --include-embeddings -o vectors.jsonl

CLI flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
`--root`	`-r`	`./knowledge`	Knowledge root directory
`--format`		`jsonl`	Output format: `jsonl`, `csv`, or `parquet`
`--output`	`-o`	stdout	Output file path
`--path`			Scope export to a subdirectory
`--columns`			Comma-separated frontmatter fields to include
`--include-content`		`false`	Include the full markdown body
`--include-links`		`false`	Include outgoing and incoming link arrays
`--include-embeddings`		`false`	Include vector embeddings
`--limit`		`0`	Max files to export (0 = unlimited)

REST API

Export your knowledge base over HTTP using the /api/kiwi/export endpoint.

curl "http://localhost:3333/api/kiwi/export?format=jsonl&include-content=true" \
  -o knowledge.jsonl

curl "http://localhost:3333/api/kiwi/export?format=csv&columns=name,status&path=students/" \
  -o students.csv

curl "http://localhost:3333/api/kiwi/export?format=jsonl" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer my-api-key" \
  -o knowledge.jsonl

Query parameters

Parameter	Default	Description
`format`	`jsonl`	Output format: `jsonl`, `csv`, or `parquet`
`path`		Scope to a subdirectory
`columns`		Comma-separated frontmatter fields
`include-content`	`false`	Include markdown body
`include-links`	`false`	Include link arrays
`include-embeddings`	`false`	Include vector embeddings
`limit`	`0`	Max files (0 = unlimited)

The response streams as application/x-ndjson (JSONL) or text/csv (CSV) with chunked transfer encoding. You can pipe the response directly into downstream tools.

Embeddings sidecar

When you export with --include-embeddings, KiwiFS writes a .schema.json sidecar file next to the output file. This file describes the embedding model used and the vector dimensions.

vectors.schema.json

{
  "embedding_model": "text-embedding-3-small",
  "dimensions": 1536,
  "distance_metric": "cosine"
}

Embeddings are only available if you have configured a vector search provider (such as pgvector with an OpenAI API key).

Common recipes

Back up metadata to git

Export frontmatter as JSONL and commit it alongside your knowledge base for a searchable metadata snapshot.

kiwifs export --format jsonl -o .kiwi/metadata.jsonl
cd knowledge && git add .kiwi/metadata.jsonl && git commit -m "Update metadata export"

Build a static search index

Export with content and embeddings, then feed the output into your static site search pipeline.

kiwifs export --format jsonl --include-content --include-embeddings -o search-index.jsonl

Sync to a data warehouse

Export as CSV and load into your warehouse using standard ETL tools.

kiwifs export --format csv --columns title,status,updated,author -o export.csv
# Load into your warehouse
bq load --source_format=CSV mydataset.knowledge export.csv

Filter with jq

Pipe JSONL output to jq for ad-hoc filtering and transformation.

# Find all draft documents
kiwifs export --format jsonl | jq 'select(.status == "draft")'

# Extract just titles and paths
kiwifs export --format jsonl | jq '{path, title}'

# Count documents by status
kiwifs export --format jsonl | jq -s 'group_by(.status) | map({status: .[0].status, count: length})'

For large knowledge bases, use --path to scope the export to a subdirectory and --limit to cap the number of files. This keeps export times predictable.

Document export (PDF, HTML, slides)

To render markdown into PDF, HTML, slide decks, or static sites, use Document export (POST /api/kiwi/export/document or MCP kiwi_export_document).

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Data Import

Deployment

Data export

Formats

CLI usage

CLI flags

REST API

Query parameters

Embeddings sidecar

Common recipes

Document export (PDF, HTML, slides)

​Formats

​CLI usage

​CLI flags

​REST API

​Query parameters

​Embeddings sidecar

​Common recipes

​Document export (PDF, HTML, slides)

Formats

CLI usage

CLI flags

REST API

Query parameters

Embeddings sidecar

Common recipes

Document export (PDF, HTML, slides)