index - Create semantic search index

Index a directory for semantic search using odino with BGE embeddings.

Usage

/semq:index [path] [--force]

Arguments:

• path - Directory to index (optional, defaults to current directory)
• --force - Force reindex even if index exists

What It Does

1. Checks if directory already has an index
2. Runs odino index with BGE model (BAAI/bge-small-en-v1.5)
3. Creates .odino/ directory with:
   • config.json - Configuration settings
   • chroma_db/ - Vector database with embeddings
4. Shows progress and completion statistics

Examples

Index current directory:

/semq:index

Index specific directory:

/semq:index ~/projects/myapp

Force reindex:

/semq:index --force

Implementation

# Parse arguments
INDEX_PATH="."
FORCE_FLAG=""

for arg in "$@"; do
    case "$arg" in
        --force)
            FORCE_FLAG="--force"
            ;;
        *)
            if [[ -d "$arg" ]]; then
                INDEX_PATH="$arg"
            else
                echo "Warning: Directory not found: $arg"
            fi
            ;;
    esac
done

# Convert to absolute path
INDEX_PATH="$(cd "$INDEX_PATH" && pwd)"

echo "Indexing directory: $INDEX_PATH"

# Check if already indexed
if [[ -d "$INDEX_PATH/.odino" ]] && [[ -z "$FORCE_FLAG" ]]; then
    echo ""
    echo "⚠️  Directory is already indexed"
    echo ""
    echo "To reindex, use: /semq:index --force"
    echo "To check status: /semq:status"
    exit 0
fi

# Create .odinoignore if it doesn't exist
if [[ ! -f "$INDEX_PATH/.odinoignore" ]]; then
    cat > "$INDEX_PATH/.odinoignore" << 'EOF'
# Build artifacts
build/
dist/
*.pyc
__pycache__/

# Dependencies
node_modules/
venv/
.venv/
.virtualenv/

# Config and secrets
.env
.env.local
*.secret
.git/

# IDE
.vscode/
.idea/
*.swp
*.swo

# OS
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db
EOF
    echo "Created .odinoignore file"
fi

# Run indexing with BGE model
echo ""
echo "Indexing with BGE model (this may take a moment)..."
echo ""

(cd "$INDEX_PATH" && odino index $FORCE_FLAG --model BAAI/bge-small-en-v1.5)

if [[ $? -eq 0 ]]; then
    echo ""
    echo "✅ Indexing complete!"
    echo ""
    echo "You can now search with:"
    echo "  /semq:search <query>"
else
    echo ""
    echo "❌ Indexing failed"
    echo ""
    echo "Troubleshooting:"
    echo "- Ensure odino is installed: pipx install odino"
    echo "- Check disk space"
    echo "- Try again with --force flag"
fi

Output Example

Indexing directory: /home/user/project
Created .odinoignore file

Indexing with BGE model (this may take a moment)...

Indexed 63 files
Generated 142 chunks (529.5 KB)
Model: BAAI/bge-small-en-v1.5

✅ Indexing complete!

You can now search with:
  /semq:search <query>

When to Use

Use /semq:index when:

• Setting up semantic search for a new project
• Major code changes have been made
• Switching to a different embedding model
• Index is corrupted or outdated

.odinoignore

The command automatically creates .odinoignore to exclude:

• Build artifacts (build/, dist/)
• Dependencies (node_modules/, venv/)
• Configuration files (.env, secrets)
• IDE files (.vscode/, .idea/)
• Version control (.git/)

Customize .odinoignore for your project:

# Project-specific ignores
generated/
*.min.js
vendor/

Model Selection

The command uses BAAI/bge-small-en-v1.5 by default:

• Size: 133MB (vs 600MB for default model)
• Parameters: 33M (vs 308M)
• Quality: ~62-63 MTEB score (vs ~69)
• Speed: Much faster indexing
• Memory: Lower RAM usage

Why BGE?

• 78% smaller download
• 90% fewer parameters
• Faster indexing and search
• Only ~7 point quality drop
• Better for most use cases

Performance Tips

1. Use .odinoignore - Exclude unnecessary files
2. GPU acceleration - Indexing is much faster with CUDA
3. Batch size - Adjust in .odino/config.json (16 for GPU, 8 for CPU)
4. Reindex periodically - After major code changes

Troubleshooting

"Command not found: odino"

pipx install odino

GPU out of memory

# Edit .odino/config.json after first index
{
  "embedding_batch_size": 8  # or 4
}
# Then reindex
/semq:index --force

Slow indexing

# BGE model is already the fastest option
# But you can reduce batch size if needed
# Edit .odino/config.json: "embedding_batch_size": 8

Related Commands

• /semq:status - Check index status
• /semq:search <query> - Search the index
• /semq:here <query> - Search with traversal

Configuration

After indexing, configuration is stored in .odino/config.json:

{
  "model_name": "BAAI/bge-small-en-v1.5",
  "embedding_batch_size": 16,
  "chunk_size": 512,
  "chunk_overlap": 50
}

Edit this file to change settings, then reindex with --force.