feat(plugins): manual-pages flow — manpage seed schema, flow docs, verification fixes (#971)

Signed-off-by: phernandez <paul@basicmachines.co>
Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/basic_memory/cli/commands/__init__.py

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ from . import ci, status, db, doctor, import_memory_json, mcp, import_claude_con
 from . import (
     import_claude_projects,
     import_chatgpt,
+    man,
     tool,
     project,
     format,
@@ -29,4 +30,5 @@ __all__ = [
     "schema",
     "update",
     "workspace",
+    "man",
 ]

src/basic_memory/cli/commands/man.py

@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+"""Install the bundled man pages so `man bm` works."""
+
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Annotated, Optional
+
+import typer
+from rich.console import Console
+
+from basic_memory.cli.app import app
+
+console = Console()
+
+man_app = typer.Typer(help="Manage the bm man pages.")
+app.add_typer(man_app, name="man")
+
+# Bundled groff sources ship inside the package (src/basic_memory/man).
+_MAN_SOURCE_DIR = Path(__file__).parent.parent.parent / "man"
+
+
+def _default_man_root() -> Path:
+    # Why ~/.local/share/man: manpath(1) derives man directories from PATH
+    # entries on both man-db (Linux) and BSD man (macOS), so ~/.local/bin on
+    # PATH — the pipx/uv tool layout — makes this root searchable without any
+    # MANPATH configuration.
+    return Path.home() / ".local" / "share" / "man"
+
+
+def _man_root_on_manpath(man_root: Path) -> Optional[bool]:
+    """Best-effort check whether man(1) will search man_root; None if unknown."""
+    try:
+        result = subprocess.run(["manpath"], capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=5)
+    except (FileNotFoundError, subprocess.TimeoutExpired):
+        return None
+    if result.returncode != 0:
+        return None
+    paths = [entry.rstrip("/") for entry in result.stdout.strip().split(":") if entry]
+    return str(man_root).rstrip("/") in paths
+
+
+@man_app.command()
+def install(
+    directory: Annotated[
+        Optional[Path],
+        typer.Option(
+            "--dir",
+            help="Man root to install into (default: ~/.local/share/man)",
+        ),
+    ] = None,
+) -> None:
+    """Install the bm man pages, then try `man bm`."""
+    man_root = (directory or _default_man_root()).expanduser()
+    man1 = man_root / "man1"
+    man1.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+    pages = sorted(_MAN_SOURCE_DIR.glob("*.1"))
+    if not pages:  # pragma: no cover - broken packaging, not a runtime state
+        console.print("[red]No bundled man pages found — broken installation[/red]")
+        raise typer.Exit(1)
+
+    for page in pages:
+        shutil.copyfile(page, man1 / page.name)
+        console.print(f"installed {man1 / page.name}")
+
+    # Trigger: the chosen root is provably absent from manpath output.
+    # Why: a silent install into an unsearched directory looks like success
+    #   but `man bm` still fails; say so and hand over the one-line fix.
+    # Outcome: actionable hint; unknown (None) stays quiet to avoid false alarms.
+    if _man_root_on_manpath(man_root) is False:
+        console.print(
+            f"\n[yellow]{man_root} is not on your manpath.[/yellow] Add it with:\n"
+            f'  export MANPATH="{man_root}:$MANPATH"'
+        )
+
+    console.print("\nTry: [bold]man bm[/bold]")

src/basic_memory/cli/main.py

@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ if not _version_only_invocation(sys.argv[1:]):
         import_claude_conversations,
         import_claude_projects,
         import_memory_json,
+        man,
         mcp,
         orphans,
         project,