diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fe33179..f101e56 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ The initial repo includes:
 
 Example applications live alongside the core package rather than defining it. Current examples include:
 
+- a comprehensive CLI cookbook in [examples/cli/README.md](./examples/cli/README.md);
 - a topic-only bootstrap workflow for `artificial life` in [examples/artificial-life/README.md](./examples/artificial-life/README.md);
 - the TalkOrigins bibliography pipeline under [`citegeist.examples.talkorigins`](./src/citegeist/examples/talkorigins.py) with a usage guide in [examples/talkorigins/README.md](./examples/talkorigins/README.md).
 
@@ -150,6 +151,8 @@ PYTHONPATH=src .venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 harvest-oai ht
 PYTHONPATH=src .venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 export --output reviewed.bib
 ```
 
+For a fuller option-by-option CLI cookbook, see [examples/cli/README.md](./examples/cli/README.md).
+
 For live-source development, prefer fixture-backed or cache-backed source clients so resolver and expansion work can be exercised repeatedly without re-hitting upstream APIs on every run.
 
 ## Example Application
diff --git a/examples/cli/README.md b/examples/cli/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c8088a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/cli/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,641 @@
+# CLI Examples
+
+This guide gives example invocations for the `citegeist` CLI, including the major option combinations for each command.
+
+Where a topic is named, this guide uses:
+
+- topic phrase: `artificial life`
+- topic slug: `artificial-life`
+- topic name: `Artificial life`
+
+Assume:
+
+```bash
+cd citegeist
+export PYTHONPATH=src
+```
+
+## Global Option
+
+Use a non-default database path:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 topics
+```
+
+## Ingest
+
+Basic ingest:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 ingest references.bib
+```
+
+Set initial review status:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 ingest references.bib --status reviewed
+```
+
+Set a provenance label:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 ingest references.bib --source-label "examples/artificial-life/references.bib"
+```
+
+Use both ingest options together:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 ingest references.bib --status draft --source-label "manual-import:artificial-life"
+```
+
+## Search
+
+Basic search:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 search "artificial life"
+```
+
+Limit the number of matches:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 search "artificial life" --limit 5
+```
+
+Restrict search to one topic slice:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 search "artificial life" --topic artificial-life
+```
+
+## Show
+
+Show one entry:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 show langton1989artificial1
+```
+
+List entries:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 show --limit 10
+```
+
+Include provenance:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 show langton1989artificial1 --provenance
+```
+
+Include conflicts:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 show langton1989artificial1 --conflicts
+```
+
+Use both:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 show langton1989artificial1 --provenance --conflicts
+```
+
+## Export
+
+Export the whole library:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 export
+```
+
+Export selected citation keys:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 export langton1989artificial1 bedau2003artificial2
+```
+
+Write BibTeX to a file:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 export --output artificial-life.bib
+```
+
+## Entry Review
+
+Set review status:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 set-status langton1989artificial1 reviewed
+```
+
+Resolve field conflicts:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 resolve-conflicts langton1989artificial1 title accepted
+```
+
+Reject a conflict instead:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 resolve-conflicts langton1989artificial1 title rejected
+```
+
+Apply the latest proposed conflict value:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 apply-conflict langton1989artificial1 title
+```
+
+## Extract
+
+Extract draft BibTeX from plaintext:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist extract references.txt
+```
+
+Write extracted BibTeX to a file:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist extract references.txt --output extracted-artificial-life.bib
+```
+
+## Resolve
+
+Resolve one or more entries against remote metadata:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 resolve langton1989artificial1 bedau2003artificial2
+```
+
+## Graph Traversal
+
+Basic traversal:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 graph langton1989artificial1
+```
+
+Use multiple relation filters:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 graph langton1989artificial1 --relation cites --relation cited_by
+```
+
+Set traversal depth:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 graph langton1989artificial1 --depth 2
+```
+
+Filter by target review status:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 graph langton1989artificial1 --review-status reviewed
+```
+
+Show only unresolved targets:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 graph langton1989artificial1 --missing-only
+```
+
+Render DOT instead of traversal rows:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 graph langton1989artificial1 --format dot
+```
+
+Render node/edge JSON for visualization:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 graph langton1989artificial1 --format json-graph
+```
+
+Write graph output to a file:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 graph langton1989artificial1 --depth 2 --format dot --output artificial-life.dot
+```
+
+## Graph Viewer
+
+Render a standalone HTML page from a `json-graph` export:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist graph-view artificial-life.json --output artificial-life.html
+```
+
+Set the HTML page title:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist graph-view artificial-life.json --output artificial-life.html --title "Artificial Life Graph"
+```
+
+## Graph Expansion
+
+Expand from one or more seed entries:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 expand langton1989artificial1
+```
+
+Choose the source:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 expand langton1989artificial1 --source openalex
+```
+
+Choose relation direction:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 expand langton1989artificial1 --source openalex --relation cited_by
+```
+
+Limit discoveries per seed:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 expand langton1989artificial1 --source openalex --limit 10
+```
+
+## Topic Expansion
+
+Basic topic expansion from stored topic metadata:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 expand-topic artificial-life
+```
+
+Override the topic phrase:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 expand-topic artificial-life --topic-phrase "artificial life alife artificial organisms"
+```
+
+Choose source and relation:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 expand-topic artificial-life --source openalex --relation cited_by
+```
+
+Control seed and discovery limits:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 expand-topic artificial-life --seed-limit 10 --per-seed-limit 5
+```
+
+Restrict to trusted seed entries:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 expand-topic artificial-life --seed-key langton1989artificial1 --seed-key bedau2003artificial2
+```
+
+Raise or lower the topic assignment threshold:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 expand-topic artificial-life --min-relevance 0.3
+```
+
+Preview without writing:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 expand-topic artificial-life --preview
+```
+
+## Topic Phrase Storage
+
+Set a stored topic phrase:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 set-topic-phrase artificial-life "artificial life alife artificial organisms complex systems evolution simulation"
+```
+
+Clear a stored topic phrase:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 set-topic-phrase artificial-life --clear
+```
+
+## OAI-PMH Harvesting
+
+Inspect a repository:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist discover-oai https://example.edu/oai
+```
+
+Harvest with default metadata prefix:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 harvest-oai https://example.edu/oai
+```
+
+Use an alternate metadata prefix:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 harvest-oai https://example.edu/oai --metadata-prefix mods
+```
+
+Restrict to a set:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 harvest-oai https://example.edu/oai --set artificial-life
+```
+
+Harvest a date range:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 harvest-oai https://example.edu/oai --from 2024-01-01 --until 2024-12-31
+```
+
+Limit harvested records and set review status:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 harvest-oai https://example.edu/oai --limit 10 --status draft
+```
+
+## Bootstrap
+
+Seed from a BibTeX file:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 bootstrap --seed-bib artificial-life.bib
+```
+
+Seed from a topic phrase alone:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 bootstrap --topic "artificial life"
+```
+
+Use both a seed `.bib` and a topic phrase:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 bootstrap --seed-bib artificial-life.bib --topic "artificial life"
+```
+
+Store topic metadata while bootstrapping:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 \
+  bootstrap \
+  --topic "artificial life" \
+  --topic-slug artificial-life \
+  --topic-name "Artificial life" \
+  --store-topic-phrase "artificial life alife artificial organisms complex systems evolution simulation"
+```
+
+Control topic-search candidate count:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 bootstrap --topic "artificial life" --topic-limit 10
+```
+
+Control how many topic candidates are actually committed:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 bootstrap --topic "artificial life" --topic-commit-limit 5
+```
+
+Disable immediate expansion:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 bootstrap --topic "artificial life" --no-expand
+```
+
+Preview without writing:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 bootstrap --topic "artificial life" --preview
+```
+
+Set review status for imported entries:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 bootstrap --topic "artificial life" --status reviewed
+```
+
+## Batch Bootstrap
+
+Run a JSON batch file:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 bootstrap-batch artificial-life.json
+```
+
+## Topic Phrase Review Workflow
+
+Apply topic phrases directly:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 apply-topic-phrases topic-phrases.json
+```
+
+Stage topic phrase suggestions:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 stage-topic-phrases topic-phrases.json
+```
+
+Review one staged phrase:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 review-topic-phrase artificial-life accepted
+```
+
+Add notes while reviewing:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 review-topic-phrase artificial-life accepted --notes "good fit for topic expansion"
+```
+
+Override the accepted phrase while reviewing:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 review-topic-phrase artificial-life accepted --phrase "artificial life alife artificial organisms autonomous agents"
+```
+
+Apply review decisions in bulk:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 review-topic-phrases topic-phrase-review.json
+```
+
+List staged phrase reviews:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 topic-phrase-reviews
+```
+
+Filter review rows by status:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 topic-phrase-reviews --phrase-review-status pending
+```
+
+Export an editable review template:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 export-topic-phrase-reviews
+```
+
+Limit exported review rows:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 export-topic-phrase-reviews --limit 10
+```
+
+Filter exported rows by status:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 export-topic-phrase-reviews --phrase-review-status rejected
+```
+
+Write the review template to a file:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 export-topic-phrase-reviews --output topic-phrase-review.json
+```
+
+## Topic Inspection
+
+List topics:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 topics
+```
+
+Limit topic rows:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 topics --limit 20
+```
+
+Filter topics by phrase review status:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 topics --phrase-review-status pending
+```
+
+List entries for a topic:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 topic-entries artificial-life
+```
+
+Limit topic entries:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 topic-entries artificial-life --limit 25
+```
+
+Export one topic slice as BibTeX:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 export-topic artificial-life
+```
+
+Write the topic slice to a file:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 export-topic artificial-life --output artificial-life-topic.bib
+```
+
+## TalkOrigins Example Commands
+
+Scrape the example corpus:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist example-talkorigins-scrape talkorigins-out
+```
+
+Override the source URL:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist example-talkorigins-scrape talkorigins-out --base-url https://www.talkorigins.org/origins/biblio/
+```
+
+Limit topics and entries:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist example-talkorigins-scrape talkorigins-out --limit-topics 5 --limit-entries-per-topic 20
+```
+
+Resolve seeds, ingest immediately, and keep expansion disabled:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db library.sqlite3 example-talkorigins-scrape talkorigins-out --resolve-seeds --ingest --no-expand
+```
+
+Disable snapshot reuse:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist example-talkorigins-scrape talkorigins-out --no-resume
+```
+
+Control generated bootstrap defaults:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist example-talkorigins-scrape talkorigins-out --topic-limit 10 --topic-commit-limit 5 --status draft
+```
+
+Validate the generated manifest:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist example-talkorigins-validate talkorigins-out/talkorigins_manifest.json
+```
+
+Suggest phrases from the corpus:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist example-talkorigins-suggest-phrases talkorigins-out/talkorigins_manifest.json --topic abiogenesis --limit 10 --output topic-phrases.json
+```
+
+Inspect duplicate clusters:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist example-talkorigins-duplicates talkorigins-out/talkorigins_manifest.json --limit 20 --min-count 2 --match origin --topic abiogenesis --preview --weak-only
+```
+
+Ingest the reconstructed corpus:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db talkorigins.sqlite3 example-talkorigins-ingest talkorigins-out/talkorigins_manifest.json --status draft
+```
+
+Disable deduplication during example ingest:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db talkorigins.sqlite3 example-talkorigins-ingest talkorigins-out/talkorigins_manifest.json --no-dedupe
+```
+
+Enrich weak canonical entries:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db talkorigins.sqlite3 example-talkorigins-enrich talkorigins-out/talkorigins_manifest.json --limit 20 --min-count 2 --match origin --topic abiogenesis --status enriched
+```
+
+Apply enrichment and allow unsafe search matches for experiments:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db talkorigins-copy.sqlite3 example-talkorigins-enrich talkorigins-out/talkorigins_manifest.json --apply --allow-unsafe-search-matches
+```
+
+Export a review artifact:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db talkorigins.sqlite3 example-talkorigins-review talkorigins-out/talkorigins_manifest.json --limit 20 --min-count 2 --match origin --topic abiogenesis --output talkorigins-review.json
+```
+
+Apply curated corrections:
+
+```bash
+.venv/bin/python -m citegeist --db talkorigins.sqlite3 example-talkorigins-apply-corrections talkorigins-out/talkorigins_manifest.json talkorigins-corrections.json --status reviewed
+```
+
+## Notes
+
+- Some commands depend on live source access.
+- For topic-oriented examples, use preview mode before committing changes when possible.
+- The older TalkOrigins alias commands remain available, but the example-prefixed names are the preferred surface.