MeetCLI User Guide

MeetCLI is a desktop app for managing contacts and lightweight follow-up reminders, optimized for use via a Command Line Interface (CLI) while still having the benefits of a Graphical User Interface (GUI). If you can type fast, MeetCLI can get your contact and follow-up planning done faster than traditional GUI apps.

Target Users: Property agents, sales professionals, and business developers who need to manage large contact lists with company affiliations, tags, and a concise "next meeting" note.

Why a CLI fits these users

Property agents and sales professionals rely on keyboard-driven workflows (rapid entry, batch filtering, repeatable scripts). MeetCLI optimizes for speed and automation, reducing friction during lead capture and follow-ups.

See Developer Guide → Appendix: Requirements → Target user profile for the full user profile and underlying assumptions.

Table of Contents

Quick start

1. To ensure you have Java 17 or above installed in your Computer:
   

   • Search for Command Prompt in the Start Menu on Windows (if you are using Mac, open terminal by using Spotlight Search (Command + Space bar), then type "Terminal").

   • Type java -version and press Enter. You should see an output similar to below.

      java version "17.0.16" 2025-07-15 LTS
      Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 17.0.16+12-LTS-247)
      Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 17.0.16+12-LTS-247, mixed mode, sharing)
     

   • Verify that the terminal displays java version "17" or higher

   • if Java version displayed is not Java 17 or higher:

     • Windows users: Ensure you have the precise JDK version prescribed here.
     • Mac users: Ensure you have the precise JDK version prescribed here.

2. Download the latest .jar file from here.

3. Copy the file to the folder you want to use as the home folder for MeetCLI.

4. Open a command terminal, cd into the folder you put the jar file in, and use the java -jar meetcli.jar command to run the application.
   A GUI similar to the below should appear in a few seconds. Note how the app contains some sample data.
   

5. Type the command in the command box and press Enter to execute it. e.g. typing help and pressing Enter will open the help window.
   Some example commands you can try:

   • list : Lists all contacts.

   • add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01 c/Google m/Project review next Monday t/client : Adds a contact named John Doe with company, meeting, and tag information.

   • find c/Google : Finds all contacts working at Google.

   • listtag : Shows all allowed tags alphabetically.

   • delete 3 : Deletes the 3rd contact shown in the current list.

   • exit : Exits the app.

6. Refer to the Features below for details of each command.

Features

Key Features Overview

MeetCLI extends traditional address book functionality with powerful features for business contact management:

📊 Company Organization

• Track which company/organization each contact belongs to
• Search and filter by company name
• Useful for managing clients across multiple organizations

🏷️ Tag System

• Categorize contacts with tags (e.g., client, vip, prospect)
• Tag registry ensures consistency across your database
• Search by single or multiple tags
• View available tags with listtag

📅 Meeting Reminders

• Record a short "next meeting" note for each contact (e.g., "Demo on Fri 2pm")
• Defaults to No meeting scheduled when omitted
• Update or clear the note anytime with the edit command

🔍 Advanced Search

• Find by name, tags, company, or any combination
• Flexible AND/OR logic for precise filtering
• Case-insensitive search for user convenience

Viewing help : help

Shows a message explaining how to access the help page.

Format: help

Tag system overview

MeetCLI requires tags to be registered before they can be attached to contacts. Use addtag to expand the registry and listtag to review what is currently available.

Adding a tag: addtag

Adds a new tag to the allowed tag registry, making it available for use in add and edit commands.

Format: addtag t/TAG_NAME

Examples:

• addtag t/vip - Adds a "vip" tag to the registry
• addtag t/prospect - Adds a "prospect" tag for potential clients

Listing all tags: listtag

Lists all tags currently registered for use, sorted alphabetically (case-insensitive).

Format: listtag

Features:

• Alphabetically sorted (case-insensitive)
• Shows the exact registry view used by add and edit
• Helpful for checking which tags you can apply or filter by

Example output:

Tags: client, colleague, family, friend, vip

• The tag registry is a runtime convenience for validation.
• On startup, the registry is rebuilt from the tags found in saved contacts.
• Tags added with addtag but not assigned to any contact are not persisted and therefore won’t appear after restarting the app.

Note: If the registry is empty, displays There are currently no tags.

Adding a person: add

If you plan to use tags, read the Tag system overview first.

Adds a person to the address book with optional company, meeting, and tag information.

Format: add n/NAME p/PHONE_NUMBER e/EMAIL a/ADDRESS [c/COMPANY] [m/NEXT_MEETING] [t/TAG]…​

Required Fields:

• n/NAME - Person's full name
• p/PHONE_NUMBER - Contact phone number
• e/EMAIL - Email address
• a/ADDRESS - Physical address

Optional Fields:

• c/COMPANY - Company or organization name (defaults to empty if omitted)
• m/NEXT_MEETING - Next scheduled meeting details (defaults to "No meeting scheduled" if omitted)
• t/TAG - Tags for categorization (can specify multiple tags)

Examples:

• add n/John Doe p/98765432 e/johnd@example.com a/John street, block 123, #01-01 - Adds John Doe with only required fields
• add n/Alice Wong p/91234567 e/alice@tech.com a/21 Computing Dr c/Google m/Sprint planning on Thu 3pm t/client t/vip - Adds Alice with company, meeting, and tags
• add n/Bob Lee p/88887777 e/bob@example.com a/Blk 456 t/friend - Adds Bob with a tag but no company or meeting

Listing all persons : list

Shows a list of all persons in the address book.

Format: list

Editing a person: edit

Edits an existing person in the address book.

Format: edit INDEX [n/NAME] [p/PHONE] [e/EMAIL] [a/ADDRESS] [c/COMPANY] [m/NEXT_MEETING] [t/TAG]…​

Parameters:

• INDEX - The index number shown in the displayed person list (must be a positive integer: 1, 2, 3, …)
• At least one optional field must be provided
• All fields are optional but you must specify at least one to edit

Behavior:

• Existing values will be updated to the input values
• When editing tags, ALL existing tags are replaced (not cumulative)
• To clear a field, provide the prefix without a value (e.g., c/ clears company, t/ clears all tags)

Examples:

• edit 1 p/91234567 e/johndoe@example.com - Edits phone and email of the 1st person
• edit 2 c/Microsoft m/Quarterly review next Wed - Updates company and meeting for 2nd person
• edit 3 n/Betsy Crower t/ - Changes name and clears all tags
• edit 1 t/client t/vip - Replaces all existing tags with "client" and "vip"

Locating persons: find

Finds persons by name keywords, tags, and/or company. You can use any combination of these criteria.

Format: find [KEYWORD [MORE_KEYWORDS]...] [t/TAG [t/TAG]...] [c/COMPANY [c/COMPANY]...]

Logic at a glance

• name: OR across keywords (e.g., find alice bob matches either).
• t/ (tags): AND across multiple tags (must have all).
• c/ (company): OR across multiple companies.
• Mixing dimensions (name/tag/company): combined with AND.

Examples

• find alice t/friend t/teammate → name contains alice AND has both tags.
• find c/Google c/Meta t/lead → company is (Google OR Meta) AND has tag lead.

Name Search

• Case-insensitive substring match (e.g., han matches Hans)
• Multiple keywords use OR logic (e.g., Hans Bo → matches Hans or Bo)

Tag Search

• Exact, case-insensitive match
• Multiple t/ values use AND logic (e.g., t/client t/vip → contacts that have both client and vip)
• Allowed-tag check: If any tag is not in the registry, no search is performed and a warning is shown

Company Search

• Case-insensitive substring match
• Multiple c/ values use OR logic (e.g., c/Google c/Microsoft → at Google or Microsoft)

Mixed Criteria

• When combining name / tags / company, the groups are combined with AND (all must match)
• Example: find alice t/client c/Google → contacts named “alice” and tagged client and whose company contains “Google”

Examples

• find John → matches john, John Doe
• find alex david → matches Alex Yeoh, David Li
• find t/client → all contacts tagged client
• find t/client t/vip → contacts with both client and vip
• find c/Google → all at Google
• find c/Google c/Microsoft → at Google or Microsoft
• find alice t/priority c/Microsoft → “alice” and priority and “Microsoft”

Deleting a person : delete

Deletes the specified person from the address book.

Format: delete INDEX

• Deletes the person at the specified INDEX.
• The index refers to the index number shown in the displayed person list.
• The index must be a positive integer 1, 2, 3, …​

Examples:

• list followed by delete 2 deletes the 2nd person in the address book.
• find Betsy followed by delete 1 deletes the 1st person in the results of the find command.

Clearing all entries : clear

Clears all entries from the address book.

Format: clear

Exiting the program : exit

Exits the program.

Format: exit

Saving the data

MeetCLI data are saved in the hard disk automatically after any command that changes the data. There is no need to save manually.

Editing the data file

MeetCLI data are saved automatically as a JSON file [JAR file location]/data/addressbook.json. Advanced users are welcome to update data directly by editing that data file.

Future Work

Deferred meeting enhancements

During v1.4 we experimented with full-fledged meeting management (commands such as mark, history, and addmeeting). Internal QA revealed that the hybrid implementation was unstable, so we removed those commands for v1.5. The current release intentionally focuses on a single free-form m/ field per contact.

We still plan to explore structured meetings (tracking completion, notes, and history) after the v1.5 release, but only when we can guarantee a stable experience. Until then, keep using the optional m/ prefix to jot down your next follow-up, and edit it whenever plans change.

FAQ

Q: How do I transfer my data to another Computer?
A: Install the app in the other computer and overwrite the empty data file it creates with the file that contains the data of your previous MeetCLI home folder.

Q: Can I add custom tags?
A: Yes! Use the addtag t/TAGNAME command to add new tags to the allowed tag list. Once added, you can use them in add and edit commands.

Q: How do I see all the tags I've created?
A: Use the listtag command to view the allowed tag list in alphabetical order.

Q: Can I search for multiple companies at once?
A: Yes! Use find c/COMPANY1 c/COMPANY2 to find contacts at either company (OR logic).

Q: Why does find use AND for tags but OR for name/company?
A: Tags act as precise filters, so MeetCLI requires every requested tag to match. Name and company keywords are treated as discovery aids, so matching any keyword keeps the search broad. When you combine them, the dimensions are applied together (AND) to narrow the list to relevant contacts.

Q: What happens when a meeting is done?
A: MeetCLI currently stores only one "Next meeting" note. After you meet the contact, use edit INDEX m/No meeting scheduled (or provide a new follow-up) to keep the reminder accurate.

Q: Can I have multiple meetings for one contact?
A: Not yet. Advanced meeting management commands were deferred to keep v1.5 stable. For now, keep a single concise reminder in the m/ field.

Q: Why can't I use certain tags?
A: MeetCLI uses a tag registry to ensure consistency. Only tags in the allowed list can be used. Use addtag to add new tags, or check existing tags with listtag.

Known issues

1. When using multiple screens, if you move the application to a secondary screen, and later switch to using only the primary screen, the GUI will open off-screen. The remedy is to delete the preferences.json file created by the application before running the application again.
2. If you minimize the Help Window and then run the help command (or use the Help menu, or the keyboard shortcut F1) again, the original Help Window will remain minimized, and no new Help Window will appear. The remedy is to manually restore the minimized Help Window.

Command summary

Tag-related commands

Person-related commands

System commands