Some time ago, I built a locally running AChat client, which was a powerful tool for AI-assisted tasks. With the release of DeepSeek-R1—an even faster alternative to Meta’s LLaMA—I saw an opportunity to enhance my setup further. DeepSeek-R1 offers improved inference speed and efficiency over Meta’s LLaMA I used before, so in short, it’s faster and less resource-hungry.

AChat was originally designed with a desktop UI and web access, but when working in a Linux terminal, I found no streamlined way to interact with it. So, I built ASK.

After writing a PoC and testing it in my terminal, I quickly realized how much of a productivity boost it provided!

Since ASK leverages the same API as AChat, I seamlessly integrated it with AChat’s source code and used AChat’s go packages to interact with the API:

From now on, I can stream file content into AChat API with the use of the ASK tool and receive tips, improvements, explanations over practically any part of my system with a single command:

gentoo ~ # ask Optimize my Gentoo make.conf: $(cat /etc/portage/make.conf)

ASK:  Your make.conf file is well-organized, but here are some suggestions to optimize and potentially improve it:

1. **Use of flags**: You have set the `COMMON_FLAGS` variable which sets all other flag variables (e.g., CFLAGS, CXXFLAGS). This is a good practice, as it makes it easier to maintain your flags.

2. **CPU Flags**: In the `CPU_FLAGS_X86` variable, you are including many CPU features that might not be available on your system or might not be useful for most packages. Consider removing unnecessary ones and keeping only what's actually supported by your processor.

3. **USE flag optimization**:
   - You're using `-` to remove USE flags from the default set. It's better to explicitly define the flags you want to use instead of relying on the defaults.
   - You're disabling a lot of packages (e.g., gnome, kde, qt, etc.). If you don't need them, it's fine, but if you do, consider removing these lines or enabling them as needed.

4. **Python configuration**: Your Python configuration seems to be set up for Python 3.11, which is good. However, in the future, consider setting `PYTHON_DEFAULT_TARGETS` instead of individual targets (`python3_11`). This will allow your system to automatically switch between Python versions when available.

5. **LUA_SINGLE_TARGET**: You've left this empty. If you're not using Lua, it's better to remove this variable altogether to prevent potential issues with other packages that might depend on it.

6. **NGINX modules**: Your NGINX module configuration is quite extensive. While it seems like a comprehensive setup, consider organizing your modules into categories or groups based on function (e.g., HTTP, Streaming) for better readability and maintenance.

7. **ACCEPT_LICENSE**: You've set `CC-BY-ND-3.0` as an accepted license. This is good practice, but also make sure you're not missing any other licenses that your system requires.

Here's a refactored version of your make.conf with these suggestions applied:

```makefile
# COMMON_FLAGS sets the base flags for C/C++/Fortran code compilation.
COMMON_FLAGS="-march=ivybridge -O3 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer"

CFLAGS="${COMMON_FLAGS}"
CXXFLAGS="${COMMON_FLAGS}"
FCFLAGS="${COMMON_FLAGS}"
FFLAGS="${COMMON_FLAGS}"

# Define CPU features available on your system
CPU_FLAGS_X86="mmx mmxext sse sse2 aes avx sse3 sse4_1"

# Python configuration
PYTHON_DEFAULT_TARGETS="python3_11"
ACCEPT_LICENSE="CC-BY-ND-3.0 dropbox Mellanox-AS-IS"

# Set language for build output to English
LC_MESSAGES=C

PORTDIR="/var/db/repos/gentoo"
DISTDIR="/var/cache/distfiles"
PKGDIR="/var/cache/binpkgs"

MAKEOPTS="-j6"

# NGINX module configuration (organized by category)
NGINX_MODULES_HTTP="
  stub_status perl access auth_basic autoindex browser charset empty_gif
  fastcgi geo gzip limit_conn limit_req map memcached mirror proxy referer
  rewrite scgi split_clients ssi upstream_hash upstream_ip_hash upstream_keepalive
  upstream_least_conn upstream_zone userid gunzip gzip_static metrics mp4 push_stream
  secure_link security spdy upload_progress upstream_check vhost_traffic_status xslt
"

NGINX_MODULES_STREAM="
  access return split_clients ssl_preread upstream_hash
"
```

Keep in mind that this is just a suggested refactoring, and you should adjust your make.conf according to your specific needs.

With ASK, I can quickly analyze logs, debug configurations, and even generate structured documentation—all from the terminal with a single command.