diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5e56947..e474d9e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -154,6 +154,13 @@ You should see an answer followed by a `Sources:` block listing the URLs used.
 
 ## Using it
 
+While inside the interactive CLI (`ask>`), you can use the following commands to control the session and view metadata:
+| Command | Description |
+| :--- | :--- |
+| `:stats` | Toggles the display of performance metrics (e.g., token count, response time) for subsequent prompts. |
+| `:verbose` | Toggles verbose mode, displaying detailed internal logs, thought processes, or API interactions. |
+| `exit` or `quit` | Safely terminates the interactive session and returns to your terminal shell. (You can also use `Ctrl-D`). |
+
 A grounded answer looks like this:
 
 ```
diff --git a/src/apps/dev_cli.py b/src/apps/dev_cli.py
index 3245537..324d186 100644
--- a/src/apps/dev_cli.py
+++ b/src/apps/dev_cli.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 from src.config.logger import get_logger
 from src.infrastructure.db import async_session_factory
 from src.infrastructure.db.repository import Repository
+from src.retrieval.services import retrieval_service
 
 log = get_logger(__name__)
 
@@ -19,13 +20,33 @@ async def _check_db() -> None:
 
 async def _repl() -> None:
     await _check_db()
+    verbose = False  # flag for :verbose
+
     print("cs-assistant dev CLI. Type 'exit' or Ctrl-D to quit.\n")
+    print("Type ':stats' or ':verbose' for cmds.\n")
+
     while True:
         try:
             question = input("ask> ").strip()
         except (EOFError, KeyboardInterrupt):
             print("\nbye")
             return
+
+        # :stats cmd
+        if question.lower() in {":stats"}:
+            async with async_session_factory() as session:
+                count_sources, count_chunks = await Repository.get_source_and_chunk_counts(session)
+            print(f"{count_sources} sources, {count_chunks} chunks loaded")
+            await _check_db()
+            continue
+
+        # :verbose cmd
+        if question.lower() in {":verbose"}:
+            verbose = not verbose
+            print(f"Verbose mode: {'ON' if verbose else 'OFF'}")
+            continue
+
+        # exit/quit cmd
         if question.lower() in {"exit", "quit"}:
             return
         if not question:
@@ -37,6 +58,20 @@ async def _repl() -> None:
             print(f"\nError: {e}\n")
             continue
 
+        # printing out chunk content (verbose mode)
+        if verbose:
+            retrieved_chunks = await retrieval_service.get_relevant_chunks(question)
+            for chunk_item in retrieved_chunks:
+                source_url = chunk_item.chunk.source_url
+                similarity_score = chunk_item.score
+                snippet = " ".join(
+                    (chunk_item.chunk.content.split())[:250]
+                )  # snippet ~250 words (maybe chars instead?)
+                print(f"URL: {source_url}")
+                print(f"Similarity score: {similarity_score}")
+                print(f"Content snippet: {snippet}")
+                print("-" * 60)
+
         print(f"\n{answer.text}\n")
         if answer.sources:
             print("Sources:")
diff --git a/src/infrastructure/db/repository.py b/src/infrastructure/db/repository.py
index 0dc8571..38c4538 100644
--- a/src/infrastructure/db/repository.py
+++ b/src/infrastructure/db/repository.py
@@ -14,6 +14,24 @@ async def has_chunks(session: AsyncSession) -> bool:
         result = await session.execute(select(ChunkRow.id).limit(1))
         return result.scalar_one_or_none() is not None
 
+    @staticmethod
+    async def get_source_and_chunk_counts(session: AsyncSession) -> tuple[int, int]:
+        count_sources = await Repository.count_sources(session)
+        count_chunks = await Repository.count_chunks(session)
+        return count_sources, count_chunks
+
+    @staticmethod
+    async def count_chunks(session: AsyncSession) -> int:
+        result = await session.execute(select(func.count(ChunkRow.id)))
+        # if above doesn't work properly
+        # result = await session.execute(select(func.count().select_from(ChunkRow)))
+        return result.scalar_one()
+
+    @staticmethod
+    async def count_sources(session: AsyncSession) -> int:
+        result = await session.execute(select(func.count(SourceRow.id)))
+        return result.scalar_one()
+
     @staticmethod
     async def get_or_create_source(
         session: AsyncSession, *, name: str, url: str, source_type: str