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Installation

Quick Install​

npm install -g ralph-starter

Or use directly with npx:

npx ralph-starter

Requirements​

  • Node.js 18+ - Required for running ralph-starter
  • Coding Agent - At least one of the supported agents (see setup below)
  • Git - For version control features (--commit, --push, --pr)
  • GitHub CLI - For PR creation and GitHub source integration

Setting Up a Coding Agent​

ralph-starter works with several AI coding agents. You need at least one installed:

The official Anthropic CLI for Claude.

# Install via npm
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

# Authenticate
claude login

Claude Code offers the best integration with ralph-starter's autonomous loops.

Cursor​

AI-powered code editor with built-in agent capabilities.

  1. Download from cursor.sh
  2. Install and open Cursor
  3. Sign in with your account
  4. Enable the Cursor CLI: Cursor → Install 'cursor' command

Codex (OpenAI)​

OpenAI's coding assistant.

# Install the OpenAI CLI
npm install -g openai

OpenCode​

Open-source alternative with multiple model support.

# Install
npm install -g opencode-ai

# Configure
opencode setup

Verify Installation​

ralph-starter --version

LLM Provider Configuration​

ralph-starter uses an LLM for the interactive wizard and spec refinement. Configure your preferred provider:

ralph-starter config set providers.anthropic.apiKey sk-ant-xxxx
ralph-starter config set llm.provider anthropic

OpenAI​

ralph-starter config set providers.openai.apiKey sk-xxxx
ralph-starter config set llm.provider openai

OpenRouter​

ralph-starter config set providers.openrouter.apiKey sk-or-xxxx
ralph-starter config set llm.provider openrouter

Without an API key configured, ralph-starter falls back to using your installed coding agent for LLM tasks.

Post-Install Setup​

After installing, run the interactive setup wizard to configure your environment:

ralph-starter setup

This guides you through:

  • Selecting your preferred coding agent
  • Configuring LLM API keys
  • Setting up integration sources (GitHub, Linear, etc.)
  • Choosing default workflow presets

Verify Your Setup​

Check that everything is configured correctly:

ralph-starter check

This validates your configuration, tests LLM connectivity, and verifies agent availability.

Next Steps​

After installation:

  1. Run ralph-starter setup to configure your environment
  2. Run ralph-starter to launch the interactive wizard
  3. Or run ralph-starter ideas if you need help brainstorming
  4. Check out the Interactive Wizard guide