Getting started • Katalyst Documentation

Primary onboarding path#
The simplest way to install Katalyst is to delegate setup to your agent. Copy this into your agent chat:
You are setting up Katalyst for this workspace.

1. Install the latest Katalyst CLI from the release binary:
   curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/abegong/katalyst/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

2. Verify the CLI works:
   katalyst --version

3. Download the Katalyst agent skills:
   katalyst skills install

4. Tell me where the `.skill` files were written and what I need to do, if
   anything, to activate them in this client.
This is the intended onboarding path. The agent installs the CLI from a prebuilt release binary, downloads the current skill bundles, and reports any client-specific activation step. Manual installs are fallback paths.

Install#

The agent-delegated flow above is the recommended way to get started. If you only want the CLI, install the latest release binary:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/abegong/katalyst/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

Or install with Go (1.25+) if you already have a Go toolchain:

go install github.com/abegong/katalyst@latest

Need another install path (archives or source build)? See Installation reference.

Create an empty project#

mkdir my-notes && cd my-notes
katalyst init
katalyst check

katalyst init prepares the current directory as a katalyst project:

.katalyst/config.yaml, commented project settings
.katalyst/schemas/, one schema per file (empty to start)
.katalyst/storage/local.yaml, the default storage instance (the local filesystem), where you declare collections

It writes no example content. Add a schema under .katalyst/schemas/ and declare a collection inside .katalyst/storage/local.yaml, then run katalyst check.