Quick Start

This guide walks you through setting up ZeptoClaw and running your first agent interaction.

1. Run the setup wizard

ZeptoClaw includes an interactive onboarding command that configures your provider keys and workspace:

zeptoclaw onboard

This creates ~/.zeptoclaw/config.json with your settings.

2. Or configure manually

Create the config directory and add your API key:

mkdir -p ~/.zeptoclaw

# Set your provider key
export ZEPTOCLAW_PROVIDERS_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
# or
export ZEPTOCLAW_PROVIDERS_OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

3. Send your first message

zeptoclaw agent -m "Hello! What can you help me with?"

Add --stream for real-time token-by-token output:

zeptoclaw agent --stream -m "List the files in my current directory"

4. Use a template

ZeptoClaw includes 4 built-in agent templates with specialized system prompts:

# Research mode
zeptoclaw agent --template researcher -m "What are the latest Rust async patterns?"

# Code assistant
zeptoclaw agent --template coder -m "Write a function to parse CSV files"

# List available templates
zeptoclaw template list

5. Validate your configuration

Check that everything is wired correctly:

zeptoclaw config check

This validates your config file and reports any issues.

6. Run in gateway mode

To serve your agent on Telegram, Slack, Discord, or Webhook:

# Set your channel token
export ZEPTOCLAW_CHANNELS_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=123456:ABC...

# Start the gateway
zeptoclaw gateway

7. Process prompts in batch

For bulk processing, create a text file with one prompt per line:

echo "Summarize the Rust ownership model" > prompts.txt
echo "Explain async/await in 3 sentences" >> prompts.txt

zeptoclaw batch --input prompts.txt --format jsonl

What’s next?

• Learn about the agent loop to understand how messages are processed
• Browse available tools your agent can use
• Set up channels for Telegram, Slack, or Discord
• Explore plugins to extend your agent with custom tools