Get Started with Bolt in Under a Minute

Install Bolt, open your project, connect a provider, and run your first AI prompt — all in under 60 seconds with this step-by-step guide.

This guide walks you through installing Bolt, launching it in a project, connecting an AI provider, and running your first prompt. The whole flow takes under a minute.

1. Install Bolt

   The quickest path is the official install script, which works on macOS and Linux:

   curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bolt-builder/bolt-cli/dev/install | bash
   

   Prefer a package manager? Install globally with npm, bun, pnpm, or yarn:

   npm i -g @bolt-builder/bolt-cli
   

   For the desktop app on macOS (no Gatekeeper detour):

   curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bolt-builder/bolt-cli/dev/install-desktop | bash
   

   See the Installation guide for all methods, including Homebrew, Chocolatey, Scoop, and Windows-specific notes.

2. Open your project

   Navigate to any project directory and launch the interactive TUI:

   cd my-project
   bolt
   

   Bolt picks up your project context automatically — reading your file tree, understanding the stack, and making it available to every agent from the moment you open it.

3. Configure an AI provider

   On first launch, Bolt will prompt you to configure a provider if none is set. You can also run this at any time:

   bolt providers
   

   This opens the provider management flow where you can add API keys for OpenAI, Anthropic, and other supported LLM providers. Configuration is saved to .bolt/bolt.jsonc in your project root.

   {
     "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
     "provider": {
       // Provider config goes here
     }
   }
   
4. Type a prompt and explore agents

   Once inside the TUI, type your prompt and press Enter. Use Tab to switch between Bolt’s ten built-in agents at any time — the current agent is shown in the status bar.

   You can also run prompts directly from the command line without opening the TUI:

   # Non-interactive prompt using the default agent
   bolt run "explain this codebase"
   
   # Use a specific agent
   bolt run --agent ask "what does this project do?"
   
   # Attach the TUI to a running server (local or remote)
   bolt attach <url>
   

Built-in agents

Switch agents with Tab in the TUI, or pass --agent <name> to bolt run. Each agent has a defined access level to match its purpose.

Agent	Access	Description
code	Full	Default: reads, writes, and runs code
plan	Read	Explores the codebase and produces a plan without changing files
ask	Read	Questions and research — no file edits
code-review	Read	Reviews changes for correctness, style, and security
debug	Full	Debugs failing tests, crashes, and logic errors
refactor	Full	Safe refactoring with test verification at each step
docs	Edit	Writes and updates documentation and comments
security	Read	Security audit: vulnerabilities, secrets, patterns
migrate	Full	Framework upgrades and dependency migrations
perf	Full	Performance analysis and optimization

There are also two built-in subagents for delegation: @general for complex multi-step tasks and @explore for fast read-only codebase research. You can define your own agents as Markdown files or generate one with bolt agent create.

Common commands to try next

# Review staged changes with a pass/fail exit code
bolt review --staged

# Generate a commit message for staged changes
bolt commit

# List and manage sessions
bolt session list

# View token usage and cost statistics
bolt stats

# Query the local session database
bolt db

Pass --mini to bolt or bolt attach for a compact UI that takes up less terminal space — great for smaller windows or split-pane layouts.

bolt --mini
bolt attach --mini <url>

bolt run accepts --auto, --yolo, and --dangerously-skip-permissions flags that auto-approve all permission prompts without asking. Use these only in trusted environments — they allow the agent to read, write, and execute without confirmation.

bolt run --auto "refactor this module"
bolt run --yolo "refactor this module"
bolt run --dangerously-skip-permissions "refactor this module"

Bolt supports shell completions for bash, zsh, fish, and other shells. Generate and install completions with:

bolt completion

Follow the printed instructions to source the completion script in your shell config.