Docs/Quick start

Quick start

From brew install to your first running agent on a real Git working tree, in a few minutes.


This walks from a clean macOS or systemd Linux machine to a running agent conversation with access to your gateway.

1 · Install and set up the daemon

# Linux (after installing cosign)
curl -fsSL https://github.com/dbpprt/dieter/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh
dieter setup

# Apple Silicon macOS
brew install dbpprt/tap/dieter
dieter setup

# On either host, register a project explicitly after setup
dieter project open ~/Development/orbit

dieter setup opens the gateway’s GitHub authorization page. It never registers the current Git working tree or any other project; dieter project open PATH does that explicitly. On macOS setup guides Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions and starts Homebrew. On Linux it installs a systemd user service and runs as a headless host without those permission steps. It never stores a GitHub token on the daemon host.

2 · Install the app and sign in

brew install --cask dbpprt/tap/dieter-app
open -a Dieter

Sign in to the same gateway origin. Dieter builds one project directory from every enrolled daemon, and orbit appears tagged with its hostname.

3 · Open a project and create a card

Open orbit. The active connection moves to the daemon that owns it. Create a card on the board: each card is exactly one durable conversation in the real working tree.

Comments never wake the agent
Human chat messages resume the same harness session and drive a turn. Comments are notes for you and your team; they never wake the agent or count as approval.

4 · Drive it from the CLI, too

Everything the app does is available from the dieter CLI, which is ideal for scripting or for agents operating Dieter. Prefer bounded context:

dieter card context <exact-card-id>
dieter card comment <exact-card-id> --message "Meaningful progress."
dieter card move <exact-card-id> --lane review

Many commands accept --format jsonl or --format id for machine use.

5 · Keep an eye on things

dieter daemon status
dieter daemon logs --follow

Managed logs are bounded and stored under $DIETER_HOME/logs (default ~/.dieter/logs).

Next steps