Kurtel CLI

Launch self-improving coding agents in the cloud — with a persistent memory of your codebase.

kurtel gives your coding agents two things they normally lack: a place to run asynchronously (isolated cloud sandboxes) and a memory — a local, deterministic map of your codebase plus the conventions your team has learned from its merged PRs. Relevant context is injected into Claude Code exactly when a task needs it.

• Codebase memory — routes, import graph, call graph, and blast-radius analysis, extracted locally. Zero tokens, deterministic, works offline.
• Cross-lingual — prompt in any language; aligned word-vectors resolve it to the right code even when the words don't match the identifiers.
• Darwinian patterns — team conventions learned from merged PRs, each with a fitness score that rises or falls over time (cloud feature).
• Cloud runs — fan out agents across repos in isolated sandboxes (cloud feature).

Install

npm install -g @kurtel/cli

Requires Node ≥ 18.

Quick start

# 1. Wire Kurtel into Claude Code (slash commands + hooks). No account needed.
kurtel install claude-code

# 2. Index this repo — builds the local codebase memory.
kurtel onboard

# 3. Open Claude Code and work as usual.
#    Relevant context is now injected automatically on every prompt.

No account is required for the local codebase memory. Sign in only to unlock shared darwinian patterns, the web dashboard, and cloud runs:

kurtel login

Claude Code integration

kurtel install claude-code writes slash commands to .claude/commands/kurtel/ and wires hooks into .claude/settings.json. Every CLI command is also available as a /kurtel:* slash command.

Slash commands

Type /kurtel: in Claude Code to see them all.

| Slash command | Does | |---|---| | /kurtel:onboard | Index the codebase and activate memory (architecture snapshot) | | /kurtel:status | Memory status for this repo (index freshness, patterns, sync) | | /kurtel:memory <on\|off\|sync\|patterns\|vectors> | Toggle or inspect memory | | /kurtel:impact <file\|fn> | Blast radius of a change (who breaks if I touch X) | | /kurtel:run <task> | Launch a cloud agent on a task | | /kurtel:runs | List your recent cloud runs | | /kurtel:agents | List active cloud agents | | /kurtel:logs <id> | Stream a run's logs | | /kurtel:run-status <id> | Show a specific run's status | | /kurtel:stop <id> | Stop an agent and tear down its sandbox | | /kurtel:whoami | Show the signed-in account | | /kurtel:login | Sign in to Kurtel | | /kurtel:logout | Sign out | | /kurtel:config | View or change local configuration | | /kurtel:init | Initialize Kurtel in the current project | | /kurtel:doctor | Check your environment |

Hooks (automatic)

These run on their own — you never type them:

| Event | What Kurtel does | |---|---| | SessionStart | Background sync (patterns) + a one-line memory status | | UserPromptSubmit | Injects the capsule — relevant routes, conventions, and zones for this task | | PostToolUse (Edit/Write) | Flags duplicate routes, injects zone context, shows blast radius | | SessionEnd | Flushes usage telemetry in the background |

Remove everything cleanly with kurtel uninstall claude-code.

Command reference

Memory (local — no account)

kurtel onboard [--local] [--json]      # index the repo; --local skips cloud upload
kurtel memory status                   # memory state for this repo
kurtel memory on | off                 # enable / disable injection for this repo
kurtel memory sync                     # pull patterns + flush telemetry
kurtel memory patterns                 # list learned team patterns
kurtel memory vectors status           # cross-lingual table status
kurtel memory vectors import <file>    # build the aligned word-vector table from a .vec
kurtel impact <file | file::fn | fn>   # reverse imports + call graph (blast radius)

Cloud runs (account required)

kurtel run "<task>" [--repo <r>] [--branch <b>] [--engine <e>] [--model <m>]
kurtel runs                            # list recent runs
kurtel agents | ps                     # list active agents
kurtel logs <id> [--follow]            # stream a run's logs
kurtel status <id>                     # a run's status
kurtel stop <id>                       # stop an agent & tear down its sandbox

Account & project

kurtel login | logout | whoami
kurtel config [list | get | set] [key] [value]
kurtel init                            # write project-level .kurtel/config.json
kurtel doctor                          # check your environment
kurtel install   claude-code           # wire slash commands + hooks
kurtel uninstall claude-code           # remove them
kurtel -v | --version
kurtel -h | --help

Run kurtel with no arguments for the interactive session.

How the memory works

• kurtel onboard walks the repo with tree-sitter (TS/JS, Python, Java, Go, Rust, C#), extracting modules, exports, an import graph, a symbol-level call graph, an inventory of HTTP routes, and the high-coupling "god nodes". The digest is written to .kurtel/index.json and a readable audit to .kurtel/REPORT.md. It's fully deterministic — same commit, same index.
• On every prompt, the capsule resolves the intent to the right zones of the graph and injects a compact, budgeted block (~400 tokens) — only when relevant. Silence is the default.
• Cross-lingual resolution uses an aligned French/English word-vector table bundled with the package, so a prompt like "ajoute un moyen d'encaisser les clients" finds billing/charge.ts even though no words match.
• Darwinian patterns are pulled from the Kurtel cloud (when signed in) and injected the same way — conventions your team confirmed or contradicted through its PRs.

Privacy

The codebase memory is local and deterministic. When you are not signed in, no data leaves your machine — the background sync simply no-ops. Your source never leaves the sandbox during a cloud run.

File locations

<repo>/.kurtel/index.json        # codebase index (deterministic, shareable)
<repo>/.kurtel/REPORT.md         # architecture audit
~/.kurtel/config.json            # CLI config + session token
~/.kurtel/cache/<repo>/          # patterns, telemetry, module vectors (per repo)
~/.kurtel/vectors/               # user-imported word-vector table (optional override)

Development

npm run dev      # run from source with tsx (no build step)
npm run build    # compile TypeScript to dist/
npm start        # run the compiled CLI

Built as an ESM TypeScript project targeting Node ≥ 18, with a single runtime dependency (commander). The terminal UI is hand-rolled with ANSI escapes and honors NO_COLOR.