AgentKit CLI

AgentKit CLI bootstraps AI-agent-ready repositories.

It installs reusable agent instructions, workflow guides, quality checklists, design system rules, planning templates, and tool adapters for developers using Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, and similar coding agents.

AgentKit is not an AI agent. It is a small scaffolding tool for making repositories easier and safer to work on with AI-assisted development.

Usage

Install templates into the current directory:

npx thomas-agentkit init

If the package is installed in a project, use the local agentkit binary:

npm install -D thomas-agentkit
npx agentkit init

By default, init opens a short interactive setup flow in terminals. It asks where to install files, what project type or preset to use, which AI tools you use, which template set to install, how to handle existing files, and whether to personalize repository-level placeholders such as project name, description, issue tracker, docs paths, stack summary, and project commands.

Install into another directory:

npx thomas-agentkit init ./my-project

Accept defaults without prompts:

npx thomas-agentkit init --yes

--yes installs the standard template set, keeps templates generic, and leaves placeholders for later editing.

Preview changes without writing files:

npx thomas-agentkit init --yes --dry-run

Overwrite existing files:

npx thomas-agentkit init --force

Update AgentKit-managed template sections:

npx thomas-agentkit update

Preview updates without writing files:

npx thomas-agentkit update --dry-run

Explicitly request the interactive flow:

npx thomas-agentkit init --interactive

Install stack-specific agent guidance:

npx thomas-agentkit init --preset next

Standardize install defaults with agentkit.config.json:

{
  "preset": "next",
  "templateSet": "standard",
  "designSystem": "linear",
  "aiTools": ["codex", "cursor", "claude"],
  "personalization": {
    "projectName": "Acme CRM",
    "projectDescription": "a customer operations dashboard",
    "issueTracker": "Linear",
    "designSystemPath": "docs/design-system.md",
    "briefsPath": "docs/briefs",
    "testCommand": "pnpm test",
    "lintCommand": "pnpm lint",
    "buildCommand": "pnpm build",
    "stackSummary": "Next.js, TypeScript, PostgreSQL"
  }
}

AgentKit reads agentkit.config.json from the target directory first. When installing into another target that does not have a config file, it falls back to the current working directory. Config values are defaults: explicit CLI flags override them.

Create a config file from resolved install choices:

npx thomas-agentkit init --write-config

--write-config writes agentkit.config.json in the target directory. Existing config files are skipped by default; use --force to overwrite one intentionally.

Config values are validated when loaded. Unknown config keys, invalid preset/template/design-system names, invalid AI tool names, and non-string personalization values exit with an error.

List bundled templates:

npx thomas-agentkit --list

List available presets:

npx thomas-agentkit --list-presets

List bundled design systems (source variants for DESIGN-SYSTEM.md):

npx thomas-agentkit --list-design-systems

Installed Files

AgentKit can copy these bundled files into the target project:

• AGENTS.md
• CHANGE-EXPLANATION.md
• CLAUDE.md
• CODE-QUALITY.md
• DESIGN-SYSTEM.md
• IMPLEMENTATION-BRIEF-TEMPLATE.md
• PRD-TEMPLATE.md
• SECURITY-CHECKLIST.md
• TESTING.md
• WORKFLOWS.md
• .cursor/rules/agentkit.md
• .github/copilot-instructions.md
• .github/pull_request_template.md

When a preset is selected, AgentKit also installs STACK.md and adds a note in AGENTS.md telling agents to read it before changing stack-specific code.

Bundled design system guidance is stored under templates/design-systems/ in this repository (for example linear.md, apple.md). The CLI installs the chosen variant into DESIGN-SYSTEM.md in the target project; variant paths are not separate install targets.

Existing files are skipped by default so local edits are preserved. Use --force when you intentionally want to refresh files from the bundled package version.

New installs wrap generated template content in AgentKit managed block markers:

<!-- agentkit:start agents -->
Generated content
<!-- agentkit:end agents -->

agentkit update creates missing managed files. For existing files, it only replaces content inside matching managed blocks. User edits before or after those blocks are preserved. Existing legacy files without managed blocks are reported as unmanaged and left untouched. Files with malformed managed block markers are skipped.

Interactive personalization only applies during agentkit init when files are created or overwritten. It does not write a config file unless --write-config is passed, and agentkit update does not reapply personalized values.

agentkit.config.json can set preset, templateSet, designSystem, aiTools, and personalization defaults. templateSet may be minimal, standard, or full; designSystem selects which bundled design-system variant fills DESIGN-SYSTEM.md (linear or apple); aiTools may include codex, cursor, claude, and copilot. agentkit update uses config preset and designSystem and continues to update all managed bundled templates.

Template set mappings:

• minimal: AGENTS.md
• standard: AGENTS.md, CHANGE-EXPLANATION.md, CODE-QUALITY.md, DESIGN-SYSTEM.md, WORKFLOWS.md, .github/pull_request_template.md
• full: all bundled templates, including AI tool adapters and planning/testing/security guides

AI tool mappings:

• codex: AGENTS.md
• cursor: .cursor/rules/agentkit.md
• claude: CLAUDE.md
• copilot: .github/copilot-instructions.md

AI tool adapters are thin compatibility files that point back to AGENTS.md as the source of truth. They are installed when selected through AI tools or when using the full template set.

Presets

Presets add stack-specific guidance without scaffolding framework app files.

• next
• sveltekit
• express
• convex
• fullstack (Next.js + Convex)

CLI Reference

agentkit init [target] [--force] [--dry-run] [--interactive] [--yes] [--write-config] [--preset <name>] [--design-system <name>]
agentkit update [target] [--dry-run] [--preset <name>] [--design-system <name>]
agentkit --list
agentkit --list-presets
agentkit --list-design-systems
agentkit --help
agentkit --version

Options:

• --force: overwrite existing files
• --dry-run: print planned changes without writing files
• -i, --interactive: explicitly prompt for install options
• -y, --yes: accept defaults without prompts
• --write-config: write resolved install defaults to agentkit.config.json
• --preset <name>: install stack-specific guidance (next, sveltekit, express, convex, fullstack)
• --design-system <name>: design system variant for DESIGN-SYSTEM.md (linear, apple)
• --list: list bundled template files
• --list-presets: list available presets
• --list-design-systems: list available design systems
• -h, --help: show help
• -v, --version: show package version

For agentkit update, --preset <name> refreshes preset-specific managed content, including STACK.md. --design-system <name> refreshes the managed DESIGN-SYSTEM.md body from the matching bundled variant.

Local Development

npm install
npm run dev -- init ./tmp-demo --yes --dry-run
npm run build
npm test

The npm package is thomas-agentkit. The installed CLI command is agentkit, backed by the compiled TypeScript entrypoint at dist/cli.js.

Release

Before publishing a new package version:

1. Update the version in package.json intentionally.

2. Run the full test suite:

   npm test

3. Run the package build step:

   npm run prepack

4. Inspect the publish contents:

   npm pack --dry-run

5. Publish to npm:

   npm publish

Philosophy

AgentKit should stay:

• simple
• practical
• easy to inspect
• easy to modify
• safe by default
• useful immediately
• not overengineered