01 5 min

Getting Started

One command. That's all you need to remember.

The entire getting started process is one command:

npx xswarm

Run this in any project folder. xSwarm handles everything else.

What Happens When You Run It

The CLI is designed to guide you through everything automatically. Here's what it does:

  1. Checks requirements — Verifies Node.js 20+, Claude Code, and other dependencies
  2. Handles authentication — Opens GitHub OAuth if you're not logged in (or signs you up)
  3. Adds your project — Detects the current folder and registers it with xSwarm
  4. Starts working — Your AI team is ready to accept tasks
xSwarm CLI initialization
The CLI handles auth, project setup, and worker startup automatically

Project Onboarding

When xSwarm encounters a new project, it asks a few questions to understand how you want to work:

🔑
API Key

Your Anthropic or OpenAI key for AI planning sessions (BYOK — Bring Your Own Key)

📁
Project ownership

Is this your repo, or are you contributing to someone else's?

📝
File permissions

Can xSwarm add documentation, tests, and config files to the repo?

🚀
Delivery method

How should code be delivered? Pull requests, direct merges, or staging branches?

Contributing to others' repos? xSwarm keeps its BDD/TDD framework files local and only creates pull requests — nothing gets added to the repo without your explicit approval.

That's It. Really.

After the initial setup, you'll never need to remember anything else. Just run npx xswarm in any project folder:

  • New project? It gets added automatically
  • Already registered? Worker starts immediately
  • Multiple projects? Run it in each folder

The goal is simple: everyone can remember how to use xSwarm after hearing it once.

Prerequisites

The CLI will check these for you, but here's what you need:

  • A GitHub account
  • Node.js 20+ installed
  • Claude Code set up on your machine
  • An Anthropic or OpenAI API key (for planning sessions)

Optional: The Dashboard

While npx xswarm is all you need, there's also a web dashboard at xswarm.ai where you can:

  • View all your projects and their status
  • Monitor running tasks in real-time
  • Manage workers across machines
  • Review task history and outputs

But remember — you never need to visit the website. The CLI does everything.

What's Next?

Honestly? Nothing. You're ready. But if you want to explore more: