---
title: Start using AI with Cratis
description: Set up the Cratis CLI and agent-facing operating tools today, understand the coding-skills release status, and choose the right next step for your team.
---

import { Steps, Aside, CardGrid } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';
import SimpleCard from '@components/SimpleCard.astro';

A general coding assistant can read C#, but it does not automatically understand
Cratis commands, facts, event sources, projections, or vertical slices. Cratis
closes that gap in two places: it gives the assistant documented operating tools
today, and it is preparing portable coding skills for supported agent ecosystems.

<Aside type="caution" title="Coding-skills distribution is still a preview">
The public [`Cratis/AI.Distribution`](https://github.com/Cratis/AI.Distribution)
repository currently contains **fixture-only generated bytes**. It is not a
supported installation or release target. Do not install its `main` branch into
a project. This page separates what you can use now from what is still gated.
</Aside>

## Set up the operating tools

<Steps>

1. **Install the Cratis CLI**

   Follow the [CLI getting-started guide](/cli/getting-started/) for your
   platform, then open a terminal in your Cratis project.

2. **Generate the agent-facing CLI context**

   ```bash
   cratis init
   ```

   The command writes the CLI context and supported host instructions for the
   project. Your assistant can now discover documented Chronicle inspection and
   diagnosis commands instead of inventing shell syntax.

3. **Refresh after a CLI upgrade**

   ```bash
   cratis init --refresh
   ```

   Refreshing keeps the assistant's command catalog aligned with the CLI version
   you actually run.

4. **Connect Chronicle MCP when your host supports MCP**

   Use the [Chronicle MCP setup guide](/chronicle-mcp/) to connect an approved
   host to a running Chronicle store. Review every requested capability before
   enabling mutating operational tools.

</Steps>

You now have the operating side of Cratis AI: the assistant can use documented
CLI or MCP surfaces to inspect Chronicle with the same vocabulary you use in the
application.

## Use coding skills in a Cratis-owned repository

Cratis maintainers can use the repository-local AI setup already present in
Cratis repositories. Start your agent from the repository root so it reads
`AGENTS.md` and the repository's current host adapter. Ask for the outcome in
plain language—for example, "add a projection," "model this workflow," or
"review these changes"—and let the matching skill apply the repository profile
and quality gates.

See [Using AI as a Cratis maintainer](/ai/cratis-maintainers/) for the complete
workflow and the rules for project context, verification, and shipping.

## Set up coding skills in your own repository

Portable public skills are not released yet. Cratis is validating one canonical
skill tree across Agent Skills, Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Kiro,
Junie, Gemini CLI, Pi, and npm packaging before opening installation.

Until an immutable release is published:

- do not copy `.ai`, `.claude`, `.github`, or skill folders from another
  repository;
- do not install the fixture-only distribution repository;
- keep your project-specific facts in your repository rather than in shared
  skills;
- use `cratis init` and Chronicle MCP for the currently documented operating
  workflow.

The [ecosystem support matrix](/ai/ecosystems/) shows the generated format and
current verification level for every host. The [trust and distribution model](/ai/trust-and-distribution/)
explains why Cratis uses versioned generated artifacts instead of copying one
repository into another.

## Choose your next step

<CardGrid>
  <SimpleCard title="Cratis maintainers" icon="seti:folder" link="/ai/cratis-maintainers/">
    Work effectively with the repository-local rules and skills already used by the Cratis team.
  </SimpleCard>
  <SimpleCard title="Agent ecosystems" icon="puzzle" link="/ai/ecosystems/">
    See Claude, Codex, Copilot, Cursor, Kiro, Junie, Gemini, Pi, and npm status in one place.
  </SimpleCard>
  <SimpleCard title="Trust and distribution" icon="approve-check" link="/ai/trust-and-distribution/">
    Understand generated packages, approvals, canaries, rollback, and why propagation stays frozen.
  </SimpleCard>
</CardGrid>