---
title: The Chronicle Console template
description: The shortest path to a running Chronicle application — a console app that appends an event and observes it through a projection and a reactor.
---


The `cratis-chronicle-console` template is the smallest complete Chronicle application: a console project that connects to a running Chronicle, appends an event, and shows the event flowing through a projection and a reactor.

```bash
dotnet new cratis-chronicle-console -n MyConsole
```

These templates scaffold a Chronicle **client** — pass `--Database` (`MongoDB` by default, or `PostgreSQL`, `MsSql`, `SQLite`) to choose which database the Chronicle kernel in `docker-compose.yml` persists to.

## What you get

A single `Program.cs` with the whole story:

- A `ChronicleClient` connected to the local development kernel (`chronicle://localhost:35000`, development credentials).
- A `[EventType]` record — the fact your application produces.
- A model-bound `[FromEvent]` projection — a read model kept in sync by Chronicle.
- An `IReactor` — a callback that fires the moment the event is observed.

Start the infrastructure, run the app, and watch the reactor print:

```bash
docker-compose up -d
dotnet run
```

## What it is for

This template is the fastest way to check that your machine, your container, and your client packages agree — and the cleanest place to experiment with events, projections, and reactors without an HTTP layer in the way. When you are ready for commands, queries, and a frontend, move to the [Cratis Web Application](/templates/cratis-web/) template.

## AI assistance

The scaffolded project includes a `.cratis/ai.json` with the Cratis AI profiles, languages, and coding agent harnesses for this template — the Chronicle-on-.NET selection. Make sure the [Cratis CLI](/cli/) is installed, then run:

```bash
cratis ai update
```

That installs the AI rules, skills, and harness integration for the coding agents you selected — `AGENTS.md` instructions plus `.claude/`, `.cursor/`, `.github/`, `.opencode/`, and `.pi/` integration — and records what it installed in `.cratis/ai.manifest.json`. `dotnet new` prints this reminder after scaffolding, and re-running the command only refreshes Cratis-managed files, never yours. See the [CLI AI documentation](/cli/ai/) for the full command reference.