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Prerequisites

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1. Create a project

npm i -g @action-llama/action-llama@latest

al new my-agents

cd my-agents
The wizard prompts for your LLM API key (Anthropic recommended) and basic configuration. This creates:
  • config.toml: project-level settings
  • .env.toml: local environment binding (gitignored)
  • package.json: with @action-llama/action-llama as a dependency
  • CLAUDE.md: a symlink to an AGENTS.md file in the npm package that has everything your agent needs to know
  • .mcp.json: MCP server config so Claude Code can interact with your agents

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2. Create an agent

Add a “dev” agent that will implement Github issues when they are tagged with “ready-for-dev”: 
npx al add Action-Llama/agents -a dev
You’ll need to configure the credentials and webhooks since this is the first time you’ve run it. You’ll also want to configure the params to match your Github org. You’ll now see: 
agents/dev/
  SKILL.md             # Portable metadata + instructions
  config.toml          # Runtime config (credentials, models, schedule, etc.)
You can also use your agent, such as Claude Code, to create new agents! The CLAUDE.md in the project root has everything it needs to know.

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3. Run

npx al start
If any credentials are missing, you’ll be prompted for them. The scheduler starts, discovers your agents, and begins running them on their configured schedules. The terminal shows a live TUI with agent status, or use -w to enable the web dashboard: 
npx al start -w

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What just happened?

  1. The scheduler scanned for directories with SKILL.md and found your agent
  2. It built a Docker image with your agent’s tools
  3. On the first cron tick, it launched a container, loaded credentials, and started an LLM session
  4. The LLM received your SKILL.md instructions and ran autonomously
  5. When it finished, the container was removed and logs were saved

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Key files

FilePurpose
config.tomlProject settings: named models, Docker limits, webhook sources
agents/<name>/SKILL.mdPortable metadata + agent instructions
agents/<name>/config.tomlAgent runtime config: credentials, models, schedule, webhooks, params

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Manual test run

Run a single agent once without starting the scheduler: 
npx al run dev

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What’s next