Install

bun install -g loki-mode          # recommended (npm, Homebrew, Docker below)

claude plugin marketplace add asklokesh/loki-mode
claude plugin install loki-mode@loki-mode

Use it

loki quickstart                   # guided first build: asks a few questions, quotes cost, builds

That is the whole happy path. It asks for a one-line idea, picks a template, shows the real cost and time estimate before spending anything, then builds. Press Enter through every step and you get a sample Todo app.

One command, no prompts (CI, scripts, containers, any shell without a terminal):

loki quickstart "a todo app with user accounts" --yes

Both halves are required with no terminal: an idea (or a path to a PRD file) and an explicit --yes. Given both, Loki picks the top-ranked template automatically, prints the same honest cost and time estimate, and starts the build without asking anything. Missing either half exits 2 with the needs-a-terminal message and writes nothing, so an ambient LOKI_AUTO_CONFIRM or a stray argument in CI can never start a paid build on its own. Existing files are never overwritten: if prd.md is present the PRD lands at prd-quickstart.md, then numbered suffixes as needed.

Choose an exact shipped starter when the top-ranked match is not the one you want:

loki quickstart --list-templates
loki quickstart --list-templates --json       # schema-v1 automation output
loki quickstart "an internal reporting workspace" --template dashboard --yes

Template discovery works without a terminal or provider and lists every shipped starter's stable name and purpose in catalog order. It returns before estimation, consent, PRD writes, or build execution. Positional input and execution/preview flags are intentionally incompatible; --json is the only optional modifier.

--template accepts an exact template name for idea inputs and works the same way with interactive use or --dry-run (including JSON preview). Unknown templates, duplicate flags, and combinations with a PRD path refuse before provider discovery, estimation, writes, or build execution.

Preview the same deterministic template choice and estimator-backed plan with zero writes or execution:

loki quickstart "a todo app with user accounts" --dry-run

Preview requires an idea or readable PRD path, works without a terminal or AI provider, and exits before creating a PRD or starting a build. --dry-run and --yes are mutually exclusive so execution intent is never ambiguous.

For scripts and local dashboards, add --json to receive one versioned JSON object instead of terminal text:

loki quickstart "a todo app with user accounts" --dry-run --json > preview.json
loki quickstart --verify-preview preview.json --json
loki quickstart --from-preview preview.json --yes

The object contains the input kind, deterministic selected template (or null for an existing PRD), the exact estimator response under plan, and a bounded continuation containing the exact idea/template or the PRD path and SHA-256. --verify-preview validates the same bounded duplicate-key-rejecting schema and requires either a currently shipped idea template or the unchanged digest-bound PRD, while emitting no idea or PRD path. It accepts a file or piped stdin and returns before provider discovery, estimation, writes, or build execution. --from-preview requires explicit argv --yes, rejects malformed, conflicting, symlinked, or changed inputs before provider and build boundaries, then uses the existing no-clobber quickstart path. The saved plan is evidence rather than execution authority: Loki recomputes and displays the current estimate before starting. --json requires --dry-run; invalid input or estimator failure writes no JSON, and preview still exits before provider discovery, file writes, or build execution.

Or go straight at it:

loki quick "build a landing page with a signup form"     # one-shot task
loki start prd.md                                        # build from a spec you wrote
loki modernize heal ./your-repo --assess                 # existing codebase, read-only

Loki needs a model to drive. An ANTHROPIC_API_KEY alone is enough (the Claude Agent SDK ships inside Loki); or point it at Claude Code, aider, cline, or an open model. Run loki doctor and it tells you exactly what is missing.

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-...
loki doctor                       # checks your setup, names any blocker

Try it first, without installing

npx loki-mode tour                # no install, no API key, no spend, no network

Prints a real Evidence Receipt from a past build, headline and all:

Headline: VERIFIED WITH GAPS

| Fact          | Value                                    |
| Files changed | 8                                        |
| Diff sha256   | c2be6fff3e774c387f276277b25fc424f07b667… |
| Tests         | verified (node-test)                     |
| Build         | not_run                                  |
| Security      | findings                                 |
| Cost          | $10.3218                                 |

"WITH GAPS" is the point. Build was not run, security has findings, and the receipt says so on its own front page. Recompute the diff hash yourself and check it matches -- you are not asked to trust the agent's self-report.

How it works: Drop a spec -- a PRD, GitHub issue, OpenAPI/JSON/YAML, or one-line brief. Loki Mode classifies complexity (run.sh:detect_complexity()), selects reviewers from a specialist pool (agents/types.json ships 41 role definitions; 10 are keyword-scored by the review selector at run.sh:FOCUS_KEYWORDS, alongside the mandatory reviewers, and the rest are role descriptions in references/agents.md that the orchestrator adopts per phase rather than separate processes), with parallel review (blind council) and optional worktree streams on Claude Code, sequential on other providers - and runs autonomous RARV cycles (Reason - Act - Reflect - Verify, see run.sh:run_autonomous()) with 8 quality gates (see skills/quality-gates.md). Code is not "done" until it passes automated verification. Output is a Git repo with source, tests, configs, and audit logs.