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Quickstart

Build your first agent in 10 minutes. This walkthrough installs the SDK, sets up a provider key, and runs a tiny agent locally.

Step 1: Install the SDK

Section titled “Step 1: Install the SDK”
Terminal window
npm install @dreadnode/agents @ai-sdk/anthropic

Step 2: Set a provider API key

Section titled “Step 2: Set a provider API key”

Start the CLI and store a provider key (for example, Anthropic):

Terminal window
dreadnode
Terminal window
/keys set anthropic sk-ant-...

Step 3: Create your first agent

Section titled “Step 3: Create your first agent”

Create a file called quickstart.ts:

import { anthropic } from '@ai-sdk/anthropic';
import { createAgent, createGenerator } from '@dreadnode/agents';


const generator = createGenerator(anthropic('claude-sonnet-4-20250514'));


const agent = createAgent({
  name: 'quickstart-agent',
  generator,
  systemPrompt: 'You are a helpful assistant.',
});


async function main(): Promise<void> {
  const result = await agent.run({
    input: 'Say hello and summarize what Dreadnode does in one sentence.',
  });


  const lastMessage = result.trajectory.lastMessage;
  if (lastMessage) {
    console.log(lastMessage.text);
  }
}


main().catch((error) => {
  console.error(error);
  process.exit(1);
});

Step 4: Run it

Section titled “Step 4: Run it”
Terminal window
npx tsx quickstart.ts

Step 5: View the output

Section titled “Step 5: View the output”

You should see a short response printed to the terminal.

What’s next

Section titled “What’s next”
  • Explore the CLI reference: /cli
  • Dive into the SDK reference: /sdk
  • Learn core concepts: /concepts