Configure your project

AGENTS.md

Put an AGENTS.md at the root of your project. Kiehl reads it at the start of every session, so it’s the place for standing instructions: how to build, code style, things to avoid. A CLAUDE.md is used if there is no AGENTS.md. A personal AGENTS.md in ~/.config/tui/ applies to every project.

AGENTS.md

verify: npm test && npm run lint

- Use pnpm, not npm.
- Never edit files under generated/.

The verify: line is the check kiehl runs after build, before review. Leave it out to use the test command kiehl detects, or write verify: none to skip it.

Config files

Settings live in JSON. Global settings go in ~/.config/tui/config.json. Per-project settings go in a tui.json (or tui.jsonc) in the project folder. Project settings override global ones.

For example, to make kiehl ask before running any shell command:

tui.json

{
  "permission": { "bash": "ask" }
}

Each rule is allow, ask or deny.

Environment variables

Variable	Purpose
KIEHL_API_KEY	API key. Skips interactive sign-in (CI, servers).
KIEHL_ROUTER_URL	Use a self-hosted router instead of https://kiehl.ai.
KIEHL_INSTALL_DIR	Where the installer puts the binary.
KIEHL_VERSION	Pin the installer to a version, for example 0.2.8.

Models

Kiehl offers one model, auto. The router picks the right model for each request, so there is no model list to manage.