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Quick Start Guide

Get up and running with Radium in minutes. This guide will walk you through creating your first agent and running your first orchestrated workflow.

Prerequisites​

  • Radium installed (Installation Guide)
  • At least one AI provider API key:
    • Google AI API key (for Gemini)
    • Anthropic API key (for Claude)
    • OpenAI API key (for GPT models)

Step 1: Set Up Your API Key​

# Set your API key (choose one)
export GOOGLE_AI_API_KEY="your-key-here"
# or
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-key-here"
# or
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-key-here"

Add this to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, etc.) to persist it.

Step 2: Initialize a Workspace​

# Navigate to your project directory
cd my-project

# Initialize Radium workspace
rad init

This creates a .radium/ directory with workspace configuration.

Step 3: Create Your First Agent​

Create a simple agent configuration:

# Create agent directory structure
mkdir -p agents/my-first-agent

# Create agent configuration
cat > agents/my-first-agent/agent.toml << 'EOF'
[agent]
id = "my-first-agent"
name = "My First Agent"
description = "A simple agent for getting started"
prompt_path = "prompts/my-first-agent.md"
engine = "gemini"
model = "gemini-2.0-flash-exp"
EOF

# Create a simple prompt
mkdir -p prompts
cat > prompts/my-first-agent.md << 'EOF'
# My First Agent

You are a helpful coding assistant. Help users write, debug, and understand code.

## Instructions
- Provide clear, concise explanations
- Write well-documented code
- Suggest best practices
EOF

Step 4: Test Your Agent​

# List your agents
rad agents list

# Run a simple command
rad step my-first-agent "Write a hello world function in Python"

Step 5: Use Orchestration (TUI)​

For a more interactive experience, use the TUI with orchestration:

# Start the TUI
rad tui

# In the TUI, just type naturally:
# "I need help writing a REST API endpoint"

The orchestrator will automatically:

  • Analyze your request
  • Select the appropriate agent
  • Execute the task
  • Return results

Step 6: Create a Plan​

Generate a structured plan from a natural language specification:

# Create a simple spec file
cat > my-feature.md << 'EOF'
# Build a REST API

Create a REST API with:
- User authentication
- CRUD operations for todos
- JSON responses
EOF

# Generate a plan
rad plan my-feature.md

# Execute the plan
rad craft REQ-001

Next Steps​

Common First Tasks​

Create a Code Review Agent​

rad agents create code-reviewer "Code Reviewer" \
  --prompt "You are a senior code reviewer. Review code for bugs, security issues, and best practices."

Set Up Orchestration​

Orchestration is enabled by default in TUI. Configure it:

# View orchestration config
cat ~/.radium/orchestration.toml

# Or use TUI commands:
# /orchestrator - Show status
# /orchestrator switch gemini - Change provider

Create an Extension​

Package your agent as an extension:

rad extension create my-extension \
  --author "Your Name" \
  --description "My custom extension"

Troubleshooting​

Agent Not Found​

# Verify agent is discovered
rad agents list

# Check agent configuration
rad agents info my-first-agent

# Validate configuration
rad agents validate

API Key Issues​

# Check authentication status
rad auth status

# Test with a specific provider
rad engines health gemini

TUI Not Starting​

# Check if server is running
rad status

# Start server manually if needed
rad server start

Learn More​

Ready for more? Check out the User Guide to explore advanced features like the persona system, vibe check, and learning system.