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assist

Getting started

Install

Section titled “Install”

assist is published to npm. Install it globally, then sync its commands and settings into your coding harness:

Terminal window
npm install -g @staff0rd/assist
assist sync

The CLI is available as assist, and also as the shorter aliases ast and a.

assist sync installs every assist Claude command as ~/.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md, so it takes precedence over a project skill of the same name, and copies assist’s settings.json into ~/.claude. When the Codex or pi CLIs are installed it also installs the commands and permission hooks for them. Inside Claude Code, /sync does the same thing.

Sync asks before overwriting an existing settings.json. Pass --yes to skip the prompt once, or make it permanent with:

Terminal window
assist config set sync.autoConfirm true

Set up the database

Section titled “Set up the database”

assist keeps your backlog, usage and per-repo settings in a Postgres database, and won’t start without one. Any Postgres works: one running locally or in Docker, or a managed one such as Supabase or Neon. Set its connection string, then create the tables:

Terminal window
assist config set database.url postgresql://user:password@host:5432/database
assist db migrate

The ASSIST_DATABASE_URL environment variable works too, and takes precedence. Point every machine you use at the same database and they share one backlog.

Open the dashboard

Section titled “Open the dashboard”

From a terminal in one of your repos, run:

Terminal window
assist

This starts the assist dashboard on port 3100 and opens it in your browser. The dashboard is where you start coding agents, watch them work and answer them. Add --no-open to start it without opening a browser.

Start your first session

Section titled “Start your first session”

Press + in the toolbar (or ⌘CtrlN) to open the new-session dialog.

  1. Choose prompt.
  2. Pick the repo the agent should work in.
  3. Type what you want done and press Enter.
The new-session dialog in prompt mode with a prompt typed inThe new-session dialog in prompt mode with a prompt typed in
The new-session dialog in prompt mode with a prompt typed in

The other modes start assist commands rather than a plain prompt: draft turns your description into a backlog item and bug files a bug report. See Creating sessions, and why assist keeps its own backlog rather than using Jira or GitHub issues.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”