Archetypes Mechanics Prompt Assembly Showcase Ecosystem Pitfalls Setup
Setup guide · ~15 minutes per tool

Set up your AI coding CLI

Three tools, one workflow: a command in your terminal that turns your laptop into an AI pair-programmer. Pick the one you want to learn — Claude Code, Codex CLI, or Kimi CLI — and we'll get you from zero to your first prompt in 15 minutes. Mac + Windows, no prior coding experience needed.

What is this? Prerequisites Mac setup Windows setup First prompt Plugins Troubleshooting

What is a coding CLI?

A coding CLI is a command-line tool that runs an AI agent inside your terminal, in the folder of a project you're working on. Instead of copy-pasting code between a chat window and your editor, the agent reads your files, writes code, runs commands, and commits to git — all by you talking to it in plain English.

Think of it as: chat in a browser → good for questions. Coding CLI in a terminal → good for actually building software.

About Claude Code

Built by Anthropic, powered by the Claude model family (Sonnet & Opus). It is the most mature of the three: largest plugin ecosystem, deepest MCP (Model Context Protocol) integration, and the model is widely considered the strongest at long, multi-step coding work. Bills against your claude.ai Pro/Max subscription.

About Codex CLI

Built by OpenAI, powered by the GPT-5 / Codex model line. Tightly integrated with ChatGPT — sign in with your Plus / Pro / Business / Edu / Enterprise account and your existing plan covers usage; no separate API billing. Smaller plugin ecosystem than Claude Code, but ships with a clean TUI and a permissive sandbox model.

About Kimi CLI

Built by Moonshot AI (China), powered by Kimi K2 (and newer K2.5) models. Distinguishing trait: very long context windows and aggressive pricing. Authenticates via OAuth against the Kimi Code platform. Younger ecosystem than Claude or Codex, but quickly gaining traction with developers who want a strong open-weights-friendly alternative.

💡 Why the terminal?

Because a coding CLI can touch your actual files, run your tests, commit to git, and iterate. A browser chat can only show text. Terminal-based CLIs are the closest thing to working with a real junior developer who happens to be very fast.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have these. Most are one-time setup.

💻

A Mac or Windows laptop

Running macOS 12+ or Windows 10/11. Linux works too (not covered here).

🌐

Internet connection

For installing tools and talking to the model's servers.

🔐

A claude.ai account

Free tier works for the first few prompts. A Pro subscription ($20/mo) is recommended — it unlocks Claude Code access without needing a separate API key.

🔐

A ChatGPT account

Free tier works briefly. A Plus subscription ($20/mo) or higher is recommended — Codex CLI usage is included in your existing ChatGPT plan, so no separate OpenAI API key is required.

🔐

A Kimi (Moonshot) account

Sign in via OAuth at platform.moonshot.ai the first time you run the CLI. Pricing is usage-based and notably cheaper than US providers.

⌨️

Comfort pasting commands

You'll copy-paste ~5–8 commands into a terminal. That's it. No writing code required for setup.

🍎 macOS

Mac setup

5 steps, ~10 minutes. Copy-paste each command exactly.

5 steps, ~10 minutes. Copy-paste each command exactly.

4 steps, ~8 minutes. The install script handles Python and `uv` for you.

1

Open Terminal

Press Cmd + Space to open Spotlight, type Terminal, press Enter.

A black (or white) window with a blinking cursor appears. That's your terminal. You'll type / paste commands here.

2

Install Homebrew

Homebrew is a package manager — it installs command-line tools for you. It's the de-facto standard on Mac. Paste this into Terminal and press Enter:

Terminal — install Homebrew 
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

It will ask for your Mac password — type it (you won't see the letters, that's normal) and press Enter. Then it'll install for 5–10 minutes.

⚠ When it finishes

At the very end Homebrew prints 2–3 lines starting with ==> telling you to run some extra commands to "add Homebrew to your PATH". Copy those exact lines from YOUR terminal output and run them. They look something like:

(echo; echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"') >> ~/.zprofile
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

This is the #1 thing that trips up beginners — if you skip these lines, the brew command won't be found later.

3

Install Node.js

Claude Code runs on Node.js (a runtime for JavaScript). Install it via Homebrew:

Terminal — install Node 
brew install node

Takes 2–3 minutes. When done, verify it installed correctly:

node --version
# Expected output: v22.x.x (or newer)

npm --version
# Expected output: 10.x.x (or newer)

If you see version numbers (starting with v), you're good. If you see "command not found", go back to Step 2 and make sure you ran the eval lines.

4

Install Claude Code

Now the main event. npm (which comes with Node) installs Claude Code globally on your system:

Terminal — install Claude Code 
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Takes about 30 seconds. Verify:

claude --version
# Expected: 1.x.x (or newer)
5

First run + sign in

Make a folder for your first project, go into it, then run claude:

Terminal — first run 
mkdir ~/my-first-claude-project
cd ~/my-first-claude-project
claude

The first time you run claude, it opens your browser for sign-in. Click the link in the terminal output — it'll take you to claude.ai — sign in with your account, click "Authorize", then close the browser tab.

Back in terminal: you now see a cursor waiting for your first prompt. You're in. 🎉

✅ Mac setup complete

Skip ahead to Your first prompt.

1

Open Terminal

Press Cmd + Space to open Spotlight, type Terminal, press Enter.

2

Install Homebrew

Homebrew is the de-facto package manager on Mac. Paste this and press Enter:

Terminal — install Homebrew 
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

⚠ Run the post-install eval lines

When Homebrew finishes, it prints 2–3 lines starting with ==> telling you to add Homebrew to your PATH. Copy them from YOUR terminal and run them — typically:

(echo; echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"') >> ~/.zprofile
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"

Skip this and the brew command won't be found in the next steps.

3

Install Node.js (18+)

Codex CLI needs Node 18 or newer. Install via Homebrew:

brew install node

Verify:

node --version
# Expected: v18.x.x or newer (v22.x.x is current LTS)

npm --version
4

Install Codex CLI

Two paths — pick whichever you prefer:

Path A — via npm (works everywhere)

Terminal — install Codex via npm 
npm install -g @openai/codex

Path B — via Homebrew cask (Mac-only, no Node needed)

brew install --cask codex

Verify either way:

codex --version
5

First run + sign in with ChatGPT

Make a project folder and launch:

Terminal — first run 
mkdir ~/my-first-codex-project
cd ~/my-first-codex-project
codex

On first launch you'll see a sign-in prompt. Choose Sign in with ChatGPT — Codex opens your browser, you authenticate at chatgpt.com, click Authorize, and your Plus / Pro / Business / Edu / Enterprise plan covers Codex usage.

(You can also use an OpenAI API key if you prefer — pick that option instead and paste your key.)

Once signed in, you're at the Codex TUI prompt. 🎉

✅ Mac setup complete

Skip ahead to Your first prompt.

1

Open Terminal

Press Cmd + Space to open Spotlight, type Terminal, press Enter.

Kimi CLI is a Python tool, but you don't need to install Python yourself — the install script does it for you using uv.

2

Install Kimi CLI (one command)

Paste this into Terminal and press Enter — it installs uv, the right Python (3.13), and Kimi CLI in one go:

Terminal — install Kimi CLI 
curl -LsSf https://code.kimi.com/install.sh | bash

Takes 1–2 minutes. When done, close and reopen Terminal so the kimi command lands on your PATH, then verify:

kimi --version

💡 Already have uv?

If you already use the uv Python package manager, you can install Kimi CLI directly with: uv tool install kimi-cli. Upgrade later with uv tool upgrade kimi-cli --no-cache.

3

Create a project folder + launch Kimi

mkdir ~/my-first-kimi-project
cd ~/my-first-kimi-project
kimi

You'll land at the Kimi prompt. The next step authenticates it.

4

Sign in via /login

Inside Kimi, type the slash command and press Enter:

/login

Kimi will ask you to select a platform:

  • Kimi Code (recommended) — opens your browser for OAuth at platform.moonshot.ai. Click Authorize, come back to the terminal.
  • Other platforms — paste an API key manually if you have one.

After authorizing, Kimi reloads with your credentials saved. You're ready to prompt. 🎉

💡 Tip: run /init first

In a brand-new project folder, type /init as your first command. Kimi will scan the folder and write a project-aware system prompt, so subsequent requests are grounded in your actual code.

✅ Mac setup complete

Skip ahead to Your first prompt.

🪟 Windows 10/11

Windows setup

5 steps, ~10 minutes. Use PowerShell or Windows Terminal (not old cmd.exe).

5 steps, ~10 minutes. Use PowerShell or Windows Terminal (not old cmd.exe).

3 steps, ~6 minutes. Use PowerShell or Windows Terminal.

1

Install Windows Terminal (if you don't have it)

Windows Terminal is Microsoft's modern terminal app — way nicer than cmd.exe. On Windows 11 it's usually pre-installed. On Windows 10, install it from the Microsoft Store:

  1. Open Microsoft Store
  2. Search for Windows Terminal
  3. Click Install

Open it after install. You'll see a dark window with a PowerShell prompt (PS C:\Users\you>).

2

Install Node.js

Two easy paths — pick one:

Path A — Installer (simpler for first-timers)

  1. Go to nodejs.org
  2. Download the LTS version (big green button)
  3. Run the installer, click Next through all defaults
  4. Close and reopen Windows Terminal after install

Path B — Via winget (if you like the command line)

PowerShell 
winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS

Verify install in Windows Terminal:

node --version
# Expected: v22.x.x

npm --version
# Expected: 10.x.x

⚠ If commands aren't found

You probably didn't close + reopen Windows Terminal. The installer adds Node to your PATH but existing terminal windows don't pick it up automatically. Close, reopen, try again.

3

Install Claude Code

In Windows Terminal:

PowerShell 
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Takes about 30 seconds. Verify:

claude --version
# Expected: 1.x.x
4

Create a project folder

In Windows Terminal, create a folder anywhere you like and navigate into it:

mkdir $env:USERPROFILE\my-first-claude-project
cd $env:USERPROFILE\my-first-claude-project
5

First run + sign in

claude

The first time you run it, it opens your browser. Sign in at claude.ai, click Authorize, come back to the terminal. You're ready to prompt. 🎉

✅ Windows setup complete

Continue to Your first prompt.

1

Install Windows Terminal

Microsoft's modern terminal app. Pre-installed on Windows 11; on Windows 10, install it from the Microsoft Store (search "Windows Terminal").

Codex CLI runs natively in PowerShell. If you'd rather use Linux-native tooling, Codex also runs in WSL2 — but PowerShell is the simpler path.

2

Install Node.js (18+)

Path A — Installer

  1. Go to nodejs.org
  2. Download the LTS version (Node 22)
  3. Run the installer with default options
  4. Close and reopen Windows Terminal

Path B — winget

winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS

Verify:

node --version
npm --version
3

Install Codex CLI

PowerShell 
npm install -g @openai/codex

Verify:

codex --version
4

Create a project folder

mkdir $env:USERPROFILE\my-first-codex-project
cd $env:USERPROFILE\my-first-codex-project
5

First run + sign in with ChatGPT

codex

Choose Sign in with ChatGPT. Your browser opens, you authenticate, click Authorize, and your existing ChatGPT plan (Plus / Pro / Business / Edu / Enterprise) covers Codex CLI usage. You can also paste an OpenAI API key as an alternative.

✅ Windows setup complete

Continue to Your first prompt.

1

Open PowerShell (Windows Terminal)

On Windows 11, Windows Terminal is pre-installed. On Windows 10, install it from the Microsoft Store. Open it — you'll see the PowerShell prompt.

Kimi CLI is Python-based, but you don't need to install Python yourself — the install script handles uv and Python 3.13 for you.

2

Install Kimi CLI (one command)

Paste into PowerShell and press Enter:

PowerShell — install Kimi CLI 
Invoke-RestMethod https://code.kimi.com/install.ps1 | Invoke-Expression

Takes 1–2 minutes. When done, close and reopen Windows Terminal, then verify:

kimi --version

⚠ "Execution policy" error?

If PowerShell refuses to run the script, allow scoped execution for this session: Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass — then re-run the install command. This change is temporary and ends when you close the window.

3

Create a project, launch, and sign in

mkdir $env:USERPROFILE\my-first-kimi-project
cd $env:USERPROFILE\my-first-kimi-project
kimi

Inside Kimi, type /login, choose Kimi Code (the recommended OAuth path), authorize in your browser, and come back. You're signed in. 🎉

Optional but useful: type /init first so Kimi scans your project folder before you start prompting.

✅ Windows setup complete

Continue to Your first prompt.

Your first prompt with dt-site-creator

You're at the claude prompt. Let's use the dt-site-creator archetypes library to build your first site.

You're at the codex TUI. Let's use the dt-site-creator archetypes library to build your first site.

You're at the kimi prompt. Let's use the dt-site-creator archetypes library to build your first site.

Option A — Use the archetypes library directly

Tell the agent what you're building and point it at an archetype:

Claude Code prompt Codex CLI prompt Kimi CLI prompt 
I want to build a [marketing site / payment app / internal tool / quiz / game].

Use the dt-site-creator methodology (derrickteo.com) — pick the matching
archetype from the 5 available, and follow its 5-file contract
(CLAUDE.md, prompt.md, examples.md, mechanic-fit.md, pitfalls.md).

The agent will fetch the library, scope your project, and start building.

Option B — Copy a prompt from the archetypes page

  1. Open the archetypes page on this site
  2. Click Show prompt ▾ on the archetype that fits your project
  3. Click 📋 Copy prompt
  4. Paste into your CLI, replace {{project_description}} with your actual project
  5. Press Enter

💡 Tip: start small

Your first prompt doesn't have to be ambitious. Try something concrete like: "Build me a single-page marketing site for a coffee shop called Orbit. Dark theme, warm amber accents." Watch how the agent reads files, writes code, and asks questions along the way. That's the vibe-coding loop.

🔌 Power-ups

Recommended plugins (Claude Code)

Claude Code is great out of the box. These plugins make it great at specific things — rigor, design, security. Install them once, they teach Claude to behave differently on every future task.

💡 How to install any plugin

Inside Claude Code, type /plugin and hit Enter. A menu opens. Browse the official marketplace, pick a plugin, install — Claude restarts with the new skills loaded. You can also manage plugins via ~/.claude/settings.json, but the /plugin menu is much easier.

Claude Code · plugin menu 
/plugin
# → Browse marketplaces
# → claude-plugins-official
# → pick plugin → Install

The plugins that matter most

🧠

Superpowers

Discipline · Must-have

A battle-tested suite of discipline skills that make Claude behave like a senior engineer. Forces brainstorming before coding, TDD before writing, systematic debugging instead of guess-and-check, planning before executing, verification before "it's done."

  • brainstorming — Claude asks clarifying questions before building anything
  • test-driven-development — test first, then code (not the reverse)
  • systematic-debugging — no fixes without root-cause investigation
  • writing-plans / executing-plans — break work into task-by-task plans with review checkpoints
  • verification-before-completion — never claim "done" without running the verification command
Install when: Day 1. Every non-trivial coding session benefits.
/plugin → claude-plugins-official → superpowers
🎨

Frontend Design

Design · Anti-AI-slop

Default LLM-generated UIs all look the same — centered cards, muted gradients, Inter fonts, rounded corners. Frontend Design breaks that pattern. It creates distinctive, production-grade interfaces with real aesthetic sensibility.

  • Generates components, full pages, or apps with intentional visual identity
  • Avoids the generic "AI aesthetic" that makes every vibe-coded site look identical
  • Pairs perfectly with dt-site-creator archetypes — feed it an archetype's palette, it produces a unique treatment every time
Install when: You're building any site or app with a UI.
/plugin → search frontend-design
🛡

Security Review (CSO mode)

Security · Before-ship

Vibe-coded apps ship fast — and often leak secrets, miss RLS policies, use hardcoded passwords, or violate OWASP basics. Security Review plugins audit your codebase for these failures before you ship.

  • Secrets archaeology — finds API keys, tokens, passwords committed in history
  • Dependency supply chain — checks packages for known vulnerabilities
  • OWASP Top 10 — SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, insecure auth patterns
  • STRIDE threat modeling — systematic risk assessment on new designs
  • CI/CD hardening — GitHub Actions, secrets management, branch protection
Install when: Before your first public deploy. Mandatory if handling payments, PII, or auth.
Options: the built-in /security-review slash command works out of the box for PR-level scans. For deeper work, install a plugin like gstack (includes CSO mode) or superpowers:code-review via /plugin.
🔍

Code Review

Quality · Pre-merge

An independent second-pair-of-eyes reviewer skill. Runs on your diff, finds bugs, suggests improvements, flags anti-patterns — the kind of review a senior engineer would give on a PR.

Install when: You want rigor on code quality, not just "does it work."
/plugin → search code-review
🪡

Stitch (design MCP)

Design system · MCP

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that generates design systems and screen mockups. Pair with Frontend Design: Stitch produces the visual direction, Frontend Design codes it up.

Install when: Starting a new project and want visual exploration before coding.
Add via ~/.claude/settings.json's mcpServers config, or via Claude Code's /mcp menu.
🔭

Browse the marketplace

Discover more

Dozens of other plugins exist — for benchmarking, learning, deploy pipelines, domain-specific work. Browse them inside Claude Code with /plugin.

/plugin → Browse marketplaces

⚠ Plugin hygiene

Each plugin adds to what Claude thinks about on every turn. More plugins = more context spent describing capabilities you may not need on this task. Start with 2–3 high-leverage plugins (Superpowers, Frontend Design, Security). Add others only when you find yourself manually doing the thing the plugin automates.

🔌 Plugins

Plugins (Claude Code only, today)

Honest note: as of April 2026, a true plugin marketplace exists for Claude Code only. Codex CLI and Kimi CLI both have lighter customisation hooks — system prompts, project-level config files, and slash commands — but nothing yet equivalent to Claude Code's /plugin menu and the third-party marketplace around it (Superpowers, Frontend Design, gstack, code-review, MCP servers, etc.).

💡 What you can customise today

For Codex CLI: drop an AGENTS.md at the root of your project and the CLI will read it as a persistent system prompt. Use it to encode your coding standards, tech stack, and review rules. For OS-level config, edit ~/.codex/config.toml.

For Kimi CLI: run /init in a project to auto-generate a project-aware system prompt that Kimi loads on every session. Edit it directly to add house rules, library preferences, or style guides.

🔭 Want the plugin ecosystem?

Switch the picker at the top to Claude Code to read the full plugins guide — Superpowers (rigor), Frontend Design (anti-AI-slop UI), Security Review (CSO mode), Code Review, Stitch (design MCP), and the /plugin marketplace. We'll keep this page updated as Codex and Kimi grow their own ecosystems.

Common issues & fixes

"command not found: brew" (Mac)

You skipped the post-Homebrew eval commands. Scroll up in your Terminal — Homebrew printed the exact lines you need. Usually:

(echo; echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"') >> ~/.zprofile
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"
"command not found: node" or "npm"

Either Node isn't installed, or your terminal hasn't picked it up yet. Quit and reopen Terminal / Windows Terminal. On Windows also try: $env:PATH to see if Node's path is listed.

"command not found: node" or "npm"

Either Node isn't installed, or your terminal hasn't picked it up yet. Quit and reopen Terminal / Windows Terminal. On Windows also try: $env:PATH to see if Node's path is listed. (Mac alternative: install via brew install --cask codex, which doesn't need Node.)

"command not found: kimi"

The install script puts kimi in ~/.local/bin (or the equivalent on Windows). Close and reopen your terminal so the new PATH entry takes effect. If still missing, run which kimi (Mac) or where kimi (Windows) to debug; you may need to add the install path to your shell profile manually.

"EACCES: permission denied" when installing Claude Code (Mac)

npm is trying to write to a system folder. Don't use sudo — that causes more problems. Instead, run:

mkdir -p ~/.npm-global
npm config set prefix ~/.npm-global
echo 'export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.zprofile
source ~/.zprofile
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
"EACCES: permission denied" when installing Codex (Mac)

npm is trying to write to a system folder. Don't use sudo. Either switch to the Homebrew cask (brew install --cask codex), or move npm's prefix to your home folder:

mkdir -p ~/.npm-global
npm config set prefix ~/.npm-global
echo 'export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.zprofile
source ~/.zprofile
npm install -g @openai/codex
"Execution policy" error in PowerShell (Windows)

PowerShell's default policy blocks remote scripts. Allow scoped execution for the current window:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process -ExecutionPolicy Bypass

This change is temporary — it ends when you close the window.

Sign-in browser tab doesn't open

Copy the URL from the terminal output and paste it into your browser manually. After signing in, paste the code (or just close the tab — most CLIs detect the OAuth callback automatically) back into the terminal.

"Claude is slow / rate-limited"

Free-tier claude.ai has daily message limits. Upgrade to Pro ($20/month) on claude.ai for 5× the limit plus access to Claude Code without a separate API key.

"Codex is slow / rate-limited"

Codex usage on a free ChatGPT account is capped tightly. Upgrade to Plus ($20/month) or higher — your existing ChatGPT plan covers Codex CLI usage with much higher limits.

"Kimi says I'm out of credits"

Top up your balance at platform.moonshot.ai. Pricing is usage-based and notably cheaper than US providers, but you do need a positive balance.

How do I exit Claude Code?

Type /exit or press Ctrl + C twice.

How do I exit Codex CLI?

Press Ctrl + C twice, or type /exit at the prompt.

How do I exit Kimi CLI?

Type /exit or press Ctrl + C twice.

Where are my files saved?

In the folder you were in when you launched the CLI. Coding CLIs edit files on your disk — open the folder in Finder (Mac) or Explorer (Windows) to see them. They also run git commands if you ask.

You're ready. What now?

📚 Browse archetypes

5 archetype prompts, 9 mechanics, ready to copy-paste.

❓ Not sure what to build?

Take the 4-question quiz for archetype recommendations.

⚠ Learn from mistakes

40+ pitfalls from 20+ past projects — filter by severity.