> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://usecyclops.dev/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart

> Open a Cyclops workspace and send your first message.

## 1. Install Cyclops

```bash theme={null}
curl -fsSL https://www.usecyclops.dev/install.sh | sh
```

The installer needs tmux 3.2 or newer, curl, and Git; Cyclops builds
from source, and when no Rust toolchain is present the installer
installs one itself with [rustup](https://rustup.rs)
(`CYCLOPS_NO_RUSTUP=1` declines). If it adds a PATH block, open a new
shell or run the reload command it prints.

## 2. Open the default workspace

```bash theme={null}
cyclops
```

A bare `cyclops` opens the full-screen workspace, starting a `main` tmux
session, `cyclopsd`, and the shipped themes and detection manifests if none
of those exist yet. A first run opens with one empty shell pane; no preset
is applied. Use `cyclops start` (see below) when you want a named shipped
layout instead.

From here, start the coding agents you already use in the workspace's
panes and talk to them the way you'd talk to a teammate: "send this to
reviewer and ask for a review." The agent carries out the handoff through
the `cyclops` CLI underneath, and the workspace shows the receipt. Steps 3
through 6 below walk that same CLI layer command by command. Use them when
you want to drive a handoff yourself or see exactly what an agent's request
produced. They assume the named `implementer` pane that the
preset-built workspace below creates.

**Want that named-pane layout from the start, or a specific arrangement
for scripting or CI?** `cyclops start` is the preset-based constructor. It
builds the layout and returns; run `cyclops` afterward to open that session in
the full workspace. Use `duo` for a named `reviewer` pane alongside
`implementer`:

```bash theme={null}
cyclops start --preset duo
cyclops
```

## 3. Start an agent

Start Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor Agent, or another CLI with a detection
manifest in the workspace pane. The default one-pane layout names its pane
`implementer`; the `duo` preset also provides `reviewer`.

If you explicitly prefer a native tmux client without Cyclops workspace
chrome, `tmux attach -t main` opens the same session as a standard tmux grid.
It does not show the Cyclops sidebar, tabs, or Messages pane.

Cursor detection ships with fixture coverage, but its current-version
terminal-notification path has not completed live validation because no
current Cursor binary was available on the evidence host. A Cursor doorbell
goes through the ordinary gate; `cyclops inbox next` and `cyclops inbox claim`
over the socket also work. See [Recover a notification](/docs/guides/recovery).

An authenticated claim prints one framed message with immutable `TO`, `FROM`,
and `SUBJECT` labels, the full durable body, an exact reply command, and a
matching `[cyclops:end <message-id>]` marker. The short terminal wake contains
only the sender-authored preview and exact claim, never the full body. A socket
claim may retrieve that body first, but it does not cancel the separately
queued pane notification.

## 4. Check the roster

From another terminal:

```bash theme={null}
cyclops list
cyclops status
```

If you created an extra pane yourself, name it by tmux pane id:

```bash theme={null}
cyclops name %1 reviewer
```

## 5. Send a message

```bash theme={null}
cyclops send implementer --subject "Summarize the README" \
  --summary "Summarize the project README. Call out setup and test commands." \
  --body "Call out the setup steps and test commands."
```

The receipt confirms durable acceptance and reports the current one-line wake
state. The recipient lists pending metadata, claims the exact message id, and
then reads the body. Use `cyclops messages` for body-free mailbox and wake
state, and `cyclops history` for the durable conversation.

## 6. Watch the work

```bash theme={null}
cyclops watch
```

`cyclops watch` opens the full-screen admin stream. Tab cycles through the
firehose and the body-free Messages work queue. In Messages, `s` changes
scope, Enter opens the selected row, and `?` shows the view's keys. A bare
`cyclops` opens the workspace with the sidebar, tabs, and live pane canvases.

## Next steps

* [Coordinate several agents](/docs/guides/coordinate-agents)
* [Save and restore workspaces](/docs/guides/sessions)
* [Configure watched sessions](/docs/reference/configuration)