Install the CLI

TL;DR

Operate the stack from your terminal
Until available as an npm package, link mdk on your PATH with:
- npm install at mdk/packages
- npm run build && npm link at mdk/packages/cli

mdk is MDK's command-line tool for standing up and operating a stack from your terminal. It scaffolds a stack (mdk create), boots it (mdk run), and reports its health (mdk status), all driven by the mdk.yaml spec mdk onboard writes for you.

Prerequisites

Node.js >=24 (LTS)

Install

Until @tetherto/mdk-cli is published to npm, link mdk on your PATH from a source checkout.

Install the CLI steps

If mdk --version already prints a version, skip to step 6.

Clone the repo and cd into packages.

git clone https://github.com/tetherto/mdk.git && cd mdk/packages

Stay on main, or pin a tagged release. Pick a tag from mdk tags and check it out.
```
git checkout -b {your-branch-name}/v{version} v{version}
```
For example, git checkout -b local/v0.7.0 v0.7.0.
Install dependencies.
```
npm install
```
Build and link the mdk binary.
```
cd cli && npm run build && npm link
```
Confirm mdk is on your PATH.
```
mdk --version
```
Run project commands from the app or UI monorepo you are working in. Commands such as mdk skill add and mdk onboard write into your current directory, so run them from your project, not from mdk/packages/cli. Only mdk --version is global once linked.

Command groups

Group	Commands
Onboarding	`mdk onboard`
Scaffold	`mdk create worker\|plugin\|dashboard`
Run & manage	`mdk run [target]`, `mdk status`
Agent enablement	`mdk skill add`
Meta	`mdk version`

The CLI's command surface documents the full flag reference.

Update

git pull && npm install && npm run build

Uninstall

npm rm -g @tetherto/mdk-cli

Next steps

Try the demo to see a stack running end to end
Build with your agent so a coding agent knows MDK conventions