Getting Started

Quick Start

Upgrading from v0.15? See the Migration Guide instead.

Prerequisites

RequiredNode.js— v18 or later

Requirednpm— included with Node.js

RequiredClaude Code or OpenCode— AI agent CLI (at least one required)

OptionalBun— alternative package manager

Install

Global installation required. Local project-level installation is blocked.

bash

# npm
npm install -g @c-d-cc/reap

# or Bun
bun install -g @c-d-cc/reap

Initialize a project

bash

# In Claude Code, initialize REAP in your project
> /reap.init

Run your first generation

Open your AI agent (Claude Code or OpenCode) in your project directory:

bash

# Start a generation — /reap.start will prompt for a goal
> /reap.evolve

/reap.evolve is the primary command

It runs the entire generation lifecycle — Learning, Planning, Implementation, Validation, and Completion — autonomously. The AI agent drives through all stages, only stopping when genuinely blocked. This is the command you'll use most for day-to-day development.

Manual stage control

You can also control each stage individually:

bash

> /reap.start            # Start a new generation (prompts for goal)
> /reap.next             # Advance to next stage
> /reap.back             # Return to previous stage

What happens during a generation

Stage	What happens	Artifact
Learning	Explore project, build context, review genome and environment	01-learning.md
Planning	Break down tasks, choose approach, map dependencies	02-planning.md
Implementation	Build with AI + human collaboration	03-implementation.md
Validation	Run tests, verify completion criteria	04-validation.md
Completion	Reflect, collect fitness feedback, adapt genome, archive	05-completion.md

How commands are loaded

REAP slash commands are installed globally and available in all projects.

Install— npm install -g @c-d-cc/reap copies skill files (.md) directly to ~/.claude/commands/

Update— Each install replaces existing skills with the latest version. Stale skills are cleaned up automatically.

Scope— Skills are installed at user level — available in all projects, not just REAP projects.