Quick Start
Get IST running in a few minutes.
Open the IST Workshop Codespace on GitHub Codespaces: the toolchain (isesh, the IST UI, Claude Code, Codex CLI, tmux) is pre-installed. Its first workshop, quicktool, is a ~30-minute hands-on session where you start an AI manager, paste one prompt, and watch it hand the work to worker sessions. You only need a GitHub account and a Claude Code or Codex login. (한국어 README)
Prerequisites
- Node.js — install via nvm and use the latest LTS (
nvm install --lts) - An AI CLI — one of Claude Code (
@anthropic-ai/claude-code), Cursor, or Codex CLI - tmux — sessions run inside tmux
See Installation for details on the prerequisites.
Step 1: Install IST
# Install the snapshot CLI
npm install -g @microwiseai/snapshot
# Install IST
snapshot install @ist/beta
Step 2: Verify Installation
isesh --version
itda list
If isesh prints a version and itda list runs without errors, IST is ready. To see the exact package versions that were installed, run snapshot current.
Step 3: Enable Monitoring
Log in once to activate session monitoring and the detector agent:
detector-agent login
This opens a Google sign-in (you only need to do this once). Then start the detector agent in the background:
detector-agent start
Once it is running, IST can detect your sessions, drive auto-approval, and show them in the web dashboard.
The optional IST UI (ist-ui) does the sign-ins and the daemon start from your browser, and lists your manager sessions. See Install the Web UI.
Step 4: Start Your First Session
Start a session bound to a working directory. Use the tda-manager profile to open a manager session:
# Create a working directory for the AI to operate in
mkdir ~/my-project
# Start a manager session in that directory
isesh start my-session -p tda-manager -w ~/my-project
The arguments read as:
my-session— the session name (anything you like)-p tda-manager— open the session with the manager profile-w ~/my-project— the working directory for the session
Attach to the session to work with it:
isesh attach my-session
To detach without stopping the session, press Ctrl-b then d. The session keeps running in the background.
Step 5: Manager / Worker (TDA)
The manager can break a task down and delegate it to worker sessions. Start a manager and a worker with the matching profiles:
Manager:
isesh start myproj-mgr -p tda-manager -w ~/my-project
Worker:
isesh start myproj-worker -p tda-worker -w ~/my-project
Attach to the manager and give it a task in plain language — it coordinates the workers for you. Observe the team at any time:
# See how managers and workers are linked
itda tree -a
# List manager sessions (including stopped ones)
itda list -a
Common Commands
Session Management
# List running sessions (-a includes stopped ones)
isesh list
# Start a session with a profile
isesh start SESSION -p tda-manager -w /path/to/project
# Attach to a session
isesh attach SESSION
# Stop a session
isesh stop SESSION
Team Management (TDA)
# View the manager/worker tree
itda tree -a
# Stop a manager and its workers together (cascade is the default)
itda stop SESSION
# Preview what would be stopped
itda stop SESSION --dry-run
Configuration
# List available prompts
isesh prompt list
# Show a prompt
isesh prompt show PROMPT_NAME
# Check session state
istate list
What's Next?
- Your First Session - A step-by-step walkthrough
- CLI Reference: sesh - Session configuration commands
- CLI Reference: messenger - Inter-session messaging