Quickstart

This page takes you from nothing installed to a finished piece of work. It assumes you already use at least one coding agent CLI — Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or similar. If you do not, connect a provider covers that first.

Outcome: NALA installed, a workspace open on a real repository, one agent running in a pane, and one durable task completed.

Before you start

1. Install

Run this in PowerShell:

irm https://nalaos.dev/install.ps1 | iex

The script asks the site which build is current, verifies the download against the published SHA-256 and byte size, then runs the installer. If either check fails it stops rather than executing the file.

Prefer to read a script before running it? That is the better habit:

irm https://nalaos.dev/install.ps1 -OutFile install-nala.ps1
notepad install-nala.ps1
./install-nala.ps1

Expected result: the installer completes and nala is available on your PATH.

Verify:

nala --version

If the command is not found, open a new terminal — PATH changes do not reach shells that were already running.

2. Open a workspace

Launch the desktop app and point it at a real repository:

nala desktop

A workspace is a named context with its own pane tree, working directory, and status. Create one for the project you actually want to work on rather than exploring in a scratch directory: the interesting behaviour — git status, worktrees, tasks — only appears against a real repo.

Expected result: a window with one terminal pane, and your repository's branch shown in the status bar.

3. Connect a provider

Open the bottom orchestration bar and launch a provider you already have installed. NALA does not resell model access; it launches the CLI you already pay for, in a pane it manages.

Verify: the provider's pane reaches its own ready prompt. See connect a provider for per-provider detail.

4. Run one real task

Ask the agent for something small and concrete against your repository — a focused refactor, a test for an existing function, a bug you already understand. Small and concrete is the point: you are verifying the loop, not evaluating the model.

While it runs, you can close the desktop window. The daemon keeps the session, scrollback, and conversation alive; reopening reattaches you.

Verify:

nala task list

The task you just ran should appear with its state.

5. Try the terminal agent

The same daemon backs a terminal-native agent. From any terminal, in your project directory:

nala

This is the NALA TUI Agent — the same tasks, artifacts, and messages as the desktop, in a keyboard-only surface. Start work in one and pick it up in the other; nothing is lost either way.

If something goes wrong

The fastest general diagnostic is:

nala doctor

Next

• Installation — every install method, and how to verify one.
• How NALA works — the daemon, the surfaces, and why sessions survive.
• First orchestration run — delegate work to more than one agent.