Install

OpenProse runs in an agent session. The important install is the open-prose skill, because the skill tells the agent how to read an OpenProse program, wire services, run the work, and write a trace.

The prose CLI is optional. It is a shell entrypoint into an agent harness, not a separate OpenProse VM. It packages commands like prose run file.md into an agent-session instruction, then streams the harness output back to your terminal.

Requirements

You need:

• An agent harness that can read and write files in the working directory.
• A subagent or session-spawning primitive for multi-service programs.
• Node.js 18 or newer if you use the CLI.
• Credentials for the harness you choose.

Single-component programs can run without subagents. Multi-service programs need a harness that can start isolated worker sessions.

Install the skill

Install the open-prose skill:

npx skills add openprose/prose

After the skill is available, an OpenProse command inside an agent session is an instruction to that agent:

prose run hello-openprose.md

The agent should not look for a prose binary just because the instruction starts with prose. It should load the skill, read the Markdown contract, and run the program in-session.

Install the CLI

If you want to run OpenProse from a shell, install the CLI:

npm install --global @openprose/prose-cli
prose --help

For project-local or one-off use, you can also invoke the package through npx:

npx @openprose/prose-cli doctor

The installed binary is named prose.

Check your setup

Run doctor before the first real program:

prose doctor

The CLI checks whether the open-prose skill is available for the selected harness. For a specific harness, pass --harness:

prose doctor --harness claude-sdk --install

The default harness is codex-sdk. Other supported harnesses include claude-sdk, codex, claude, and mock.

Run path

There are two common ways to run the same program:

prose run hello-openprose.md

Use that form inside an agent session.

prose run hello-openprose.md

Use that form from a shell after installing the CLI. The shell command still hands execution to the selected agent harness. The harness and skill are what run the OpenProse program.

When a run completes, OpenProse writes durable state under .prose/runs/. That trace is where you inspect inputs, outputs, service workspaces, and the execution log.

Next: write your first program.