Skip to content

Bootstrap a project

Most commands are app-scoped: they target one app, and accept an --app-id flag or the STREAM_API_KEY and STREAM_API_SECRET environment variables.

For convenience, you can also turn your app's directory into a project. The project is linked to an app in your account, and every command run inside the project, subdirectories included, targets this app. You can recognize a project by the .stream directory in its root.

Initialize a project

In your app's root directory, run:

getstream init

Don't have a Stream account? You can sign up in the browser, or choose a guest account that needs no email and can be used by an agent. When you want to keep your work, you can always upgrade to a real account.

In CI or any other headless environment, set STREAM_API_KEY and STREAM_API_SECRET from your secret store instead, and every app-scoped command runs without a login or a project.

Warning:

This command creates the .stream directory that holds the app's secret and adds it to .gitignore. Don't commit it.

Check whether you're inside a project at any time:

getstream status

Opens the app's page in the Stream Dashboard in your browser:

getstream open

Re-running getstream init inside a project re-links it to another app. To unlink a project, remove the .stream directory.

When working with an agent, just ask:

  • Set up Stream in this project and link it to my app acme-chat.
  • Create a temporary Stream app for this project so I can try things out.

Install agent skills

The Stream Agent Skills teach an AI agent to work with Stream and the CLI. After initializing a project, getstream init prompts you to install the skills. We recommend you install them into each project the agent works in.

You can install the skills at any time:

getstream skills

The skills are downloaded into a global cache and linked into the project root, or into the working directory when you're not inside a project. You may need to restart your agent for the newly installed skills to load.

For building on a specific platform, Stream provides a skill for each SDK. Your agent installs it when it needs it. You can also install one manually:

getstream skills stream-react

All skills are available on GetStream/agent-skills. You can also install them from skills.sh.

When working with an agent, just ask:

  • Install the Stream skills in this project.
  • Add the Stream skill for React Native.

Add the API key to your app

Your code needs the app's API key to connect. A backend app may also need the secret. To write the keys into the env file your platform expects:

getstream env

Like every app-scoped command, env acts on the current project's app unless --app-id or the STREAM_API_KEY and STREAM_API_SECRET environment variables override it.

The CLI makes a best effort to pick the file format suitable for your platform, or you can ask for a specific format. The env file is added to .gitignore.

When working with an agent, just ask:

  • Put my Stream API key into this project's env file.