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Quick Start

This guide walks you through a minimal working setup — from board creation to your first AI-assisted card.

1. Create a kardbrd board

Go to kardbrd.com and create a new board. Note the board ID from the URL (e.g., 0gl5MlBZ from app.kardbrd.com/b/0gl5MlBZ/).

2. Create a bot

In your board, go to Settings → Bots → Create Bot. Choose a name (e.g., MyBot) and copy the bot token.

3. Set up environment

export KARDBRD_AGENT_BOARD_ID=<board-id>
export KARDBRD_TOKEN=<bot-token>
export KARDBRD_AGENT_NAME=<agent-name>    # must match the bot name
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=<api-key>   # or GOOSE_PROVIDER + provider key

4. Start the agent

kardbrd agent start --cwd /path/to/your/repo

kardbrd agent start --cwd /path/to/your/repo --executor goose

kardbrd agent start --cwd /path/to/your/repo --executor codex

You should see the agent connect and begin listening:

Starting kardbrd agent
Board: 0gl5MlBZ
Agent: @MyBot

5. Trigger the agent

Create a card on your board and add a comment:

@MyBot explore this codebase and tell me what it does

The agent will:

  1. Create an isolated git worktree for the card
  2. Spawn the executor with the card context
  3. Post results back as comments on the card

6. Add automation rules (optional)

Create a kardbrd.yml in your repo root to automate responses:

board_id: 0gl5MlBZ
agent: MyBot

rules:
  - name: Explore new ideas
    event: card_created
    list: Ideas
    model: sonnet
    action: |
      Explore this card's topic and summarize your findings.

  - name: Stop on red flag
    event: reaction_added
    emoji: "🛑"
    action: __stop__

Validate your rules:

kardbrd agent validate

What's next?