Getting started

Start with an agent

steerium publishes an agent-readable llms.txt with the essential setup facts and a curated map of the documentation. Give Claude Code, Codex, or another coding agent this prompt:

Read https://steerium.dev/llms.txt first. Then help me install steerium and
create a workflow that <describe what should happen and when>. Start with the
mock provider, run the workflow once, and inspect the run record before wiring
up real credentials or side effects.

The file lives at a stable URL, so an agent can fetch the current instructions without requiring the full documentation site in its context window.

Install

steerium requires Node >= 22.13.

npm install -g steerium

Quick start

No API keys needed — the default mock provider is deterministic:

steerium init                 # scaffold ~/.steerium + starter workflows
steerium workflow run hello   # fire a workflow once
steerium logs                 # every run is recorded
steerium start                # run the daemon: triggers, control API, browser UI

With the daemon running, open http://127.0.0.1:4319/ for the browser UI: a dashboard, workflow list with “run now”, filterable run history with live updates, and per-run detail with step logs and artifacts.

Your workflows and config are TypeScript loaded at runtime — you never build them. When you’re ready for real providers, set an API key (or have the claude/codex CLI installed) and run steerium doctor to see what resolved.

Using your local Claude Code or Codex

Already have the claude or codex CLI installed and logged in? Then there’s nothing to authenticate — the claude/codex providers drive that same CLI and inherit its login. Three steps:

1. Have the CLI installed and logged in — the same setup you use interactively.

2. Point a workflow at it — provider: "claude" (or "codex") in an agent.run call, or set defaults: { provider: "claude" } in ~/.steerium/config.ts. The scaffolded default is mock, so nothing hits a real agent until you do.

3. Allow edits if the workflow should edit files — without a permissionMode, agent providers run read-only (there’s nobody around to approve tool prompts in a headless run):

   providers: {
     claude: { permissionMode: "acceptEdits", allowedTools: ["Read", "Edit", "Bash"] },
     codex: { permissionMode: "acceptEdits" },
   },

steerium doctor verifies the wiring: it reports whether each agent provider found its SDK, a CLI on your PATH, or nothing.

Your first real workflow

Create ~/.steerium/workflows/daily-blog.ts:

import { defineWorkflow, schedule } from "steerium";

export default defineWorkflow({
  name: "daily-blog",
  on: schedule.cron("0 14 * * *", { tz: "America/Montreal" }),
  async run(ctx) {
    const post = await ctx.step("write", () =>
      ctx.agent.run({
        provider: "anthropic",
        system: "Concise technical blogger. Markdown only.",
        prompt: "Write a 600-word post on a practical software engineering idea.",
      }),
    );
    await ctx.artifact.writeText("post.md", post.text);
  },
});

Then configure the provider in ~/.steerium/config.ts:

import { defineConfig } from "steerium";

export default defineConfig({
  defaults: { provider: "anthropic" },
  providers: {
    anthropic: { apiKey: { env: "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" } },
  },
});

steerium start registers the cron; each firing is a recorded, replayable run.

How it works

Three primitives, one loop:

Primitive	What it is	Built-ins
Trigger	emits events	cron, interval, Linear/Jira/GitHub poll or webhook, manual
Workflow	an async TypeScript function handling one event	yours
Provider	executes an AI or agent call	openai, anthropic, codex, claude, mock

An event arrives → it’s deduped and persisted → a run row is created → your function executes (steps and artifacts recorded) → the run is marked ok or error. The daemon keeps triggers live; a localhost control API serves the CLI and the browser UI.

Next steps

• Writing workflows — the workflow context in depth
• Triggers — cron, polling, webhooks, custom triggers
• Providers — API keys vs. coding-agent subscriptions
• Projects & scopes — per-repo workflows and config

Ready to go past the built-ins? Build your own covers advanced workflow patterns, custom triggers, connectors, and providers.